Live at the Village Vanguard
This stupendous seven-CD collection from the all-world trumpeter, composer, and bandleader Wynton Marsalis chronicles the amazing evolution of his underrated live septets at the legendary Village Vanguard from 1990 to 1994. Sequenced to simulate a week-long gig, the set melds together three different incarnations of Marsalis's ensemble: the gifted New Orleans-born drummer Herlin Riley, the ebullient Wessel Anderson on sopranino and alto saxes, and the fluent trombonist Wycliffe Gordon are the constants. The mercurialMarcus Robertsand the fleet-fingeredEric Reedalternate on piano, whileBen Wolfeand Reginald Veal lock it down on the bass. These selections showcase the astounding "school" of musicians that followed Marsalis's first superband with his brother,Branford Marsalis, the lateKenny Kirkland, andJeff "Tain" Watts. Marcus Roberts's articulate lines sonically sigature his uptempto original, "The Arrival," and his solo onThelonious Monk's "Misterioso" calls forth the soulful spirit of Monk's mentor,James P. Johnson. Eric Reed accompanies the leader with a well-traveled, harmonic magic carpet on "The Seductress" and provides some imaginative ivory ticklings on the 5/4-cadenced "Uptown Ruler," with Herlin Riley's Big Easy backbeats and Mardi Gras Indian chants. Wycliffe Gordon makes a stylistic stop in Kansas City onCount Basie's "Way Back Blues," with his territory trombone tones, and pays his dues to Tricky Sam Nanton onDuke Ellington's "Play the Blues and Go." Reginald Veals's "Brother Veal" rings with his deep sound, while Wes Anderson's Afro-Arabic "The Egyptian Blues" and Todd William's uptempo, Coltrane-like "The Cat in the Hat Is Back" display their horn and composition skills. Another Marsalis cohort, Dr. Michael White, makes a surprise appearance with his Preservation Hall clarinet on the traditional hymn "Flee as a Bird to the Mountain." Marsalis's studio recordings are revisited, from the early '80s tune "Knozz-Moe-King" to the parade pulsations of "Juba and a O'Brown Sqauw" from the 1997 Pulitzer Prize-winning masterpiece,Blood on the Fields. His encyclopedic command of the trumpet tradition is in full effect. Check out his bop-ballad renditions of "Cherokee," "Embraceable You," "Stardust," and the muted musings on the short but sweet "Bona and Paul," inspired by two character's from Jean Toomer's literary classic,Cane. Two extended compositions, the 40-minute "Citi Movement," with its aural impressions of urban life filtered through swing, ballad, and Afro-Latin forms, and the nearly hour-long jazz spiritual "In the Sweet Embrace of Life," a movement fromIn This House, on This Morning, are well paced for this enthusiastic crowd. With Wynton Marsalis's superb playing and leadership, along with his dowm-home introductions ofLionel Hampton,Cassandra Wilson, andJoshua Redman, this potpourri of selections does what all remote recordings are meant to do: it puts the listener at home in front of the bandstand and captures the one-of-a-kind ambience and interplay of live music making.--Eugene Holley Jr.