Great Sessions ［2CD+CCCD］

Blue Note's Great Sessions: Wayne Shorter is the latest attempt by Blue Note to bring out its old warhorses again and get people to spring for records they already have. Here are three Rudy Van Gelder editions of Wayne Shorter's undeniably brilliant recordings: Juju, Speak No Evil, and Adam's Apple. There is no arguing that Shorter and his cohorts made jazz history on these recordings. The argument is with Blue Note: the label consistently reissues the same records over and again -- this time throwing them into a very unattractive box -- while leaving true gems that American jazz fans have been clamoring for -- or setting out hard earned-money for expensive Japanese copies. The only way this will make a difference to you is if you don't have any Wayne Shorter in your collection and want to pick up a bunch at one time. The high marks on the review are for the music; the label would get a substantially lower grade for marketing tricks like this. ~ Thom Jurek|