Live at the House of Tribes

Wynton Marsalis (Artist) | Format: Audio CD

Product Details

• Audio CD (August 30, 2005)
• Number of Discs: 1
• Label: Blue Note Records
• ASIN: B000A7Q2CI
• Also Available in: Audio CD  |  MP3 Download
• Average Customer Review: 4.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (18 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #88,354 in Music (See Top 100 in Music)

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com

Wynton Marsalis headlines this lively, Night of the Cookers-type gig, recorded in Manhattan in 2002. Joining him on the frontline is his long-time partner, alto saxophonist Wessell "Warmdaddy" Anderson, backed by a rhythm section featuring bassist Kengo Nakarmura, drummers Robert Rucker and Joe Farnsworth, and pianist, Eric Lewis. The material is what you would expect on informal set like this: A riffing romp through Thelonious Monk's "Green Chimney’s," two bouncy renditions of "Just Friends," and "What is This Thing Called Love," the enduring ballad, "You Don’t Know What Love Is," Charlie Parker's "Donna Lee," delivered at bop-speed, and Paul Barbarin's Crescent City chaser, "2nd Line." Add percussionist Orlando Q. Rodriguez's Latin tinges and brother Delfeayo's on-point production to Marsalis’s flawless flights, and you have a document that captures improvisation in the heat of performance, forged by the sacred give-and-take between the artist and the audience. --Eugene Holley, Jr.

Recommended Wynton Marsalis Discography

Black Codes (From the Underground)

Standard Time, Vol. 6: Mr. Jelly Lord

Citi Movement

Product Description

Live at The House of Tribes is a superb new live album from the Grammy and Pulitzer Prize-winning trumpeter, composer, and bandleader Wynton Marsalis. It was in December 2002 that Marsalis and his quintet settled in for the first of what has become an annual winter performance at The House of Tribes, a funky and intimate community-run theater on the Lower East Side of Manhattan that also plays host to theater, dance, astrology, photography exhibits, and more. Marsalis led his quintet through a blistering set of hot, swingin' jazz. This is Marsalis' first live jazz album since 1999's Live At The Village Vanguard boxed set. Blue Note. 2005.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

20 of 22 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars This is the sound of a good time, October 22, 2005

By 

Clare Quilty (a little pad in hawaii) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Live at the House of Tribes (Audio CD)

This is a great example of a live album that really conveys the upbeat mood of both musicians and an audience, a synergistic relationship in which the crowd actually enhances the flavor of the music. This is not glasses clinking and posers hooting to get their hipness on record, this is the sound of a good time.

Recorded in a small-sounding theater in New York, ten days before Christmas, 2002, "House of Tribes" finds Marsalis fronting much the same group as is featured on "The Magic Hour." They fly through six mostly long songs (the average is about 10 minutes) including "Green Chimneys," "Just Friends," "What is this Thing Called Love" and "Donna Lee."

I bought this last night and have been listening to it all day while working and putzing around the house. The record shifts smoothly from strutting, upbeat numbers to smoother affairs and ends with the rousing, tambourine-goosed "2nd Line." I think I'm going to be playing this for quite a while and I really wish I'd been there when it happened.

12 of 13 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars No surprises, January 25, 2006

By 

Samuel Chell (Kenosha,, WI United States) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Live at the House of Tribes (Audio CD)

Wynton Marsalis' vita sheet has become so impressive that it's easy to take it as a given that he's the world's greatest trumpet player if not musician. He does nothing on this session to disturb such an estimate. If comparisons are to be evoked, the primary influence on Wynton's playing, at least to my ears, is Clark Terry rather than Diz, Miles, or Clifford. Like Clark, he alternates between a classically pure sound and occasional vocal effects, and he's continually playful and engaging, teasing his audience with minimal virtuosity before cutting loose. If his playing lacks passion and drama, it more than compensates with consummate technical command and undeniable flare.

This program appears calculated to appeal to a wide audience. "Green Chimneys" is an extended two-chord open piece introduced over an infectious boogaloo street beat. "Just Friends" is taken at an uncharacteristically laid-back tempo, with latin percussion and heavy emphasis on the off-beats. "You Don't Know What Love Is" and "Donna Lee" are the two least compromising selections on the date, both played in the tradition of Bird and Miles. "What Is This Thing" returns to the accessible rhythmic feel of "Just Friends," and "2nd Line" is an elemental New Orleans march.

Although producer Delfeayo Marsalis seems to have put microphones at select tables to convince us that the audience was eating up every single note, he's otherwise to be commended for the audio quality of the recording. The sound has depth and natural presence without the annoying boosting of the bass that's endemic on jazz recordings these days. The other musicians on the date--especially Wessell Anderson--manage to impress while attending to their supportive roles. Overall, a solid entry for Mr. Marsalis.

6 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars You are there!!!, October 25, 2005

By 

Thomas Fink - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Live at the House of Tribes (Audio CD)

This recording captures Wynton's live performance in an intimate setting as if you were seated third row center. Don't let others convince you that the audience gets in the way of the performance. This is pure give and take-between musicians and listeners. This is a true jazz experience as close as you'll get without being present at the recording.