Clapton and Marsalis Make 'Blues' a Joy

[Valin]

The American Spectator

Fabulous musical collaboration in the CD of the year.

Quin Hillyer

11.18.11

 

Some things are more important than politics. Great music is one of them. Music, the "universal language," can ennoble an entire civilization and can even serve as a tool of diplomacy. It also can just flat-out fill a soul with joy. A new CD out this year, to which I just cannot stop listening, might be the most stunning collaboration, the most inspired melding of idioms, that you the listener may hear in decades. It's just that good.

 

Ladies and gentlemen, please introduce yourself, quickly, to Wynton Marsalis and Eric Clapton Play the Blues.

 

The title is actually a bit misleading. Most of the tunes are played far more like traditional New Orleans jazz than like blues. In his CD notes, Marsalis explains: "We decided to use the instrumentation of King Oliver's Creole Jazz Band plus two (electric guitar and piano), because they transformed the world of music with a set of 1923 recordings and, with performances like 'Dipper Mouth Blues,' forever established the blues as a centerpiece of jazz."

 

(Snip)

 

 

 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o-1nvKs5ZOU

 

 

Sidemen

 

Wynton Marsalis (trumpet), Eric Clapton (guitar, vocal), Dan Nimmer (piano), Carlos Henriquez (bass), Ali Jackson (drums), Marcus Printup (trumpet), Victor Goines (clarinet), Chris Crenshaw (trombone, vocals), Don Vappie (banjo), Chris Stainton (keyboard).

[Valin]

And one more just because.

 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fwz8kVO3i34

[Ghost]

oh boy ...NCTexan..

[NCTexan]

oh boy ...NCTexan..

Yo Cuz.... toot that horn.

[NCJim]

I am a fan of both jazz and Clapton

Thanks