Wayne Shorter: Zero Gravity is a 2023 documentary film about the life and music of jazz saxophonist Wayne Shorter. The film is directed by Dorsay Alavi. It was released on Prime Video on August 25, 2023.
Premiering on Prime Video in late August, WAYNE SHORTER: ZERO GRAVITY was directed by Dorsay Alavi, Executive Produced by Brad Pitt, and features interviews with Wayne Shorter himself, his family and friends, and stars like Herbie Hancock, Neil DeGrasse Tyson, Carlos Santana, Joni Mitchell, Sonny Rollins, Esperanza Spalding and more!
Shorter is considered one of the greatest living modern composers and musicians of American music, a true musical genius of the 20th and 21st centuries. He ranks among Ellington, Parker, Monk, and Coltrane, both as a saxophonist and as a composer. For over 60 years, Wayne Shorter shattered the limitations of jazz with his transcendent musicality. However, ZERO GRAVITY isn’t just a documentary about a legendary jazz musician, it’s a story of Wayne Shorter’s life and how through adversity he grew to greatness. By turning obstacles into opportunities throughout his entire life, he showed through example that we can be masters of our own destiny.
PORTAL 1 transports us into the world of Wayne’s childhood: the impact that his strong and supportive mother had on him and how his talent as a visual artist and his love of comic books and movies serendipitously led him to music. Also how Miles Davis aggressively pursues Shorter to replace John Coltrane. Davis manages to get Shorter to join his band after a year of stalking.
PORTAL 2 focuses on the intersection of Shorter’s personal life and his music. After several traumatic events and his struggle with alcohol addiction, music begins to play a different role in his life. He finds Buddhism and focuses inward to cope with the challenges of his marriage and his daughter’s mental disability. In contrast to all of the personal strife at home, it is the most commercially successful period of his career.
PORTAL 3 is filmed in a veriteì style, to reflect a day in the life of Wayne Shorter. The audience sees Wayne in action, composing, collaborating, touring worldwide with his quartet and teaching young students. It follows Wayne Shorter’s mission to redefine the term jazz and to affect positive social change through sound.
Release Date
August 25, 2023
Where to Watch Wayne Shorter: Zero Gravity
Prime Video
