“That’s one of the greatest working bands in jazz, the Wayne Shorter Quartet. The group’s been playing together for 15 years. Last year, 82-year-old Wayne Shorter took a break, and the other three quarters of the group toured as a trio called Children of the Light. Now that trio is out with a new self-titled recording. Music commentator Michelle Mercer says Wayne Shorter may not be on the recording, but he’s very much present.

The first sign of this trio’s comfort with spinoff status is its name. Children of the Light is a twist on the Wayne Shorter composition “Children Of The Night.” Pianist Danilo Perez, bassist John Patittucci and drummer Brian Blade all entered the Wayne Shorter Quartet as bandleaders. And in most ways, the group functions as a collective. Here, on Children of the Light’s title track, the trio’s lively group improv is like a family dinner where everyone’s talking at once yet somehow, everyone’s being heard.”

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