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Written by Dean M Shapiro Wednesday, 29 April 2009 08:44
CD Reviews
This is one of those records that proves to the world that the city where jazz was born can still produce it. Trumpeter extraordinaire Irvin Mayfield and incomparable pianist and mentor Ellis Marsalis combine their talents on this 14-track CD with creative, imaginative interpretations of some of the greatest musical standards from the 1930s right up through the present. Classics like Thelonious Monk’s “Round Midnight,” Duke Ellington’s “In a Sentimental Mood” and Harold Arlen’s “Come Rain or Shine” are right up there with Lennon & McCartney’s “Yesterday,” Stevie Wonder’s “Blame it on the Sun” and “You and I” and Burt Bacharach’s “A House is Not a Home.” Backed by Jaz Sawyer on drums, Neal Caine on bass and the Louisiana Philharmonic Orchestra on three of the tracks, Mayfield and Marsalis make their instruments literally sing the lyrics to familiar melodies, running the full range of the musical scale, eliciting the moods the songs were originally intended to convey. “Yesterday” is included twice, on the opening track with just the quartet, then on the closer with full orchestration; both equally mellow and smooth. This was a dream collaboration between two of New Orleans’ finest musical maestros: hopefully there will be more.
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