Hearing Beyond the Sound Barrier for the first time, it struck me that Wayne Shorter is now moving forward in a manner comparable to that of his old boss, Miles Davis. That is, he has surrounded himself with a bright young group of musicians who can not only keep up with him and share his vision, but who can truly challenge and inspire him to do his best playing. Ironic, too, that the model for this approach and this particular group was Davis’ second great quintet. In that band, Shorter was one of the young lions who provided Davis with inspiration both through his composing and his playing.

Shorter is still, as he has always been, a gifted composer and saxophonist. The group of recordings Shorter and his working quartet of Danilo Perez, John Patitucci, and Brian Blade have made—2002’s Footprints Live!, and 2003’s Alegria (where the trio was supplemented with additional musicians to play Shorter’s beautiful arrangements)—have been as stirring and inspirational for long time fans as well as newcomers, recalling Shorter’s amazing run of classic Blue Note recordings during the 1960s. While Alegria was excellent studio work, Shorter returns here to live performance, with Sound Barrier culled from performances recorded between November 2002 and April 2004. The music is presented as a fairly seamless performance, though, recalling both the way that Miles’ second quintet performed live and the studio manipulation of performances Davis did during his later, electric period.

Wayne Shorter never throws anything away, it seems, nor abandons any facet of his playing or career, which is quite unlike his old boss. Here he revisits two older tunes, “Joy Ryder” and “Over Shadow Hill Way,” both of which benefit from the attention of this excellent group of musicians. These tunes were originally done with electric groups, and their current incarnations bear little resemblence to their original recordings, prof that Shorter is doing more than revisiting old ground, he is using his catalog of excellent compositions as source material for a new band with a new approach to the material. Having played together now for several years, this quartet is tight with respect to the players’ individual execution, but very loose in the manner in which the musicians are free to interact with each other. Shorter’s music has long been about seeking a balance between freedom and structure, and this seems the ideal ensemble for him to continue his explorations with.

This is not easy listening jazz by any means, and those who would prefer to hear Shorter swinging out in a more straight ahead manner or listeners who seek lyricism and heavy attention to melody in their jazz will find this disc tough going. Make no mistake, though: Shorter is doing work that stands with the best of his long career, and he is finding new things to say and reinvigorating the traditional jazz quartet in the process. Whereas the V.S.O.P. band that Shorter was involved in during the late 1970s and early 1980s was about recreating, to a large extent, the sound of the original Davis quintet, Shorter’s current band is much more about recreating the spirit of exploration that band engendered.

The band begins with Arthur Penn’s “Smilin’ Through,” a song from a movie originally sung by Jeanette McDonald. Needless to say, Shorter and company find much more meat on this tune’s bones than did Ms. McDonald. Beginning with a meandering piano and bass duet that breaks into stride and eventually picks up Shorter with his warm tenor sound, the group weaves through many textures on this song, from Shorter and Perez weaving counterpoint in and out of each other’s lines to the arrival of Shorter bright soprano soaring above a fully roiling rhythm section, as Blade offers constant prodding. It gives way to Shorter’s own “As Far as the Eye Can See,” which hardly seems like a separate track and finds Shorter again on tenor, with lots of stellar work from Perez as well. The group’s performance of Felix Mendelssohn’s melody entitled “On Wings of Song” finds the group exploring the harmonic content of Mendelssohn’s work while adding new rhythmic vistas.

After the brief free jazz improvisation “Tinker Bell” the group moves into the final four tracks of the disc, all written by Shorter. Strong performances of “Joy Ryder” and “Over Shadow Hill Way” are followed by equally amazing new compositions, “Adventures Aboard the Golden Mean” and “Beyond the Sound Barrier.” While one does look forward to a new studio recording by Shorter and the quartet perhaps featuring new material, Beyond the Sound Barrier finds Shorter and company doing anything but marking time.