Standard Time, Vol.5: The Midnight Blues
Opening curiously with the classic reveler's benediction "The Party's Over," this 12-selection program of standard material finds Wynton Marsalis's buttery trumpet elegance in the superb company ofEric Reedon piano, Reginald Veal on bass, and Lewis Nash on drums. Augmenting this debonair quartet is the delicately balanced string orchestration of Robert Freedman, who some may recall from Marsalis's original with-strings date,Hot House Flowers. Removing the CD from its jewel-case tray reveals an inside back-cover photo of a recently vacated bed, leaving little doubt that this is another in Wynton's ongoing subseries of romantic interludes. His trumpet is aptly broad and gorgeous in tone, seeking the beauty spots inherent in these romantic short stories. "Baby Won't You Please Come Home" indeed!--Willard Jenkins