I think one of the reasons that some people may prefer Footprints Live! to this new disc is that the new CD doesn't feature many well known Shorter compositions. Footprints Live is almost entirely classic shorter tunes.
I still like both discs very much. I don't quite agree with the 'noodling' tag. Wayne really has become a master at deconstructing a tune. His playing has definitely changed in recent years. Perhaps it's more cerebral, and at the same time, very skeletal if that makes any sense.
It's a great disc.