Royal Garden Blues

Branford Marsalis | Format: Audio CD

Product Details

• Audio CD (October 25, 1990)
• Number of Discs: 1
• Label: Sony
• ASIN: B000002673
• Also Available in: Audio CD  |  Audio Cassette  |  Vinyl  |  MP3 Download
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (4 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #126,227 in Music (See Top 100 in Music)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

5 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars bop/post-bop virtuosity, November 11, 1999

By A Customer

This review is from: Royal Garden Blues (Audio CD)

Branford exibits total mastery of all that came before him. Not content to simply rely on those old cliche bebop runs, he exhibits the rare ability to create new and beautiful melodic variations on each melody. And by the way, the piano playing is SPECTACULAR!

5.0 out of 5 stars Mister Marsalis as a young lion!, February 23, 2009

By 

Dick Decent "www.decentpie.co.uk" (www.myspace.com/decentpie) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Royal Garden Blues (Audio CD)

If you would like to hear the classic be-bop style taken to the cleaners, this album is for you. I was lucky enough to be a jobbing musician in the early eighties. One night we were playing The Upstairs at Ronnie Scott's club in London, and I was allowed into the main club to see the act appearing that evening. It just happened to be the Wynton Marsalis quintet... lucky me!
From that moment, Brandford's playing especially seemed to speak to me, and this recording is a beautiful example of his precocity and wit. The assured and already quite brilliant teqhnique is displayed relentlessly, but even at this relatively young age, a wisdom of emotion and maturity is also there as perfect counterpoint.
The other players, both old and young have perfectly matching pedigrees, and some true greatness ensues.
Does humour belong in music? I think so, and from the sheer exuberance of the title track [an old N'Orleans standard for the uninitiated] I think Mr. B's gonna be agreeing with me.

For those that know jazz, and equally for those that don't... if you don't already have it... then BUY IT

5.0 out of 5 stars Ballads are highlights, February 2, 2009

By 

Black Dog (Seabrook, TX) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Royal Garden Blues (Audio CD)

I think that this I Branford Marsalis' second solo relase, and it continues the early 80's trend that the Marsalis brothers set of following the modern jazz of the 60's (Miles Davis, Wayne Shorter, et al). This CD includes a set of swing tunes, Swinging at the Haven and Royal Garden Blues, which are standard fair though executed well. There is a drum vehicle at the end (featuring drummer, Tain Watts) which is a throwback to Coltrane's "Drum Thing" from Crescent. Gershwin's "Strike up the Band" is given a Hawkins' type treatment in which the melody is barely discernable (after all why waste time on the head when Branford could be burning up a solo"). However, the highlights are the ballads Dienda and Shadows. Marsalis' execution is exceptional with varied textures and dynamics on all of the long notes. The influence of Shorter is clear with Marsalis reminding us of classics such as "Infant Eyes". If this album had been released in the 60's, we would surely be hearing of the ballads on this album as standards.