Michelino
03-10-2007, 11:34 AM
Just saw a couple of cuts from Wynton's new album on the CBS Morning show. (http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2007/03/10/earlyshow/saturday/secondcup/main2555737.shtml) Wow!
This album looks to be the musical exclamation point at the end of his legendary January 2006 speech at Tulane. (http://www2.tulane.edu/marsalis011606.cfm)Could be one of his best yet and maybe because it is driven by his passion for the New Orleans recovery effort and what it signifies for the problems in America.
From the Plantation to the Penitentiary" is a politically-charged quintet album of all new compositions by Marsalis. It features a rare spoken word vocal performance by Marsalis titled "Where Y'All At."
"There is a lot of talk about what should be done to fix America, and a lot of ideas, but really, what are any of us actually doing?" Marsalis writes in the liner notes for the album. "I'm talking about us. Me included. We're just sitting by waiting for somebody else to clean our house. They're not coming. Where are we at? "
Wyton raps (!) and takes us all to task...including so many of my generation that seem to have retreated into suburbia with a "Well I tried that years ago" attitude toward the activism that is necessary to really get the restoration of the New Orleans region and wetland underway. So if you are the type who doesn't like to find a message in your music...best get ready to cover your ears again.
Other reviews
Tuscaloosa News (http://www.tuscaloosanews.com/article/20070309/TUSK02/70308022/1005/SPORTS0106)
Washington Post (http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/03/08/AR2007030800632.html)
A good interview with Wynton Here: (http://www.bendweekly.com/news/3331.html)
On the song "Find Me," Marsalis writes from several points of view, including that of men, women and both the homeless and the affluent, as they observe each other on a city street. Then there's "Where Y'All At?," which he wrote following Hurricane Katrina's devastation of his hometown of New Orleans. The song is an elegy for his beloved Crescent City and a lament about the government bungling that has stalled its recovery.
"That was an interesting thing that happened on American TV after Katrina, with all these people asking: 'Have you seen so and so?'" Marsalis said. "It was like a spiritual return to slavery: 'Have you seen my grandmother? My father? My uncle?'"
And follow that link to read where he really goes after the vacuous Hip-Hop culture.
This album looks to be the musical exclamation point at the end of his legendary January 2006 speech at Tulane. (http://www2.tulane.edu/marsalis011606.cfm)Could be one of his best yet and maybe because it is driven by his passion for the New Orleans recovery effort and what it signifies for the problems in America.
From the Plantation to the Penitentiary" is a politically-charged quintet album of all new compositions by Marsalis. It features a rare spoken word vocal performance by Marsalis titled "Where Y'All At."
"There is a lot of talk about what should be done to fix America, and a lot of ideas, but really, what are any of us actually doing?" Marsalis writes in the liner notes for the album. "I'm talking about us. Me included. We're just sitting by waiting for somebody else to clean our house. They're not coming. Where are we at? "
Wyton raps (!) and takes us all to task...including so many of my generation that seem to have retreated into suburbia with a "Well I tried that years ago" attitude toward the activism that is necessary to really get the restoration of the New Orleans region and wetland underway. So if you are the type who doesn't like to find a message in your music...best get ready to cover your ears again.
Other reviews
Tuscaloosa News (http://www.tuscaloosanews.com/article/20070309/TUSK02/70308022/1005/SPORTS0106)
Washington Post (http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/03/08/AR2007030800632.html)
A good interview with Wynton Here: (http://www.bendweekly.com/news/3331.html)
On the song "Find Me," Marsalis writes from several points of view, including that of men, women and both the homeless and the affluent, as they observe each other on a city street. Then there's "Where Y'All At?," which he wrote following Hurricane Katrina's devastation of his hometown of New Orleans. The song is an elegy for his beloved Crescent City and a lament about the government bungling that has stalled its recovery.
"That was an interesting thing that happened on American TV after Katrina, with all these people asking: 'Have you seen so and so?'" Marsalis said. "It was like a spiritual return to slavery: 'Have you seen my grandmother? My father? My uncle?'"
And follow that link to read where he really goes after the vacuous Hip-Hop culture.