Everyday Creation
This show has to do with different kinds of creation: human, divine, and a third kind that connects the two. Our human creativity is easy to talk about because clearly we're prolific creators. We make music, we write, we cook; we establish businesses, we design gardens, we invent things. The list goes on and on. Another kind of creation is divine. We feel its presence when, for example, we contemplate birth, death, our life purpose, or have a quiet realization that there's something bigger than us. The third kind is perhaps a little more difficult to grasp and yet, with a little practice, it's easy to put into action. This is the personal power each of us has to direct our thoughts, words and actions every day toward what we want in our life and world, rather than what we don't want.
This sounds heavier than it is. For me, this show is an acknowledgment that while we're all here to learn and grow and do our best, there's still plenty of opportunity to relax, laugh, love, and enjoy this playground we call life. So my hope is that you'll get some enjoyment and illumination out of these episodes. Here you'll find interviews with delightfully creative individuals; short stories about some who have passed away; and essays about personal power.
I'm Kate Jones, host and creator of Everyday Creation. Thank you for following my show.
Everyday Creation
Tribute to Wayne Shorter, featuring Sheldon Zoldan
Wayne Shorter, who died on March 2 last year, influenced jazz for seven decades. His tribute, written and recorded by Sheldon Zoldan, is one of 44 short yet illuminating episodes about significant figures in the music industry who passed away in 2023.
Here you can go to YouTube to hear Wayne Shorter's jazz classic, “Footprints.”
If you want to learn more about Shorter, you can read his biography by Michelle Mercer. It's also titled "Footprints" and features an introduction by Shorter and a foreword by Herbie Hancock. There's an image of the book's cover in this episode's chapters.
Also in the chapters, you can go right to the tribute by skipping my intro; feel free to skip my closing remarks too. Both are there to provide context for those who haven't listened to the other tributes.
Along with these tributes, Sheldon writes Song of the Day, a music-related story sent daily to an email list of subscribers. To get on the subscriber list, email shzoldan@comcast.net with the subject line ADD ME TO SOTD.
Audio engineer/musician Mike Villegas edited all the audio for this series. Hope you enjoy these intriguing glimpses into the lives of the people who made some of the music we love.
This is Kate Jones. Thank you for listening to Everyday Creation, available on YouTube and in podcast directories including Apple, Audible, iHeart and Spotify.
Kate:
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Hello, and welcome to Everyday Creation. This is
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your host, Kate Jones, with one of 44
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tributes
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to significant figures in the music industry
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who passed away in 2023.
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My guest Sheldon Zoldan,
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a longtime writer and newspaper editor,
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wrote these short biographies
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and recorded them.
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Each one is an intriguing
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glimpse into the life and impact
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of someone who contributed
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to the soundtracks of our lives. Here's what
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Sheldon has to say in this tribute.
Sheldon:
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Wayne Shorter attracted nicknames as a teenager.
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He was called
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Newark Flash and Mr. Gone, but Shorter was
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no more a Flash or somebody who disappeared.
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He influenced jazz for seven decades.
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Shorter died March 2nd in Los Angeles.
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He was 89.
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Shorter grew up in Newark, New Jersey. He
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loved comic books, science fiction and music.
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He learned to play the clarinet
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when he was 16.
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He switched to the tenor sax a few
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years later.
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He graduated from New York University with a
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degree in music education.
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His first postgraduate
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job was with Art Blakely's
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Jazz Messengers.
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He became the group's musical director and wrote
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several compositions.
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He left four years later to join Miles
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Davis'
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Second Great Quintet,
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where he started playing the soprano sax.
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He stayed for six years but while working
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with Davis,
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he also recorded his own albums with Blue
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Note Records.
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He also branched out playing on 10 Joni
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Mitchell albums
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and with Carlos Santana.
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He was an original member
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of the Weather Report, which
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stayed together in various forms for 15 years
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experimenting with electronics and ethnic music.
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He stayed busy during the 21st century
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creating his own quartet.
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He recorded his final album in 2018.
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The album came with a comic book he
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wrote.
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Shorter recorded
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our song of the day, "Footprints,"
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for his 1966
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"Adam's Apple" album.
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Miles Davis recorded the song the same year
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for his "Miles Smiles"
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LP.
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KUVO.org
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said the song is often mistaken
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for a jazz waltz.
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"'Footprints' incorporates what is possibly the first use
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of systemic
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African-based cross rhythm," it says.
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The composition is considered a jazz classic.
Kate:
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This is Kate again. Please go to the
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description for more information and to hear the
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song that Sheldon referenced.
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If you enjoyed this tribute, please check out
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the rest of them. Although some of the
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names are not as familiar as others, the
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biographies
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are equally intriguing.
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Thank you for listening to Everyday Creation.
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Please share this episode with anyone who might
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enjoy it.
