Also known as Blues A La Carte, this Vee Jay disc has tenor-saxophonist
Wayne Shorter's first session as a leader and it shows that, even at this early stage,
Shorter was far along toward developing his own sound. Teamed up with trumpeter
Lee Morgan, pianist
Wynton Kelly, bassist
Paul Chambers and drummer
Jimmy Cobb, the six selections (five of which are
Shorter originals) capture the young tenor shortly after he joined
Art Blakey's Jazz Messengers. The music is essentially hard bop and, although none of these
Shorter tunes caught on, the music is quite enjoyable. A special treat is the one standard of the date, a swinging version of "Mack The Knife." ~ Scott Yanow