Year: 2009
Record Label: Blue Note
Style: Straight-Ahead / Classic
Musicians: Wynton Marsalis (trumpet), Walter Blanding (tenor and soprano saxophone), Dan
Nimmer (piano), Carlos Henriquez (bass), Ali Jackson (drums)
Review: There is no mistaking the fact, Wynton Marsalis may very well, heck, he is,
the greatest jazz composer following the era of Duke Ellington. Marsalis
has an ear for constructing large formal structure works driven by an overall
arching concept and philosophical germ that is manifested in profound statements
which are superbly unified by his singularly unique harmonic vision. As a
composer Marsalis is able to move outside the boundaries of traditional jazz yet
still stay so deeply rooted to the music’s history casual listeners may never
understand just how complex his compositional voice really is. The
landmark multi-sectional Citi Movement and Blood On The Fields are
just two compositions that work through shared motivic associations freely
adapted and rearranged providing a depth of character lacking in so many of
today’s most literate jazz composers - save for Maria Schneider, Gerald Wilson
and a few others.
As a trumpet soloist, Marsalis has most assuredly grown in technique, power
and profundity of nuance since his first days as a young rebel, yet, there is
something more compelling about his early trumpet work, as seen in his early
recordings, than his more recent work - especially that in the studio. On
the early recordings, such as the brilliant eponymous debut, Think Of
One, and Black Codes (From The Underground), Marsalis took more
chances, waived the flag harder and dove headlong into the fray without worry
for how he’d be perceived. The result was the birth of a trumpeter who
deserved all of the fanatical critical success he attained. Still a
brilliant soloist today, in the last 10 years Marsalis’ solos have become a
little too well- organized; as if he’s thought it all out ahead of time leaving
the listener with a dry reading of a solo that in its initial conception, was
probably hot, but in subsequent versions has become more dry than enthusiastic
and more predictable and inevitable than unavoidably rich. Perhaps as a
way to get away from this Marsalis has been releasing more live recordings
lately, and to this reviewer’s ears the results are a vast improvement.
This recording combines the spoken poetic word of Marsalis, and a remarkably
mature poetic voice it is, along with his music played by a quintet. The
poems appear before almost every jazz composition and are full of humor, pathos
and some very real and prevalent observations. That Marsalis does the
reading of his poems makes them all the more special because his ability to
magnify and bring out specific words helps to define the shades of meaning.
On the musical side, Marsalis again presents some of today’s best young
musicians. In the greatest tradition of the art, Marsalis is like the big
three (Horace Silver, Art Blakey and Miles Davis) as the greatest identifier and
promoter of the next generation of leaders in their own right. The history
of jazz has always been built on the apprentice method; young hardworking
musician meets and auditions for a spot in a small band, and through and under
the tutelage of an honored jazz veteran the youngster learns what it means to
carry the torch on to the next generation.
Walter Blanding is an intelligent and precocious young saxophonist who is
able to weave beautifully crafted improvisational lines in any of the styles
Marsalis chooses to compose. His work on the multi-metered and sectional
“The Razor Rim” is transcendent and you can easily hear why he was chosen for
the band. Drummer Ali Jackson is so light and tight with his cymbal work
throughout, but especially on the waltz “Girls!,” it’s obvious he’ll be a major
force in the not too distant future. Carlos Henriquez’s bass is solid and
Dan Nimmer’s piano work perfectly suits these compositions.
Overall, this recording is like so many of Marsalis’ recordings, an excellent
statement of his vision of jazz - one that is centered on paying respect to the
history of the music interpreted and envisioned through the eyes of young and
seriously eager learning bandmates.
Tracks: Poem, School Boy, Poem, The Sun And The Moon, Poem, Sassy, Poem, Fears, Poem,
The Razor Rim, Poem, Zero, Poem, First Crush, First Slow Dance, First Kiss,
First Time, Poem, Girls!, Poem, A Train A Banjo And A Chicken Wing and He And
She
Record Label Website: http://www.bluenote.com/
Artist's Website: http://www.wyntonmarsalis.org/
Reviewed by:
Unknown User
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