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List Price: $18.98
Our Price: $8.38
Your Save: $ 10.60 ( 56% )
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Average Customer Rating:  
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Binding: Audio CD
EAN: 5099950445424
Label: Blue Note Records
Manufacturer: Blue Note Records
Number Of Discs: 1
Publisher: Blue Note Records
Release Date: 2008-07-08
Studio: Blue Note Records
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Spotlight customer reviews:
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Customer Rating: 
Summary: Willien and Wynton: Not as Crazy as It Sounds
Comment: I know what you're thinking? Willie Nelson and Wynton Marsalis? Together? I thought the same thing, too, when I saw them on The Tonight Show earlier this year. I mean, we are talking about Willie Nelson, the Texas troubadour who will duet with, well, just about anyone who asks. And then there's Wynton Marsalis, the jazz purist--puritan?--who disdained even his brother, Branford, for touring with Sting back in the 1980s. How in the world did these two get together?
That's something I haven't discovered yet, even in the nice little behind-the-scenes video up on YouTube. Upon closer inspection, the pairing is not as far from left field as you might think. Nelson has covered everything including reggae (yeah, really) but one of his biggest albums was Stardust (1978), an album of standards from the Great American Songbook, that helped to define what Nelson does best: blend many varied genres and elements to create something different, if not original. Marsalis, in the meantime, has spent the bulk of his twenty-five year career bringing back the prominence of acoustic jazz, the jazz before Miles Davis "corrupted" the genre by plugging in and going electric. And Marsalis succeeded, reminding folks (and record executives) that traditional jazz can be good and make money at the same time. The songs Marsalis used to usher in the Young Lions movement in jazz were those from The Great American Songbook.
Beyond the two men drinking from the same well of music, look at their backgrounds. They are both southerners, Nelson from Texas and Marsalis from New Orleans. Southern music is a smorgasbord of sounds and influences. Gospel, blues, jazz, bluegrass, folk, country, Texas swing, and more all can be found in almost any song by a southerner. So it was, two southerners and their band members went up to New York and recorded a concert at Jazz at Lincoln Center.
"Two Men and the Blues" is a live recording. It serves the music well because, I think, the perfection of a studio would have lessened the impact and spontaneity of the performance. You get the sense that these seven men are not on a stage at a prestigious concert hall but in the drummer's garage. It's a Saturday night, it's hot, the door's open, the beer getting warm in the ice chest full of melting ice, and these guys are just jammin' for no other reason that they love music.
"Bright Lights Big City" kicks off the set. Wynton's band--he brought himself on trumpet, Walter Blanding (sax), Carlos Henriquez (bass), Dan Nimmer (piano), and Ali Jackson (drums)--sets up the nice lilting shuffle feel. Mickey Raphael's harmonica is also there, adding that certain flourish that only a harmonica can. All the instrumentalists take a turn at soloing, even Nelson on guitar. You know going into this recording that Wynton's band is top notch. If there was going to be a weak link, it was going to be Nelson's guitar playing. I was interested in hearing if Nelson took a turn on soloing. He did, and, while it's not superb, this is the type of song where fancy pyrotechnics are out of place. So Nelson did just fine.
The longer you listen to this recording, you realize how close the phrasing of Nelson's vocals and his guitar really are. His Martin nylon string guitar does not hold the sustain like a steel-string guitar. Nelson usually compensates by repeatedly striking whichever string he's playing. But on this recording, he doesn't do that a lot. He lets the struck string fade when it wants to, much like his voice. Nelson is not a singer who can hold a note for a long period of time. Where a singer like, say, Sinatra, would carry his phrasing past the four-measure break, Nelson breaks his vocal phrasing short. As a result, there are usually more silences in a Nelson tune. That's his style and it really works in this set.
"Night Life" is one of those tracks where you imagine it being played in a late-night jazz club, after midnight but before closing time, the smoke hanging low from the ceiling, all but the die-hard have gone home. It's the time of night for the faithful, the friends, and for the girls in the audience who want to date a jazz performer. Wynton's trumpet shines here, opening the track with a long solo that sets the down tempo mood. But it's his flutter sound during the chorus that really takes the roof off. Out of nowhere, it blasts above Nelson's vocals. And Willie brings out a better solo on guitar, a nice, soft theme that put my worries about his abilities to rest. He also played a good melody on "Basin Street Blues."
Since Stardust is still one of Nelson's most famous records, you knew the band was going to cover some of those songs. They do the title track and, of course, "Georgia, On My Mind." "Stardust" has a beautiful, lush tenor sax solo, the kind where you can hear the air passing over the reed in the lower register, a nuance that, for me, a sax player, I love. "Georgia" starts off showcasing Nelson's vocals as the centerpiece but the soloist shine just as brightly. Marsalis's wah-wah trumpet wails, Raphael's harmonica sings, and Nimmer's piano playing bring a new, but slower, energy to this song. If I had to pick a definitive version of this song as sung by Nelson, it would be this one.
When you listen to the record, it's at this point where the audience and the band start to let loose. From the band side, this is the first tune where you can hear Nelson compliment his fellow players during the song. From the audience, they knew the song as it began and they cheered audibly at its conclusion. I could say the audience was polite but tepid in their applause at the beginning of the set. Perhaps they, like new listeners, don't know what to make of this seemingly strange pairing. By the end of "Georgia," they knew they were a part of something special. And they let the band know it. For the rest of the set, you can hear cat calls from the audience as they get into the spirit of the night.
An old Hank Williams tune, "My Bucket's Got a Hole In It," has the vibe of the New Orleans Preservation Jazz Band, complete with a squeaky clarinet and a drum solo, greeted with whistles and cheers of the audience. They cheer Nelson's best guitar solo in Cole Porter's "Ain't Nobody's Business. " They laugh as Wynton brings his only vocal performance on this song, telling Nelson and the audience all the things he might do that are, you guessed it, nobody's business. The set closes with "That's All," a fast blues shuffle where everybody has their last chance to shine. Amid the audience clapping along (wonder if they were standing?), you get a taste of the power of Wynton's trumpet as he let's loose with one of his famous long notes, high and a little dirty.
By the end, the band and the audience have relaxed and just let the night sweep them away. And we as listeners can get a taste of what it was like those two nights at Lincoln Center. When performances like this crop up, my immediate impulse is to want more of it. Sometimes, the sequel does not live up to the promise of the original. In this case, however, another CD would be more than welcome. And I'd love to see the band perform down in Austin at the South by Southwest or Austin City Limits festival.
I love it when two musicians realize that there are more things that unite them than differences in their approaches to music. It reminds you that music is universal and can bring just about anyone together. And, if the results of unique pairings are like that of this CD--where you can't help but smile and tap your foot--it really is lightening in a bottle. (excerpted from http://scottdparker.blogspot.com)
Customer Rating:
Summary: Jazz Music Master + Country Music Master = Blues Masterpiece
Comment: Wynton Marsalis and Willie Nelson, Master in each of their Music categories; have joined forces in a New Orleans-Kind-Of-Way to create a;Believe it or not; Blues recording Masterpiece. Willie's Voice and choice of material(which is perfect for this CD) is perfectly accented by the down home New Orleans horn sounds of Wynton. A modern Laided Back Blues Classic that should be nominated for a Grammy!
Customer Rating:
Summary: two men with the blues
Comment: i love both willie and wynton. they did an excellent job playing together and sharing the lime light.
Customer Rating:
Summary: I love this CD.
Comment: I love this CD. It's a great combination of Willie Nelson and good jazz. It's definitely "feel good" music. I've always liked jazz and Willie Nelson so I figured I'd like it, but it's even better and I play it all the time. Lots of good instrumental plus Willie's voice. I have recommended it to friends. Even my husband, who is not really a Willie fan and likes jazz sometimes, really likes it.
Customer Rating:
Summary: Dyn-o-mite!
Comment: What a great album - my husband and I so enjoy this one! We have never particularly been Willie Nelson fans, but heard a song played from this on XM and couldn't wait to get the whole album. It's fun music - and we are both becoming Nelson fans. Of course, what can you say about Wynton - he's good at anything he does. Highly recommend this one!
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Editorial Reviews:
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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.
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