Lee Morgan & Wayne Shorter - The Complete Vee Jay Lee Morgan-Wayne Shorter Sessions [6CD Limited Edition Box Set] (2000)

Mosaic Records continues to repackage and remaster previously released and unreleased material by jazz legends past and present. Here, the ongoing saga continues with this sharply produced set featuring trumpeter Lee Morgan and saxophonist Wayne Shorter's recordings for the now defunct, Chicago, IL-based Vee-Jay recording label. With this six-CD compilation, the listener will find meticulously detailed annotations of the story behind Vee-Jay, chronological accounts of the musicians' backgrounds and basically what was transpiring during 1959 and 1961, which denotes the time frame of these sessions. The producers also provide an album index of the original recordings and a reference matrix of the personnel on a per-disc basis. And while Morgan was a rising star who had already released six LPs as a leader for Blue Note records, these works represent Shorter's initial dates as a leader. Here we find Morgan manning a front-line attack with either Shorter performing on tenor sax or his collaborations with alto saxophonist Frank Strozier, drummers Art Blakey, and Louis Hayes, pianist Bobby Timmons, and many others of note who appear throughout the entire scope of these discs. Basically, the music is formulated from within the hard bop vein amid a number of medium-tempo and hard-swinging motifs, ballads, and alternate takes. Shorter proceeded to record a number of exceptional LPs for Blue Note Records, whereas, his already shining star had rapidly risen thanks to his affiliation with Miles Davis and collaboration with keyboardist Joe Zawinul in the pioneering fusion band Weather Report. Meanwhile, Morgan was viewed upon as being the logical successor to trumpeter Clifford Brown as he surged onward to record several timeless classics prior to his tragic death in 1972. Hence, this presentation supplies additional evidence to their everlasting influences as you are treated to Morgan's fluent lines, subtle inflections, radiant lyricism, and Shorter's sinewy attack, penetrating extended notes and optimal utilization of space. Recommended!