He And She

Wynton Marsalis - He And She

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Music CD Cover

Artist: Wynton Marsalis
Edition: Music CD
Audio: English (Unknown); English (Original Language)
CD Release Date: 2009-03-24
Music Label: Blue Note Records
Product features:

MARSALIS WYNTON HE AND SHE

Soundtracks:

Poem
School Boy
Poem
The Sun and the Moon
Poem
Sassy
Poem
Fears
Poem
The Razor Rim
Poem
Zero
Poem
First Crush
First Slow Dance
First Kiss
First Time
Poem
Girls!
Poem
A Train, A Banjo, and a Chicken Wing
He and She

Free Music Notes for He And She

Free Music Review: The stuff dreams are made of...
Hit: 5 Stars

In the mood for some Jazz, and having read great reviews, I decided to get Wynton Marsalis' latest disc, "He and she". It's the first disc by the chap that I have so I won't be doing any comparisons to his previous work.

Apparently a concept album of sorts with its theme the relationship between man and woman. The 22 tracks are interspersed with 10 poems dramatically recited by Marsalis and range in length from 13 seconds (opening "Poem 1") to over 5 minutes ("He and she" which bookends the collection appearing at the end with Marsalis declaring "A man and a woman is a dangerous thing, a train, a banjo and a chicken wing"). I find they do not interrupt the flow of music but rather serve as openings to new chapters or acts in the music.

Musically, what we get is beautiful trumpet playing against tasteful and spacious arrangements, with the tempo depending on the mood. A mix of Blues, Swing, and Jazz. "Schoolboy" is a Ragtime groove, swinging and playful. "The sun and the moon" rather sombre with tinkling piano and Harmon-muted trumpet over a languid groove. "Fears" portrays the feel of its title with ominous sounding plucked bass and screeching cymbals against a spare soundscape. "The razor rim", at over 12 minutes, is Big Band Jazz at its stunning best with Marsalis and his quartet really shining (especially the solo by tenor saxophonist Walter Blanding).

My favourite is the suite of "Firsts"; "First crush", "First slow dance", "First kiss", and the Tango-tinged "First time" (with sax playing that sounds like scat).

I'm sure this is the start of a Marsalis journey for me as I'll be hunting down more stuff by him. I usually prefer my music with (some) lyrics but this has completely won me over. Beautiful music, the stuff dreams are made of.

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More free music notes:
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He And She Poster

As the title to WYNTON MARSALIS's fifth Blue Note release indicates, He and She is about that eternally compelling and most elemental of subjects: the relationship between a man and a woman. The Pulitzer Prize-winning composer, trumpeter, and band leader, however, hasn't merely crafted a love story, but a life story -- a bittersweet rumination about the evanescence of life as well as the elusiveness of romance. Time is very much at the heart of He and She: the swift passage of time over the course of one's life, the mood-altering shifts of time within the duration of a song. It's an ambitious effort, combining spoken word and music, and Marsalis has given his quintet some formidable charts. The album is tempered with dashes of humor and plenty of swing. There's ease and elegance and more than a little wisdom in these grooves.