I had central orchestra seats and high expectations for such an array of talent as Danilo Perez, John Pattitucci, and Brian Blade supporting the legendary Shorter. We had seen the quartet five years back and were blown away.
Based on rave press reviews, perhaps something was lost on me, but I can say that early on, Patitucci was definitely not on the same page as Perez, with some of the most glaring mismatches I've ever seen on professional stage, like a 12 year old playing in the wrong key - and his body language and facial expressions made it obvious that something was wrong. He righted the ship, and there were some beautiful sequences in this non-stop, operatic approach. But Shorter listened more than he played, and I sensed he was just noodling through half of the sequences where he did contribute. Blades was standout on drums and really carried the vibe with ambient and explosive textures, and he and Pat had some slick exchanges. Perez generated some wonderful, delicate, steady and arpeggiated sounds, but crackling a plastic water bottle against the microphone for a gag didn't amuse me as much as the 17 year old sitting nearby. Thematically, it was a grind - light on continuity and heavy on failed experiment. I realize these are some of the greatest musicians in the world, but together on this night, they weren't.