Artist: Wynton Marsalis, Cassandra Wilson, Jon Hendricks
"Should be in everyone's CD collection"
GRAMMY AWARD AND PULITZER PRIZE-WINNING JAZZ MUSICIAN AND COMPOSER WYNTON MARSALIS TURNS TO ROMANCE ON HIS NEW RECORDING, "THE MIDNIGHT BLUES - STANDARD TIME VOLUME 5." VOA'S DOUG LEVINE FILLS US IN ON THE TRUMPETER'S TRIBUTE TO SOME OF THE ERA'S GREATEST LOVE SONGS.
WHEN HE'S NOT ON TOUR WITH HIS BIG BAND OR FINE-TUNING THE JAZZ DEPARTMENT AT LINCOLN CENTER, WYNTON MARSALIS IS BUSY MAKING RECORDS. HIS LATEST IS A SWEEPING TWELVE-SONG COLLECTION OF POPULAR STANDARDS BY RODGERS AND HART, GEORGE AND IRA GERSHWIN, IRVING BERLIN AND SAMMY CAHN, AS WELL AS HIS OWN COMPOSITION "THE MIDNIGHT BLUES." THESE CLASSICS FEATURE WYNTON'S QUARTET AND A 31-PIECE STRING ORCHESTRA ARRANGED AND DIRECTED BY BOB FREEDMAN. MARSALIS SAYS THE ALBUM IS A RETURN TO PURE JAZZ, A STYLE HEAVILY INFLUENCED BY PASSION AND ROMANCE.
"FOR JAZZ TO BE PLAYED, YOU NEED TO HAVE A HIGH CONCEPTION OF ROMANCE. YOU HAVE TO HAVE AN UNDERSTANDING OF WHAT GOES ON BETWEEN A MAN AND A WOMAN. AND THE WAY JAZZ MUSICIANS TRADITIONALLY HONED THESE SKILLS WAS THROUGH PLAYING BROADWAY SHOW TUNES AND PLAYING FOR DANCES, WHICH WE DON'T DO NOW."
WYNTON MARSALIS HAS RECORDED MORE THAN THIRTY JAZZ AND CLASSICAL ALBUMS SINCE MAKING HIS DEBUT IN 1982. HE HAS APPEARED AS A GUEST MUSICIAN ON MANY OTHER RECORDINGS. THE 36-YEAR-OLD LOUISIANA NATIVE HAS PERFORMED OVER 100 CONCERTS A YEAR FOR THE PAST FIFTEEN YEARS, VISITING THIRTY COUNTRIES ON SIX CONTINENTS. IN HIS TRAVELS, MARSALIS DISCOVERED THAT MUSIC IS TRULY UNIVERSAL.
"I'M ALWAYS PLEASANTLY SHOCKED WHEN I GO TO DIFFERENT PLACES IN THE WORLD AT HOW SIMILAR WE ALL ARE. REGARDLESS OF RELIGION. PEOPLE HAVE ALL THESE DISPUTES AND ARGUMENTS TRYING TO MAKE SOMEBODY THINK THE WAY THEY THINK. BUT ESSENTIALLY, WE ALL WANT THE SAME THINGS. FOR ME, I'M JUST HAPPY TO BE A PART OF THE WORLD AND HAVE A CHANCE TO BE IN IT. JUST LIKE BEING IN A GOOD GAME. YOU'RE JUST HAPPY TO BE THERE. "
WYNTON MARSALIS' "THE MIDNIGHT BLUES - STANDARD TIME VOLUME 5" RECENTLY DEBUTED AT #1 ON BILLBOARD'S JAZZ CHART. IT IS THE FIFTH IN HIS SERIES OF SONGBOOKS DEDICATED TO CLASSIC AMERICAN MUSIC. THE QUARTET FEATURES WYNTON ON TRUMPET, ERIC REED ON PIANO, REGINALD VEAL ON BASS, AND LEWIS NASH ON DRUMS.
14-May-98
Source: Voice of America
Return to: Jazz: Armstrong Forward
Click for audio sample
