Compositions
Shorter brought six new compositions to the Christmas Eve session. According to Shorter (as quoted in Don Heckman's liner notes), in writing the material for this album he was "thinking of misty landscapes with wild flowers and strange, dimly-seen shapes — the kind of place where folklore and legends are born. And then I was thinking of things like witch burnings too." Fairy tales were also an inspiration: the bluesy "Fee-Fi-Fo-Fum" is titled after the trademark exclamation of the giant in Jack and the Beanstalk.
Generally, the material represents a return to "changes"-based hard bop, but combined with modal elements, after a period of predominately modal music (exemplified by JuJu). But the tone of the music is – appropriately for the often-macabre subject matter – rather dark and eerie.
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