1989 · Album
In My Own Sweet Way
Recorded 1987, Switzerland · In + Out (German label) · Format: Live album
Live in Switzerland, Playing It His Way
Shaw's trumpet cuts through the room with clarity and urgency, the band locked in and breathing together.
In My Own Sweet Way captures Woody Shaw at a live session in Switzerland, and what strikes you immediately is how direct it all sounds. There's no studio polish here, no overdubs or second takes—just a band playing in a room, and Shaw's trumpet front and center, cutting through with that sharp, focused tone he was known for. The live setting means you hear the space around the notes, the slight delay of the room, the way the rhythm section has to stay locked or everything falls apart. It's the kind of recording where you can almost feel the audience's attention, even if you can't hear them.
By this point in Shaw's career, he'd already made his mark, and this session feels assured without being complacent. He's not trying to prove anything—he's just playing, and the material lets him do what he does well: build phrases with intention, take solos that go somewhere rather than just fill time, and play alongside musicians who know how to listen. The sound quality is honest, which means it's sometimes rough around the edges, but that's what live records from the 1980s sounded like in small clubs and festival settings in Europe. You're not getting high-fidelity studio engineering; you're getting the actual event.
This is a solid choice if you're already familiar with Shaw's work and want to hear him in real time, where the pressure is on and there's no second chance. It's less essential than his stronger studio records, but it shows a musician still engaged and still capable of making something worth hearing. The German In + Out label specialized in these kinds of sessions—live dates that might not have gotten wide distribution but deserved to be documented.
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