Track Listing
- Bright Lights, Big City
- Night Life
- Caldonia
- Stardust
- Basin Street Blues
- Georgia on My Mind
- Rainy Day Blues
- My Bucket's Got a Hole in It
- Ain't Nobody's Business
- That's All
Product Details
- Amazon Sales Rank: #661 in Music
- Released on: 2008-07-08
- Number of discs: 1
- Dimensions: .22 pounds
Editorial Reviews
Album Description
The event was simply billed as "Willie Nelson Sings the Blues," but the
historic two-night stand on January 12 and 13, 2007 at Jazz at Lincoln
Center was far more than that. Call it a summit meeting between two
American icons, Willie Nelson & Wynton Marsalis, two of the most
significant figures in modern-day country and jazz, who discovered
common ground in their love for jazz standards and the blues. Their
performance stirred the sounds of New Orleans, Nashville, Austin and
New York City into a brilliantly programmed mix that was equal parts
down-home and cosmopolitan, with plenty of swing and just a touch of
melancholy. To say that these shows were a hot ticket would be an
understatement. Luckily, the tapes were rolling and the results of this
unique collaboration now constitute the Blue Note album Two Men With
The Blues for everyone who couldn't cram into The Allen Room. Featuring
great playing from one of the hottest bands around these classic tracks
are given new life by the extraordinary dual talents of Willie Nelson
and Wynton Marsalis. At a time when most people are thinking of
retirement, Willie has never been busier. His profile has been high in
recent weeks with his various career retrospective releases and sold
out tour and this album can rightly stake it's place alongside anything
else he has done. Wynton rarely sounds so relaxed and both of these
musical giants are clearly having the time of their lives together on
these new interpretations of some of the greatest songs of the 20th
century.
Amazon.com
Two Men with the Blues is no more a jazz album than a blues
album. It's neither jazz returning home, nor blues wandering out. What
Willie Nelson and Wynton Marsalis have created is a compilation of
jump-blues standards with arrangements that compliment both genres.
While most of the album is careful not to take itself too seriously,
there are a few tracks that seem to plod on for ages. The live set
kicks off with the upbeat "Bright Lights, Big City," on which Marsalis'
horn is crisp and full. "Ain't Nobody's Business" and "Basin Street
Blues" are arranged slower than better known versions but still fit the
album's context. Nelson and Marsalis's take on "Stardust" comes off as
a bit too "Sinatra" for Nelson's thin vocal, while "Georgia on My Mind"
just doesn't work at all. Still, the things that work, work well.
"Night Life" and "Rainy Day Blues" are particular stand-outs, and
"Caldonia" is a faithful homage to the Louis Jordan original (minus
Jordan's screaming punch line, of course). The album ends riding high
on closer "That's All," with its
straight-out-of-a-New-Orleans-Baptist-church feel. Both Nelson and
Marsalis are notorious for collaborating with other artists. Therefore,
it seems only natural that they've found themselves on a project
together. Overall, this set is well worth the wait. --Eric C.P. Martin
Customer Reviews
It's all fun ! A mandatory "buy".
In early 2007 two of contemporary American music's greatest icons,
jazz trumpeter and composer Wynton Marsalis and country music legend
Willie Nelson, teamed up for a couple of unforgettable nights at New
York's Lincoln Center.
Both love the blues, and love to play it over-easy, Nelson's vocal staying light and playful.
This album is the souvenir from those evenings. What you don't get
is the sight of two aging legends twinkling convivially at each against
the night lights of Manhattan, without which the flowering of audience
applause around each solo is a little frustrating...
The pair are backed by a crack five-piece band firing on all
cylinders - saxophonist Walter Blanding, pianist Dan Nimmer, bass man
Carlos Henriquez, harmonica player Mickey Raphael and Ali Jackson on
drums.
There are all kinds of blues - downhearted, rude, even goodtime
blues. The sort on this recording could be called country blues,
because of the presence of Willie Nelson. There are also several party
blues, and quite a few pieces, such as "Stardus"t and "Georgia on My
Mind", that aren't blues at all.
But the main point is that it's all fun. Nelson, from Texas, and
Marsalis, from Louisiana, have no trouble finding common ground. The
latter contributes some majestic playing, in the manner of Louis
Armstrong. Altogether, as with some of the best blues, this doesn't
make you sad, it makes you feel better.
Nelson has always been ready to take on challenges. Here, he turns
on the downhome charm, as he joins Marsalis's compact group for a set
that has the unpretentious aura of a jam session.
Nelson's vocals on "Stardust" are a touch brighter than Hoagy
Carmichael may have intended but the effect is leavened by a smokey,
gently twisting trumpet line full of yearning beauty courtesy of
Marsalis. Another Nelson standard, "Georgia On My Mind", has a sweet,
subdued but compelling intimacy and could legitimately lay claim to the
title of ultimate standout track on an album of standout tracks.
Peak of the album: the heady, hard-core blues-ballad rendition of
"Night Life", "Caldonia", which swings amiably and "Bright Lights, Big
City", which exudes the requisite swagger.
A mandatory buy.
Moment Of Forever
From The Plantation To The Penitentiary
Historic: American Masters at Play
Everyone knew that this summit of master musicians would be
special. The session was recently broadcast on National Public Radio's
Jazz at Lincoln Center, and as we already have an Amazon video excerpt
of the event, we can expect to see the entire meeting on PBS, with DVD
as pledge gift. The CD, however, has had the opportunity for further
electronic mixing and improvements by Delfeayo Marsalis and Jeff Jones.
So what can we say about the quality of the music and the
personalities? How many superlatives are there? But you first must be a
Willie Nelson fan and you must be a jazz enthusiast who honors Wynton
Marsalis and the Lincoln Jazz folk for their precision and urban
sophisticated development of New Orleans roots. Thus if you are among
that very large number of music lovers, you must own this recording.
Even the insert notes and photos are nicely done. As for the
selections, we have Nelson's own oft recorded theme song, Georgia on My
Mind, and we also have Stardust, which was included in the album of the
same title that demonstrated that Nelson was more than a country
singer; indeed that album is his all-time best seller. I, however,
enjoyed Rainy Day Blues and the other tunes that follow, which are what
the album is supposed to be about: the blues. This album is simply fun.
You will love it.
not the "historic ... summit" the product description would lead you to believe
You can probably figure out what this album might sound like. It's
sensible and relatively enjoyable at times, but hardly earth
shattering. If you're looking for dinner jazz that might make your
guests ask, "Is that Willie Nelson?" This is it.
No hay comentarios:
Publicar un comentario