Search - Wynton Marsalis :: He And She

Listen to the music, appreciate the Poem

E. Hilston | Merrimack, NH USA | 03/25/2009

(4 out of 5 stars)

"Another solid effort by Wynton. The band is energenic and plays at a level beyond their years. Each piece is unique in its style and linked together by pieces of a poem that explores the relationship between "He and She". Do not allow the poem to subtract from the music, I feel the music can easily stand on its own. Try listening to the disc as programmed and on next listening program only the music pieces. This will give a difference experience. This release may not increase Wynton's fan base dramatically but current fans should be very satisfied, as I was. This was recorded in 2007, maybe we can expect another release within 2009."

There's a lot to enjoy in the group's performance and the co

jazzias | 04/10/2009

(4 out of 5 stars)

"This is Marsalis's fifth album for Blue Note and is about the relationship between man and woman.

It's a thematic work expressed in a mixture of spoken word and Jazz.

The trumpeter's latest outing intersperses a dozen fine new compositions with a series of less compelling recitations of his own poem "He and She".

The subject is just as the title suggests, the relationship between the sexes, traced from childhood to maturity: not a love story but a life story of the evanescence of life and the elusiveness of romance.

The music is a mix of jazz, swing and blues and within the parameters of Marsalis' approach, the group experiment widely.

Marsalis leads his quintet from the front in inventive fashion, and receives powerful support from Walter Blanding's tenor and soprano saxes, and a superb rhythm section of Dan Nimmer (piano), Carlos Henriquez (bass) and Ali Jackson (drums).

Punctuated throughout with Wynton's own poetry, the songs have the simple titles of "Sassy", "First Kiss", "Girls" etc leaving the music to fill in the picture.

Musically, it's all very beautifully crafted and performed with confidence and skill.

The album ends with the title track, Marsalis finally concluding "A man and a woman is a dangerous thing, a train, a banjo and a chicken wing".

Marsalis's weak point is his preacher's instinct, so there's plenty of spoken material along the lines of "red, red moon, big, big sky, the road, only the road", to represent the supposedly universal underpinnings of male-female courtship.

Once you get past all that, the trumpet-playing - pure in the upper register, with directness weighed against Miles-like muted ambiguity - is gorgeous.

The album's peaks: "The Sun and the Moon", with Walter Blanding's smoochy sax, "Sassy" and "Girls!".

The CD debuts at # 6 of the Billboard Top Jazz Albums.

Issue date 2009-04-11

From The Plantation To The Penitentiary

Two Men With The Blues"

The stuff dreams are made of...

Nse Ette | Lagos, Nigeria | 04/30/2009

(5 out of 5 stars)

"In the mood for some Jazz, and having read great reviews, I decided to get Wynton Marsalis' latest disc, "He and she". It's the first disc by the chap that I have so I won't be doing any comparisons to his previous work.



Apparently a concept album of sorts with its theme the relationship between man and woman. The 22 tracks are interspersed with 10 poems dramatically recited by Marsalis and range in length from 13 seconds (opening "Poem 1") to over 5 minutes ("He and she" which bookends the collection appearing at the end with Marsalis declaring "A man and a woman is a dangerous thing, a train, a banjo and a chicken wing"). I find they do not interrupt the flow of music but rather serve as openings to new chapters or acts in the music.



Musically, what we get is beautiful trumpet playing against tasteful and spacious arrangements, with the tempo depending on the mood. A mix of Blues, Swing, and Jazz. "Schoolboy" is a Ragtime groove, swinging and playful. "The sun and the moon" rather sombre with tinkling piano and Harmon-muted trumpet over a languid groove. "Fears" portrays the feel of its title with ominous sounding plucked bass and screeching cymbals against a spare soundscape. "The razor rim", at over 12 minutes, is Big Band Jazz at its stunning best with Marsalis and his quartet really shining (especially the solo by tenor saxophonist Walter Blanding).



My favourite is the suite of "Firsts"; "First crush", "First slow dance", "First kiss", and the Tango-tinged "First time" (with sax playing that sounds like scat).



I'm sure this is the start of a Marsalis journey for me as I'll be hunting down more stuff by him. I usually prefer my music with (some) lyrics but this has completely won me over. Beautiful music, the stuff dreams are made of."