Wayne Shorter Quartet

Jazz is often portrayed as a music of inherent risk, but it's just as susceptible to stale convention as any other style. That's where Wayne Shorter comes in: The veteran saxist—a linchpin of both Miles Davis's second great quintet and Weather Report—exemplifies better than just about any other jazz elder the art of maturing without stagnating. His working quartet with pianist Danilo Perez, bassist John Patitucci and drummer Brian Blade strikes a thrilling balance between spareness and turbulence.