House Of Jade is a jazz ballad by Wayne Shorter, released in 1965 on the album Juju. The original quartet features Shorter on tenor sax, McCoy Tyner on piano, Reggie Workman on bass, and Elvin Jones on drums. The tune moves at a relaxed tempo with a walking bass groove and uses contrasting harmonic rhythm: chromatic harmony in the A sections and a modal bridge, creating a balance between conventional and unconventional jazz language. It reflects Shorter’s blend of styles from his work with Art Blakey and the Miles Davis Quintet, and he later drew on contemporary classical influences to shape his harmonic approach. Juju remains a landmark post-bop record that helped define Shorter’s sound in the 1960s.
