Atlantis (Wayne Shorter album)

The recording is notable in Shorter's body of work both for its relative lack of improvisation and for the high level of its compositions and group arrangements. Brazilian and Funk rhythms are featured on several tracks, as is a mixture of electric and acoustic instrumentation. The composition "Shere Khan, the Tiger" was previously recorded by a group including Shorter and Carlos Santana on the latter's 1980 album The Swing of Delight. Several of the compositions on this album would continue to feature in Shorter's repertoire well into 2012, most notably the title piece. The cover art for the album is a pastel portrait of Shorter by actor Billy Dee Williams. Compositionally, "Atlantis" is noteworthy due to the inclusion of unusual intervallic melodies and a sense of economy and space generated through the use of parallel dominant 9th suspended chords coupled with contrapuntal bass lines. This approach is exemplified by the composition "On the Eve of Departure" which programmatically resembles "When worlds Collide", the George Pal Sci-Fi classic.

All compositions by Wayne Shorter except where noted.

1. "Endangered Species" (Shorter, Joseph Vitarelli) – 4:47
2. "The Three Marias" – 5:48
3. "The Last Silk Hat" – 5:25
4. "When You Dream" (E. Lee, Shorter) – 4:28
5. "Who Goes There!" – 5:29
6. "Atlantis" – 4:34
7. "Shere Khan, the Tiger" – 2:15
8. "Criancas" – 3:40
9. "On the Eve of Departure" – 5:55

• Wayne Shorter – soprano saxophone, tenor saxophone
• Jim Walker – flute, alto-flute, piccolo
• Yaron Gershovsky – piano
• Michiko Hill – piano
• Joseph Vitarelli – synthesizer, piano
• Michael Hoenig – synthesizer programming
• Larry Klein – electric bass
• Ralph Humphrey – drums
• Alex Acuña – drums, percussion
• Lenny Castro – percussion
• Diana Acuña, Dee Dee Bellson, Nani Brunel, Trove Davenport, Sanaa Larhan, Edgy Lee, Kathy Lucien – vocals