Wayne Shorter is one of the most important composers of the post be-bop era and perhaps the greatest jazz composer alive. His all-encompassing work starts with the hard bop classic compositions he wrote for Art Blakey, on to his groundbreaking Blue Note records which featured many tunes that have become timeless jazz standards, his innovative, conceptual records like “The All Seeing Eye”, the music he wrote for the classic Miles Davis quintet, whose sound helped define an era in jazz, his fusion hits with Weather Report, his brilliant almost through composed work such as “Atlantis”, and his later orchestral reworkings of some of his classic tunes. It is very unlikely there has been another composer who has covered more musical territory more brilliantly than Wayne Shorter. The concept of the Endangered Species band is to pay tribute to jazz’ greatest living composer and approach his work as he would, as an ever changing, always evolving body of work. The group will perform music from all eras of Mr. Shorter’s great career from the Blakey era (“Mr. Jin”), through music from “The All Seeing Eye” and classics from the Miles Davis era (“Fall”), up to his latest compositions from “Alegria” and “High Life”.

David Weiss has re-imagined Mr. Shorter’s work for an 11 piece mini big band. Mr. Weiss is an award winning composer and arranger: winner of the prestigious Chamber Music America Doris Duke Jazz Ensembles Project: New Works Creation and Presentation grant, the American Composers Forum’s Jerome Composers Commissioning Program, Down Beat Critics Award and Rising Star Arranger. Wayne Shorter Tribute Big Band features many of the finest young players and rising stars on the jazz scene today including Jeremy Pelt and Freddie Hendrix on trumpet, Joe Fiedler and Steve Davis on trombone, Jimmy Greene and Craig Handy on tenor sax, Myron Walden on alto sax, Norbert Stachel on baritone sax, Xavier Davis on piano, Dwayne Burno on bass and E.J. Strickland on drums.