AMG Review of All or Nothing at All

Thom Jurek
All Music Guide

Charly reissues Wayne Shorter's early Vee Jay material in fine CD sound. These sides contain a mix of Shorter's original compositions -- his earliest recordings of them as a leader -- and a curious batch of covers including a fine "Black Orpheus," a radical "Mack the Knife," and the Rodgers & Hart ballad "I Didn't Know What Time It Was." "Down in the Depths" has a killer frontline that includes Lee Morgan. Some of the Shorter tunes found here are simply stunning and it's no wonder Miles Davis snapped him up soon after. This is an excellent example of his gift.