Wayne Shorter was born in Newark, New Jersey, in 1933 and was a teenager when he became interested in music.
During school, he truant to be able to go to gigs, he told in an interview with Kulturnyheterna in 2017.
When the school principal discovered Shorter's absence, he was moved to a music class.
- I had my first final exam in music theory and got everyone right.
As I was about to leave the room, the teacher held up the paper and said it was an example of a perfect test.
- Outside in the corridor, I felt that it changed my life.
I realized I had to get a clarinet.
My grandmother and mother scraped together enough money for me to buy an instrument.
Played with Miles Davis
Wayne Shorter was involved in renewing jazz and was highly involved in developing the genre of jazz fusion.
He broke through in the 50s with the group Art Blakey's Jazz Messengers, played for several years with star trumpeter Miles Davis, and then formed the fusion group Weather Report and his own quartet.
Shorter has been awarded 10 Grammys, released more than 20 albums and wrote several songs that are today classics in their genre.
"An explorer"
In 2017, Wayne Shorter was awarded the Polar Prize.
The jury described him as a unique saxophonist and highlighted his important role in shaping modern jazz:
"For Wayne Shorter, music is a means of learning more about all aspects of life and the universe.
He himself has aptly described his act as "drilling for wisdom".
With his saxophone, he is an explorer.
During an extraordinary career, with his courage and his visionary ears, he has constantly sought the unexplored paths".