J Mood
Wynton Marsalis
Marcus Roberts
Producer: Steven Epstein
Wounded Bird Records, 2007
1 CD
Catalogue #: WOU4308
EAN: 0664140430822
UPC: 664140430822
You save: 20%
Personnel: Wynton Marsalis (trumpet); Marcus Roberts (piano); Robert Leslie Hurst III (bass); Jeff "Tain" Watts (drums).
Recorded at RCA Studio A, New York, New York from December 17-20, 1985. Includes liner notes by Stanley Crouch.
Personnel: Wynton Marsalis (trumpet); Marcus Roberts (piano); Robert Hurst (upright bass); Jeff Watts (drums).
Here, Wynton is the only horn voice. He's front-and-center, but still plays with a wonderful sense of economy and passionate restraint. The unity of the music takes precedence over soloing here. Not that there's any lack of great solos, it's only that they don't overwhelm the collective efforts of the band.
The band is outstanding. Roberts swings lyrically and thoughtfully, Hurst provides a warm, supple center and Watts is practically explosive! "Melodique" and "After" feature lovely trumpet-with-a-mute playing, recalling early '60s Miles Davis. Marsalis has absorbed Miles' approach while retaining his own voice. Fans of traditional jazz and of jazz trumpet in particular should take note of this album.
Tracklist
Wynton Marsalis
Wynton Marsalis is credited with almost singlehandedly ushering in the powerful neo-traditionalist jazz movement of the 1980s and '90s. Along with father Ellis and brothers Branford, Delfeayo and Jason, Wynton is a member a New Orleans musical dynasty firmly ensconced in the journals of music history. Not only does Marsalis lead various groups of his own, but he also is the musical director of the Lincoln Center Jazz Orchestra and the composer of large-scale works like 1997's acclaimed "Blood on the Fields." As the most high-profile jazz musician of his era, Marsalis became a spokesman for the genre, and one of its biggest movers and shakers.
