Wynton Marsalis

Wynton Marsalis | Format: Audio CD

Product Details

• Audio CD (October 25, 1990)
• Number of Discs: 1
• Label: Sony
• ASIN: B0000025OI
• Also Available in: Audio CD  |  Audio Cassette  |  MP3 Download
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (6 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #69,983 in Music (See Top 100 in Music)

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com

Wynton Marsalis's 1982 debut was recorded before the trumpeter had reached his 20th birthday and when he was still a member of Art Blakey's Jazz Messengers. In many ways it was a pivotal event for jazz in the '80s, as Marsalis became the central figure in a return to the acoustic styles of the late '50s and '60s and the model for all the young lions to come. While there are elements of Miles Davis in Marsalis's style, the strongest parallels are with Lee Morgan and Freddie Hubbard, the pyrotechnic trumpeters who arrived at about the same age in the late '50s and who first made their talents known in Blakey's group. Even with a Harmon mute, on Ron Carter's "RJ," Marsalis suggests Hubbard's precise articulation. Saxophonist Branford Marsalis recalls Wayne Shorter's prefusion style, and Herbie Hancock, Ron Carter, and Tony Williams, featured on four tracks, pick up where they'd left off with Miles Davis and on numerous Blue Note dates. The music is taut, thoughtful, and filled with youthful bravado, but more fascinating still is how a leading-edge style of the '60s succumbed to fusion in the '70s only to return as a full-blown conservative movement in the next decade. --Stuart Broomer

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

17 of 17 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Wynton Marsalis debut, July 1, 2000

By 

Chris Schmidt (Sweeny, TX United States) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Wynton Marsalis (Audio CD)

This, the debut album of perhaps the most influential jazz musician in the world, was recorded in 1982, when he was but nineteen years old. It features three of his own original compositions, as well as those of bandmembers Herbie Hancock (piano), Ron Carter (bass) and Tony Williams (drums). They, along with his brother Branford Marsalis (tenor sax) form an unbelievably tight group that plays with deadly precision and a musical maturity that transcends interpretation. The compositions are startingly creative, many with reflective or enigmatic untertones. The improvisations are handled masterfully; this was perhaps the first group since the sixties to really take group improvisation seriously. The players perform as a group unit, using each other's ideas in their own solos to give the music continuity. The rhythm section is especially precise, masterfully handling the complex counterpoint that jazz musicians have come to expect from Marsalis compositions. There is an unbelievable raphor between the Marsalis brothers who, having played together for so many years, seem to feed off of one another. Their technical virtuosity, even at such young ages, is so amazing and effortless that this listener often forgets just how difficult the passages are. The most impressive track on the CD is the beautiful ballad "Who Can I Turn To (When Nobody Needs Me)." Here, Marsalis showcases his amazing Miles Davis-like ability to breathe exciting life into the most simple phrases, milking every note for all its emotional worth and directly addressing the ambiguity of human life. All in all, the album brings the magnificent phenomenon of swing back to life. In an era of funk rhythms and hard rock, Marsalis dared to be sophisticated, tasteful, and skillful, and this is the perfect way to start or augment any jazz collection. As Marsalis himself would say, "It was swinging. It started off swinging, it kept on swinging, and those who heard it will remember it."

9 of 9 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars 17 years later...., October 14, 2002

By 

James Simon (Valparaiso, In USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Wynton Marsalis (Audio CD)

I bought this album on cassette in Pensacola, Florida in March of 1985. I have replaced that copy on cassette and cd several times. Wynton has been knocked, often by me, for not swinging, not being a true bop player, etc. I think that this self-titled album is one of the greatest jazz albums ever made. I say this after having listened to the album hundreds of times and after comparing it to other Wynton albums. Perhaps it's the nostalgia from highschool, but this album has withstood my every criticism. Everybody swings, the tunes are great (even the ballads) and solos are accessible and educational. Check out the Rhythm tune Hesitation. I say buy this puppy and dig it over and over again until you can sing the solos.

3 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Has not gotten Better than This, March 7, 2004

By 

Gerardo Martinez Casas "Gary" (Charlotte, North Carolina) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Wynton Marsalis (Audio CD)

After listening to most of Wynton's recordings , ( it's 2004 ) , this is still my favorite and The Best he has given to us Jazz Lovers . Up there with Kind of Blue and The Birth of Kool . Flawless perfomances by the greatest Jazz musicians of our time . Enjoy ...