Posted 09.09.2008

Willie Nelson and Wynton Marsalis dig into the blues

By Mike Cote

Willie Nelson has challenged convention throughout his career so it’s hardly surprising for long-time fans to see him teaming up with Wynton Marsalis for an evening of jazz-tinged blues.

WILLIE NELSON & WYNTON MARSALIS Two Men With the Blues (Blue Note)
WILLIE NELSON Stardust: Legacy Edition (Columbia/Legacy)

Willie Nelson has challenged convention throughout his career so it’s hardly surprising for long-time fans to see him teaming up with Wynton Marsalis for an evening of jazz-tinged blues. Recorded live at Jazz at Lincoln Center in New York in January 2007, Two Men With the Blues, captures a summit meeting between two music icons revisiting classic material.

Still, it must have made for an odd visual pairing: the 47-year-old sophisticated jazz and classical ambassador and the weathered 74-year-old country maverick (who recently came to Denver for a show at Red Rocks and at a Democratic convention party). But the contrast of Nelson’s low-key vocals and the polished, inspired playing of the Marsalis quartet makes for an interesting mix and some virtuoso performances.

“Night Life,” a slow-groove ballad Nelson co-wrote that he first recorded in 1960 (listed as “Nite Life” on his recent box set), offers a reminder that the musician best known as a country outlaw was dipping into the blues early in his recording career.

“Listen to the blues they’re playing,” Nelson sings as Marsalis’ trumpet answers in response. “Listen to what the blues are saying.”

Nelson and Marsalis chose a set list that includes both familiar blues standards—the upbeat “Bright Lights Big City” and “Caledonia”—as well as a couple of the American songbook standards Nelson remade as his own on his 1978 Stardust album. Marsalis and his band bring a fresh jazz club feel to both the title track and “Georgia on My Mind,” both co-written by Hoagy Carmichael.

As you might expect, Marsalis presents a brand of blues featuring trumpet and saxophone as the primary solo instruments. But Nelson’s long-time sideman Mickey Raphael also came along for the ride, adding his distinctive harmonica playing to the set, including solos on “Night Life,” “Basin Street Blues” and “Georgia on My Mind.”

Marsalis leaves most of the vocals to Nelson but teams up with him for a little bit of playful sparring on “Ain’t Nobody’s Business,” making it clear that these two artists were having a great time digging into common ground.

Back in 1978, Nelson had to convince his record label that releasing a collection of standards was not commercial suicide. Stardust helped solidify Nelson’s burgeoning popularity and further strengthened his reputation as an artist willing to take chances by embracing a wide spectrum of genres.

The newly released Legacy Edition of the album adds a second disc, dubbed “More from the Great American Songbook.” It plucks 16 more standards Nelson has recorded over the years, including “Mona Lisa,” “Stormy Weather” and “What a Wonderful World.”

Last updated on Jan 21, 2009 at 09:09 AM