Branford Marsalis

[mke]

Branford's giving his own peppy interviews at the moment. Some choice excerpts:

"Don't waste your time," Marsalis said. "If you lack the capacity to understand jazz, then stay away from it -- listen to pop."

"I didn't listen to jazz when I was 19 or 20; I couldn't stand it."

"I treat my career the same as a doctor or a lawyer would,"

"Don't kid yourself." Marsalis said, "Pop is king everywhere. In France they listen to the same stuff you do."

"You always hear people say 'I know what I like,'" Marsalis said. "Well, it's like my father always said: 'They don't know what they like, they like what they know.'"

Very nice cover to the new ballad album.

[Darryl G. Thomas]

I got it in the mail yesterday, same shipment as the Ayler box.

I have just about his entire output on records. He's one of my favorite musicians. I can honestly say that on each of his recordings I've found something I could really dig. He pooh-poohs his earlier stuff but what the hell, what musician doesn't?

I find him refreshingly candid in his interviews and entertaining. I sometimes feel he suffers being tarred with the same brush as his brother so that he doesn't receive the credit he deserves as a major mainstream player.

[Peterdubya]

I think that Branford's new CD is absolutely beautiful. I wouldn't really classify it as a ballad album, although that is being done.
The version of "Dinner for One James, Please" is just great. There's a whole history of the sax in his solo.
His work keeps maturing and deepening.

[Nate Dorward]

From this morning's Globe and Mail. --N One-night stand proves more sorrowful than sweet
By MARK MILLER Thursday, October 7, 2004 - Page R6	E-mail this Article Print this Article

Branford Marsalis At the Top o' The Senator In Toronto on Tuesday Feeling down? Depressed by the change of seasons? Missing the NHL already? Not thrilled by the prospect of another four years with George W. Bush? Well, then, Branford Marsalis's latest CD, Eternal, is just for you. It's new, it's on the celebrated American saxophonist's own Marsalis Music label and it's the reason why his quartet was in Toronto this week. It's also filled with ballad playing of exquisite melancholy. Of course a CD exclusively of such sweet sorrow is one thing but a club set is quite another. Marsalis, pianist Joey Calderazzo, bassist Eric Revis and drummer Jeff (Tain) Watts were in very good spirits for their second show at Toronto's Top o' The Senator on Tuesday. (The first was an industry showcase.) Indeed they seemed to be feeling no pain at all, even if the worsening condition of the Senator's grand piano warranted more than a few winces as the evening wore on. This was a loose and lively performance, at times (to its detriment) something of a lark. It began seriously enough with Calderazzo alone; he too has a recent Marsalis Music release to promote, the solo piano CD Haiku, and he offered three pieces in his characteristic unwavering yet highly discursive manner. His boppish, breath-held but not breathless version of I've Never Been in Love Before was his best, neither hectic nor rushed but certainly resolute in its reinvestigation of the old Frank Loesser song from Guys And Dolls. Calderazzo was also front and centre on the first tune by the quartet as a whole, a questionable bit of strategy on Marsalis's part, coming so soon after the pianist had proven how a little of his playing can go a long way and how, there's no such thing as just a little of his playing. The tune itself, Jack Baker, was a short, rather anonymous line in the tradition of John Coltrane and inspired an unrevealing, though strenuous tenor solo from Marsalis in the same general spirit. Drummer Watts's Monkish Ling's Lope had the saxophonist reaching back into 1940s Swing, while bassist Revis's Black Elk Speaks pushed him ahead to 1960s avant-garde. In each case, there was both brilliance and burlesque in Marsalis's improvisations - both fury and flippancy, the latter occasionally undermining the former. Nowhere in his contributions to any of these three tunes, save perhaps in his penchant for unedited indulgence, was there a clear indication of his own identity as a musician. Only with a fourth, Calderazzo's graceful Lonely Swan from Eternal, did Marsalis, now on soprano saxophone, present the sort of fully mature and focused statement that might be expected of a man in his mid-forties, and that makes his new CD - for all of its melancholy - an altogether happier proposition than his latest appearance in Toronto.

[Darryl G. Thomas]

Damn Canadians...

[Ennis Snavely]

The Jeb Bush of Jazz.

[Peterdubya]

Originally Posted by Ennis Snavely

The Jeb Bush of Jazz.

This is not what I would call an accurate description.

Jeb Bush, brother of George has proven himself to just another mediocre politician. A man with no vision, no compassion, and a misplaced sense of entitlement.

Branford, brother of Wynton, has proven to be a musician of the highest quality, who is always listening and searching, and is interested in new music.

[Cem]

I like Branford. He seems to feel what he's playing and play what he's feeling. He digs a lot of different styles of music and it shows. I wanna hear his ballads album. I can't say any of the same about his more famous, showpiece brother.

[Over to you, Rob...]

[Ennis Snavely]

Originally Posted by Peterdubya

This is not what I would call an accurate description.

Jeb Bush, brother of George has proven himself to just another mediocre politician. A man with no vision, no compassion, and a misplaced sense of entitlement.

Branford, brother of Wynton, has proven to be a musician of the highest quality, who is always listening and searching, and is interested in new music.

It was a JOKE.

I saw Branford last year in Chicago and I liked him. He plays well and has a very nice tone on the soprano. I've been meaning to get some of his stuff, but haven't got around to it. I have to say, though, that I found little that was interesting or distinctive about his playing. The whole set kind of left me cold. I wasn't all that taken with anybody in the quartet, including the great "tain". I'm not saying that they sucked, just that it didn't move me.

They were opening for an Art Blakey reunion group that featured Branford, Bobby Watson, Terance Blanchard, Curtis Fuller, Peter Washington (I think) and Winard Harper. Watson was much more to my liking, FWIW, compared to Branford. I also liked Blanchard a bit as well.

What's going on with my take on Branford may be colored by my dislike of his brother W, so I'm not sure if I really gave him a fair shake.

So which of his CDs should I listen to?

I just got this one today!!

Quite possibly the most beautiful album cover of all time.

Haven't gotten all the way through it yet, but the first three tracks are very impressive.

Calderazzo continues to impress, and seems to be quietly stealing the show on this one.

THIS has got to be one of the most underrated, and underappreciated groups ever.

And mostly because his name is Marsalis.

[Darryl G. Thomas]

Scott,

Exactly. I feel that Branford's a victim of "jazz politics". The sins of one brother being visited upon another. You hate Wynton so you got to hate Branford. It kind of pisses me off.

If anyone has bothered to investigate, Branford's got to be one of the more open minded musicians in the jazz world. But he's got that last name...

[Cem]

Originally Posted by Ennis Snavely

So which of his CDs should I listen to?

Before I got burglarized, I had several of his discs. I remember liking Crazy People Music a fair bit.

I hear you, Darryl.

The other thing is something that tripped me up for years, and thats the whole Jay Leno gig.

I made it a point to steer clear of Branford for years because of that. Figured he just played a bunch of straight ahead, ultra commercial nonsense.

The only reason I even discovered him was because I saw that he covered A Love Supreme on his Footsteps Of Our Fathers album. I just picked it up on a whim.

Man, was I shocked at what I heard! I'm not even afraid to tell others to this day that I feel his version of Resolution is superior to Coltranes.

I've been hooked ever since.

Originally Posted by Fink

So which of his CDs should I listen to?

Requiem.


After that, I highly suggest Footsteps Of Our Fathers, Contemporary Jazz, and his excellent trio album, The Dark Keys.

[gnhrtg]

Yes, I listened to the first and, I think, the third track from "Eternal" in full at a listening post and dug them both, but the first tune in particular. Getting it soon unless the rest downright sucks, highly unlikely.

Cem - what is this burglarization thing about, not recent I hope, though unfortunate in any case.

Ennis - You might try Requiem, Trio Jeepy, and Contemporary Jazz. Then there's "The Dark Keys," which is also pretty good throughout except for the last track or two, if I recall correcly. Now since I always make it a point to note this, the first thing to do when/if you get that one is to play "Judas Iscariot" and listen in awe, or any other way you choose, to Kenny Garrett at his prime. There's also a track with Lovano there. "Footsteps of Our Fathers" has been growing on me, got it recently. Well there's five there - Requiem and Contemporary Jazz is Branford as Branford, "The Dark Keys" is more of a searching and blowing date and Trio Jeepy is Branford as a melodicist constructing some beautiful and idiomatic solos on standards, though save for later if your predisposition is such that you'll leap on the slightest evidence of "lacking a unique style voice" instead of enjoying this swinging set.

[Peterdubya]

Ennis, sorry, I couldn't tell it was a joke...

I agree with all the reccommendations above.

Also, check out Tain's first CD Branford figures heavily on that one too.

Jeb Bush is the Mike Metheny of politics.

[Cem]

Originally Posted by gnhrtg

Cem - what is this burglarization thing about, not recent I hope, though unfortunate in any case.

Gökhan, it was almost 10 years ago, right when I had built much of my bread & butter staples in my collection. Bunch of music and pre-trip traveling $ stolen. No insurance. Girlfriend's underwear strewn all over, large log in the toilet. I'm still bitter about it.

Anyway, I don't think I 've heard any Branford since "Beautyful Ones...". Sounds like I oughta...

[gnhrtg]

Also, before I forget, try to listen to "Friday the 13th" and the bassist's tune, immediately before or after that one, from "Bloomington." I would perhaps not feel comfortable in recommending the album as a whole but these two are very good performances. Well, Tain also takes a solo where he's all over the drumset on his tune, before these two, and a long one as well, both the tune and the solo. Though know that not only is my memory spotty regarding the music on the disc but also thorough exhaustion and a lack of sleep seem but to aggrevate my inarticulacy.

[gnhrtg]

Cem - yes, that sounds bad, especially with all that you describe which make it more than petty theft or simply, is there such a thing?,burglary. That would have seriously disturbed me. As for Branford, if his earlier work didn't leave much of a positive impression, then perhaps get get one of the more recent dates with the quartet, or the last one with Kirkland, but I don't think there's that big a change to cause a marked sway.

Originally Posted by Cem

Gökhan, it was almost 10 years ago, right when I had built much of my bread & butter staples in my collection. Bunch of music and pre-trip traveling $ stolen. No insurance. Girlfriend's underwear strewn all over, large log in the toilet. I'm still bitter about it.

Anyway, I don't think I 've heard any Branford since "Beautyful Ones...". Sounds like I oughta...

Hey Cem, you should probably be grateful the log was IN the toilet.


And yes, if you haven't heard Branford since that album, you are truly missing out. His playing and compositional skills have advanced lightyears since then.

[Gary Sisco]

I dig Branford and agree that he's been something of a victim of jazz politics because of his last name. He's certainly one of the best of his generation, and I think he'd be recognized that way, otherwise. I also dig his honesty and the way he gets right to the point. I agree with him more often than not. Certainly about pop music and also about people who can't "understand" jazz.

Ennis -- Requiem and Contemporary Jazz are both very good.

[Tom Storer]

I have decidedly mixed feelings about Branford. Certainly his technical polish is admirable, and he always plays with Tain, which will give anyone a boost. But somehow I find there's something cold and mechanical about his music. I think I liked him better when he was younger and there was something naive about his playing. I put on "Dark Keys" the other night. All that virtuosity, but... if it were a book I'd say I just couldn't manage to care very much about the characters. My favorite Branford, I think, is on "Whistle Stop," a quartet album he did in the 80's with Ellis and Tain, I forget the bassist (Veal or Hurst, I guess).

[Ennis Snavely]

Originally Posted by Tom Storer

I have decidedly mixed feelings about Branford. Certainly his technical polish is admirable, and he always plays with Tain, which will give anyone a boost. But somehow I find there's something cold and mechanical about his music.

I guess that was what I felt when I saw him live. I found Bobby Watson to be a hell of a lot more fun and interesting to listen to. Ditto with Blanchard who was also on the same stage.

Thanks for the recs for Branford, BTW. I think I'll give "Requiem" a try.

[milesbeyondjazz]

I got Eternal about a week ago,and it is a beautiful recording. Branford is without a doubt a great tenor sax player.Due to time constraints I've only listened to it once.Plan to speed more time over the weekend with it.Along with Dave Ellis and Sonny Rollins.

[Darryl G. Thomas]

I've got three days off. I'll try to squeeze Eternal in with the Ayler box.

All the recommendations above are good. Probably the Branford recording I've listened to the most is "Bloomington", the live set. The only problem I had with it is it's abrupt end. Time constraint due to the CD format I guess.

One thing I remember particularly about the recording had nothing to do with the music but with a review I read in one of the glossies, probably Jazz Times. The reviewer spent about 90% of the article basically complaining about a perceived "hipper than thou" attitude of the band members. The concert was highlighted by a free improvisation type vibe and the reviewer didn't like that. He felt there was a certain smugness going "look at me, I'm improvising." No comments about the actual execution, whether the music was exciting, boring, whatever.

The guy reminded me of a scene from Mel Brooks' "The History of the World, Part 1". A caveman is doing a cave drawing, all his cavemen buddies are around ooohing and awwwing. When he finishes one of the cavemen walks up and takes a piss on the drawing. The artist goes, "critics!".

[hearsay]

I think Branford is great, a very accomplished musician, always has strong bands, but I've been disapointed by his output in the last few years. I just don't feel like he's covering any new ground, the last album I bought was "The Dark Keys" which I dug (and I think I like him best in a trio setting, "Bloomington" being my favorite). I've heard the ones after that, but I feel like he's been doing the same exact Coltrane quartet/Miles quintet/early Ornette whatever since the late 80's.

[Ennis Snavely]

I picked up a copy of "Requiem". Wonderful. Kenny Kirkland's playing is especially impressive. I think Branford sounds a little like Jan Gaberek, actually. This is a great record by a great band. Branford's got the goods. This a very good snapshot of the best of modern mainstream jazz.

[Gary Sisco]

Ironically, when it came out, Branford said he was "not proud of it" because Kirkland had died before they'd finished the project and Branford said he knew how much better the band was and could have sounded on the record, otherwise. I always liked it a lot and assumed Branford was still angry with Kirkland for going out like that. It's a fine record by a fine band. I like Contemporary Jazz as well, but it has a different feel with a different pianist.

Originally Posted by Ennis Snavely

I picked up a copy of "Requiem". Wonderful. Kenny Kirkland's playing is especially impressive. I think Branford sounds a little like Jan Gaberek, actually. This is a great record by a great band. Branford's got the goods. This a very good snapshot of the best of modern mainstream jazz.

See?

Told ya.

[sonic1]

Originally Posted by Scott Dolan

Reminds me of a new age album cover.

Many Windham Hill artists have covers like these. You could impose "Kitaro" with some japanese writing on there and nobody would know the difference.