Customer Reviews

In This House, On This Morning

5 star:		(5)
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I would reinforce the last lines of the Amazon review (and ignore the rest!). Of a wide and varied jazz collection this is one of those discs that I come back to time and time again.

I saw the septet playing this set on TV some years ago and then hunted the album down. It is beautiful, powerful music with strong melodic and rhythmic themes that weave throughout.

Lots of people seem to be very suspicious of "modern" jazz, and I have to agree there's a lot of formulaic stuff around, but this album demonstrates that exceptional music continues to be made.

The Amazon review here is dead on the money. If they awarded Grammys for Most Pompous Liner Notes, "In This House, On This Morning" would win every year. It is truly the standard by which others will be forever judged. It's too bad, because this album is by far his best. It's not even a debate. The music here follows a typical church service, from the opening processional to the roaring, fire-and-brimstone sermon, to the awe-inspiring prayers, to the recessional and finally to the "Pot-Blessed Dinner".

My main complaint with Wynton Marsalis is sometimes he is too letter-perfect in his appreciation of the old masters and the way jazz should be played. I'm with him on that, but sometimes it seems his own style is too clean -- almost like the music of a classical orchestra as opposed to a jazz band. Sometimes he can escape from that, and put out masterpieces such as "Intimacy Calling, Vol. 2" and this album. When he does, Marsalis is indeed a jazz giant, and at $3 in the "used" section of Amazon Marketplace, this album is also right now the greatest bargain in jazz.

The total mastery evident on "In This House, On This Morning" is even more infuriating in the wake of the liner notes, which threaten to overshadow the album's greatness. Written by Stanley Crouch, the liner notes breathlessly remind the privileged listener that Marsalis "is the greatest trumpet player in the last thirty years". Hmm. Let's put that question to Herbie Hancock. The text also plays up Marsalis' housekeeper, who is quoted after listening to band the night before: "God visited you all last evening."

Well, enjoy God's music, brought to you by His personal messenger Wynton Marsalis, the Inventor of Jazz Music. However, this album is so great you can almost forgive him. I should be happy that this album is sliding into oblivion, but in the end the music wins out. If you love jazz, you should have "In This House, On This Morning".

Stunning compositions - a journey in liturgy through jazz

They are not making this cd anymore but should.
Marsalis in concerto mode, surrounded, as usual, by fellow masters. Get it if you can.

This recording proves not only that Wynton Marsalis is one of the best living musicians in America, but that he is an exceptional composer. Though Marsalis is rooted in the jazz and blues of his native New Orleans, he uses those roots as the beginning, not as the end, of this remarkable piece. This septet of musicians might be the best ensemble that he ever gathered; each one of them plays at the very top of their game. First-rate in all aspects.