Dale Fielder - Dear Sir: Tribute To Wayne Shorter (1995)

The young tenor saxophonist Dale Fielder, in a quartet with pianist Jane Getz, bassist Bill Markus, and drummer Thomas White, performs four Wayne Shorter compositions, Gil Evans' "Barracudas" (which featured Shorter), and six originals that sound a bit influenced by Shorter's conception. Trumpeter Dan Bagasoul makes the quartet a quintet on two songs. Fielder is a strong up-and-coming talent and, although not a Wayne Shorter clone, he hints strongly at the older saxophonist on several of these well-conceived tributes. In fact, this music sounds like something Wayne Shorter might have come up with if he had not changed direction in the early '70s. Recommended.~© Scott Yanow /TiVo