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Wynton Marsalis
He and She
(Blue Note)
First Appeared in The Music Box, May 2009, Volume 16, #5
Written by John Metzger
Tue May 5, 2009, 05:30 AM CDT
No matter how wide-ranging his output has been, there is no doubt that, when
Wynton Marsalis’ approach is distilled to its barest essence, it consistently
has been steeped in jazz tradition. In fact, Marsalis has spent so much time
trying to educate the masses about the musicians and icons that have informed
his work that he sometimes has had a tendency to seem a little too bookish for
his own good. Although Marsalis maintains his love affair with old-time styles
throughout his latest set He and She, the manner in which he frames the
affair ultimately makes the fun that he and his ensemble are having, as they
explore the early roots of the jazz oeuvre, quite palpable. It is, perhaps, the
most accessible and immediately entertaining endeavor that he has made in a
while.
In recent years, Marsalis increasingly has bound his albums together with
thematic concepts. Not only did he tailor Unforgivable Blackness: The Rise
and Fall of Jack Johnson specifically to serve as the soundtrack for a PBS
documentary by Ken Burns, but he also used From the Plantation to the
Penitentiary to highlight the social and political ills befalling his
nation. Clearly, Marsalis believes in the causes he supports. Likewise, he has
taken his role as the jazz world’s premiere ambassador to heart. In this regard,
He and She isn’t any different from its predecessors. In the liner notes
for the set, Marsalis identifies the styles in which he chose to write each
composition. The underlying notion that ties everything together is his
exploration of the relationship between men and women.
This isn’t a new topic for Marsalis to tackle either. A decade ago, he wrote
music for the ballet Sweet Release, and although he employs a similar
storyline on He and She, he changes the emphasis slightly by focusing not
upon the need to overcome the temptations that threaten relationships but rather
upon the emotions that gush forth over the course of one. Taking their cue
directly from the tale that is told, Marsalis and his ensemble deftly navigate
through the twists and turns of a lifelong love affair. Wandering from
self-doubt to giddy joy, the group establishes moods and tones that are as
playful and spirited as they are romantic.
Marsalis likely will take some flak for interspersing his compositions with
brief, poetic interludes. These spoken-word segments, however, help to define
He and She’s overarching narrative as well as to bring a sense of order to
the affair by smoothing the transitions among the many styles he incorporated
into the fabric of the album’s architecture. At times, the music pulses with
white-hot electricity, while other moments are soft and graceful. Latin
flourishes brush against ragtime grooves, and showing his sense of humor,
Marsalis sculpts an impressionistic four-part suite from First Crush,
First Slow Dance, First Kiss, and First Time.
Marsalis has always been an extraordinarily skilled instrumentalist, and he
typically has surrounded himself with a stellar cast of supporting musicians.
Nevertheless, he often also has been sidetracked by his underlying need to
fulfill some greater, larger-than-life goal, one which remained outside his
reach because he was so blinded by the intensity of his focus that he lost sight
of the bigger picture. With He and She, Marsalis has succeeded in
liberating his artistic vision from his professorial inclinations. As a result,
he has crafted an album that has the power to educate because instead of feeling
like a stuffy, doctoral thesis, it is loose, freewheeling, and wildly
entertaining. 
Of Further Interest...
Louis Armstrong - Live at the 1958 Monterey Jazz Festival
Willie Nelson / Wynton Marsalis - Two Men with the Blues
Woody Shaw - Stepping Stones: Live at the Village Vanguard
He and She is available from Amazon.
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Ratings
1 Star: Pitiful
2 Stars: Listenable
3 Stars: Respectable
4 Stars: Excellent
5 Stars: Can't Live Without It!!
Copyright © 2009 The Music Box
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