by Kelly Sill
In this month’s “Zwee Dot,” Kelly Sill shares his listening notes to “Tarde” from the Wayne Shorter album Native Dancer. It was recorded on September 12, 1974, and released in January of 1975.
“Tarde”
From the Wayne Shorter recording
Native Dancer
1975, Columbia Records
Milton Nascimento – Composer
Fernando Brant – Lyricist
Wayne Shorter – Tenor saxophone Milton Nascimento – Acoustic guitar, voice
Herbie Hancock – Electric piano Wagner Tiso – Organ Dave McDaniel – Bass Roberto Silva – Drums
0:02 And the cut starts
0:04 It’s an intro
0:07 Beautiful organ
0:11 And up a minor third
0:19 A magic chord, melody stays the same
0:28 Turnaround to the top of the tune
0:33 Beautiful harmonic movement
0:45 This sits so nicely
0:56 The melody is so simple, and the harmony is so luscious
1:07 That’s really emotional
1:11 That harmonic change was incredible
1:15 The melody is so simple—I can’t believe the impact that it has
1:25 That one note is so poignant
1:42 And all that beautiful space
1:55 This sits so beautifully
2:09 This is heart-wrenching
2:23 Here it brightens up
2:38 Here it’s settling down
2:42 Wayne comes in
2:58 He sounds like he understands the melody
3:06 Listen to that note
3:17 He really means it
3:28 This sounds like a final statement
3:33 It was
3:38 Recapping the opening statement
3:49 Wayne adding a lot of himself
3:58 That simple, beautiful melody
4:08 Wow—they are really full out
4:14 Plus the bass player starting to move around a lot—sounding great
4:19 That moment kills me
4:29 A very quiet moment—except that Wayne really starts to move
4:45 That was incredible
4:55 Sounds like a recap
5:05 It is
5:23 Wow—beautiful
5:34 Very delicate
5:41 Fading out
5:47 What a beautiful cut!
I can’t listen to this cut without crying. I am like Pavlov’s dog; except I don’t actually need to hear the bell, I just need to think of it.
—Kel
Kelly Sill has been a mainstay of the Chicago jazz scene for more than 45 years. After receiving his bachelor's degree from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, he moved to Chicago.
He has since performed and recorded with a vast array of jazz artists, including Art Blakey, Joe Henderson, Art Farmer, Eddie Jefferson, Clark Terry, Cedar Walton, Herb Ellis, Woody Shaw, Hank Jones, Freddie Hubbard, Kenny Burrell, Barney Kessel, Chris Potter, Ernie Watts, Bob Mintzer, Mel Torme, Anita O'Day, Janice Borla, Jack Mouse, Jackie McLean, Joey DeFrancesco, Donald Byrd, Bobby Watson, Eddie Harris, Scott Hamilton, Victor Lewis, Clifford Jordan, Bucky Pizzarelli, and many more.
He has performed at the Chicago Jazz Festival, Ravinia Festival, the Elkhart Jazz Festival, the Red Sea Jazz Festival, the Thessaloniki Concert Hall in Greece, and Symphony Center (Orchestra Hall) in Chicago.
Kelly has served on the faculties of Northwestern University, Interlochen Arts Academy, Northeastern Illinois University, Lake Forest College, DePaul University, and Northern Illinois University. He currently teaches at North Central College in Naperville, Illinois. For questions or comments please contact him at kellysill1@gmail.com or visit his website at KellySill.com.