Majesty of the Blues

Wynton Marsalis | Format: Audio CD

Product Details

• Audio CD (May 26, 1989)
• Original Release Date: June 13, 1989
• Number of Discs: 1
• Label: Sony
• ASIN: B0000026SE
• Also Available in: Audio Cassette  |  MP3 Download
• Average Customer Review: 4.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (14 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #61,758 in Music (See Top 100 in Music)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

10 of 10 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Majestic Noble Inclination, July 9, 2005

By 

A. Robinson "DCRob Bows2No1" (DC-the 51st State) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Majesty of the Blues (Audio CD)

I got the cassette befoe the album was released when I was a college DJ. I've just bid farewell to the last shred of tape from playing it so long and so often. The entire piece, particularly the sermon, is a meditation. The sermon puts voice to that which many feel but can not find the way to put into words. Preachy? Yes, but that's what sermons are. At the sermon's core is the truth that in many ways indigenous music forms (jazz, blues) are dying and there are some who are blissfully ignorant or joyously celebrating their demise. But as the sermon says, 'beware of premature autopsies.' As one felow reviewer stated, this disk should be mandarory in all art appreciation classes. Get this disc if for nothing else the sermon. The other tracks are equally evocotive and showcase Wynton's creative genious.

8 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars ...soul's music...., October 21, 2001

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R. Davis "upfromsumdirt" (louisville, ky) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Majesty of the Blues (Audio CD)

of all of the jazz that i own, this is perhaps my overall favorite...not because it is avant-garde or ultra-cool or tryin to be cute: this is just original, down to earth music that pays homage to the tradition and culture of its influences.
i use to play this for my child, who was a year old when this came out, hoping to instill in her a sense of purpose and spirit.
like true hip-hop, jazz wasnt created for its own sake to propel its own glories into the psyche' of music purists....all music doesnt have to be pretentious or popular or artsy to be accepted; this is just an extension of culture to how people use to live and celebrate the things around them good and bad. marsalis reflects those elements nicely with this.

7 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Majestic Marsalis, March 17, 2002

By 

John F. Jennings (Florida, USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Majesty of the Blues (Audio CD)

The majesty of the blues! The blues (to quote a contemporary author) has always been about making the most of things regardless of the situation you find yourself to be in. On the album, The Majesty of the Blues, Wynton Marsalis does just that. The first two cuts set the pace with some of the most soulful, blues-drenched jazz I've ever heard (on par with Thick in the South, Levee Low Moan, and Uptown Ruler). Then on cut three the New Orleans-style funeral is portrayed in all it's glory. This is what the blues is all about: making the most of the situation! Upon the death of the loved one mourners are comforted by the majesty of the music. The sermon on cut four? Eloquent and inspirational, the preacher offers hope through application of the eternal theme of death, burial, and resurrection. Jazz is dead? Better check the autopsy report, that body is alive! The blues will never die for it is the universal cry of the heart for freedom; freedom from bondage, pain, abuse, neglect, want, despair, etc. The album ends with Happy Feet Blues, an unabashed expression of joy that follows the renewed awareness that the best things in life (faith, hope, love, nobility, etc.) cannot be destroyed and are of eternal value. Get the recording and listen to it until you "get it". And be sure to "give it" to somebody else!