For over 50 years composer and saxophonist Wayne Shorter has shattered the limitations of jazz with his transcendent musicality. His iconic body of work as a solo artist, as a part of Art Blakey and the Jazz Messengers, the famed Miles Davis Quintet and fusion pioneers Weather Report, has defined and redefined jazz for generations.
Wayne Shorter is a multiple Grammy Award-winner whose compositions have become jazz standards and whose unique approach to saxophone has forever changed how the instrument is played. His stunning creativity is powered by his fiercely spiritual lifestyle built upon a Buddhist philosophy. Wayne Shorter: Zero Gravity is a complete and intimate portrait of this mythical figure, peeling away the enigmatic aura of his legacy to reveal the essence of this landmark artist. The film is expected to be completed by 2015.
Producer/Director Dorsay Alavi has been a longtime friend and documentarian of Shorter since they met in 1994 when Verve Records hired her to produce and direct a video for the release of High Life. In 2006, the seeds for a documentary on Shorter’s life were planted when Alavi began filming Shorter’s tour with his groundbreaking Quartet.
In 2013, a successful crowd funding campaign along with the Herb Alpert Foundation gave the project partial funds to begin production. Filmmaker Dorsay Alavi began principle photography on the documentary to celebrate Wayne Shorter’s 80th birthday. She has had unprecedented access to his creative process, family life and long time collaborators and friends such as Herbie Hancock, Joni Mitchell and Carlos Santana.
Over the next 12 months, Alavi will continue to follow Shorter over several countries, interviewing prolific artists, collaborators such as Sonny Rollins, Herbie Hancock, Carlos Santana, Jimmy Heath, Dave Holland, Ron Carter, The BBC Orchestra, The Orpheus Orchestra, Rene Fleming, Esperanza Spalding, Terri Lyne Carrington, Joni Mitchell, Milton Nascimentos and many others who have been impacted by Shorter’s music.
In his own words, Shorter will share personal and creative exchanges with John Coltrane, Art Blakey, Miles Davis and many others. Family and close friends will share pivotal moments in his personal life and how he overcame adversity by transforming his life through his Buddhist practice. His moral courage, his enlightened vision of life reflects his commitment towards creating world peace and positive social change. For many who have had the opportunity to know him personally and professionally, he has been not only a source of inspiration but a life mentor.
The innovative world of Wayne Shorter is diverse, progressive and unique. Books, movies, science fiction, mythology and philosophy have informed his music and had a profound impact on all aspects of his life. This documentary will give viewers insight into Shorter’s history with interviews and archival footage of his prolific years as a sideman and composer. The film will further delve into his fantastical imagination with animated images as well as a first hand look into his artistic process.
In Shorter’s rare case, he is even more prolific and groundbreaking now in his 80’s than he was in the last five decades. This documentary will not only capture the depth of his legacy but his current modern orchestral compositions and collaborations with world renowned orchestras and his own stellar Wayne Shorter Quartet.