Customer Reviews

Native Dancer

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1979... I'm sitting in a partial differential equations class... some guy sitting next to me is so out of it, he's listening to a tape on his walkman. I ask for a listen. I put on the earphones and OH MY GOD WHAT IS THIS BEAUTIFUL SOUND? WHERE DID IT COME FROM?! It was Native Dancer, and though it took me some time to buy a copy for myself, the piercing clarity of Milton Nascimento's voice and Wayne Shorter's sax never faded from my memory. Now of course I've listened to these 10 tracks hundreds of times but I'm still just as fascinated. This is a masterpiece, a rare and electrifying summit of Brazilian pop with American jazz that somehow -- and god knows this dosn't happen very often -- makes both of them more focused and brilliant.

Wayne Shorter is one of the great musicians of his generation. And Native Dancer is one of the finest and most beautiful works ever pressed into vinyl or burned into a disc. This is an all time great, a must for any admirer of Shorter or superstar Milton Nascimento.
Smart, incisive, Shorter plays with a measured balance of heart and head. His earliest music chronicles a young man's attempt to first sound as good as Coltrane, then with age, like himself. Shorter is one of those horn players instantly recognizeable. I heard Native Dancer for the first time as a freshman at college. I was a Shorter fan by then, both the early SHorter (Juju, Speak No Evil, etc.), as well as the later Weather Report work. I loved Airto, and played his Fingers album 24/7 when that came out.
But Native Dancer which includes Herbie Hancock playing with untouchable virtuosity and Milton singing all over the octaves, and Shorter's soprano sax loving, laughing, weeping -- well, it doesn't get much better. The music here goes deeply to one's soul..
It's odd. I don't speak a word of Portuguese, but everytime I hear Tarde -- and I've heard it a thousand times -- the words and the music break my heart.
Buy this cd.

What a breakthrough album this was back in 1975, with its incredible meeting of musical minds: Wayne Shorter, Milton Nascimento, Herbie Hancock, Airto and others. Some excellent background information on this album (plus on Milton and Airto) is provided in the book "The Brazilian Sound," which is recommended to all fans of jazz and Brazilian music.

This surpassingly gorgeous record could be the soundtrack for paradise. It remains as fresh and seductive today as the day it was released. Long before "world music" became a record-store category, Wayne Shorter, Milton Nascimento, and an extraordinary group of Brazilian and U.S. musicians created this unique amalgam of Brazilian pop, African rhythms, and modern jazz. Listen to it a million times; I dare you to tire of it.

This is Wayne Shorter at his creative best. I love all the Weather Report albums, especially Sweetnighter and Mysterious Traveller, however, this one tops them all. I have listened to this album time and again since its release in the late '70's but with each hearing, your enjoyment is actually enhanced as you discover nuances in the performance which you didn't notice before, particularly in the soulful tenor provided by Shorter. Milton Nascimento is magnificent, particularly in track # 3, after "Beauty and the Beast", which is a virtuoso. Each track seems better than the one before and again, each track is excellent in its own right, a true masterpiece.

It's late September, 2000. I have decided to load my 10 CD magazine in my car's changer with all the Brazilian music I own. There's some Ivan Lins, some Flora Purim, Djavan, and David Byrne's wonderful Brazilian pop compilation disc, among others. And there is Native Dancer. Being an inveterate Weather Report fan back in 1975, I had purchased this album on first release and then I bought the cd but I hadn't listened to it in several years. How wonderful it is to be transported to heaven. Every song, every note is magic. In my humble opinion, this is one of the great works of late 20 th century modern jazz. Any opportunity to hear Wayne Shorter and Herbie Hancock is worth the money but throw Milton Nasciemento into the mix and the only word to discribe the confluence of music energy is SUBLIME!

...it is Monday, AM. And, after a relaxing weekend with this on, I'm ready for anything. This CD starts with Nascimento's exotic falsetto on "Ponta De Areia"--those who spend their time in that same quantum pocket I'm in will recognize it as the "Brazilian Rhyme" interlude on Earth, Wind & Fire's magnum opus "All N All"--It then takes you through the fairy tale fantasia of "Beauty and The Beast" (not that one, but pleasing nonetheless) and sails you through more mellow jazz spiced with Shorter's great playing and Nascimento's Brasilia. Those jazz purists interested in "who's playing" won't be dissatified with the greats Airto and Herbie Hancock adding to this excellent production. Undisputably, a good buy....

By 1975, jazz-rock already had become a stale idiom, well on its way to the mindless noodling we now call fusion. Ironically, Wayne Shorter, whose regular group, Weather Report, was at the forefront of the decline, collaborated in that year with the Brazilian pop singer/songwriter Milton Nascimento to produce one of the genre's triumphs, Native Dancer. From the delicate playfulness of "Ponte de Area" to the biting, sinuous beauty of "Lilya", Native Dancer combines Brazilian pop and jazz funk in varied and imaginative ways. Nascimento's falsetto and Shorter's soprano sax are two expressive high register instruments and Herbie Hancock' electric piano work more restrained and melodic than in his other electronic forays. Unfortunately, all of the pompous declarations about "the tradition" probably has prevented a lot of listeners from appreciating this exceptional recording.

I am listenting to my vinyl version of this right now for who knows how many times. And, it still thrills after 30+ years???? God, can it be that long. Well, whatever, this music still moves me with Hancocks keyboards and Wayne's beautiful sax in perfect sync with Milton's vocals. A masterpiece that can stand up in any music collection. If you have any appreciation of jazz or even pop vocals get this album. The music is beautiful and will make your heart feel swell.

wayne shorter can say more with one note than others can with an entire composition.......

J.R.Griffin I-Against-I Networking Group.