Thursday, December 25, 2008

Merry Xmas, it's a distasteful collaboration

Okay, so Dave already beat me to name-checking the Onion's very funny list of obscene, absurd albs ("least essentials") from 2008. But I'm left with a question from the otherwise-semi-all-knowing women and men in the a/v control room: how in the motherfudge did Willie Nelson and Wynton Marsalis' Two Men with the Blues get omitted?

Listen. I am not wet behind the ears when it comes to the business of Willie albs. I know this guy'll pretty much roll tape with whoever the bleep can put together a few thousand clams and a session band [ed. note - wait, it's a live collection! live from the ever-bluesy Lincoln Center, baby!]. But nonetheless... this is the sort of thing that deserves at least some perfunctory remarks from the peanut gallery, non? Did everybody else decide just to bow their heads and zip their lips about it while I was out getting a Sun Drop?

See, here's an example of the New Me I was talking about previously. Old Me would say, "who knows what the future holds?" But New Me is not afraid to see the future, to know the future. There are three things I know for sure about 2009:
  1. This alb cannot not be terrible, but will enjoy strong sales in Lane County, OR .
  2. I will have to hear it at some point(s). I will eventually seek it out. In particular I will eventually need to know what "My Bucket's Got a Hole in It" sounds like avec trumpet (blues trumpet!)
  3. Only the recession conditions will keep me from buying it for our friend Robes. (That and the fact that I still feel kinda bad about a live Bobby McFerrin slab I bought for him. If yr ever over at Robes' house, please ask him to play said slab for you.)
Oh, and if the prospects for this alb excite you, be sure to check out the Amazon customer reviews (here.) Hell, I think I'll chuck a few choice quotations in the damned comments section. It's Christmas, you know? Blues Christmas.
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9 comments:

  1. lex dexterDecember 25, 2008 at 1:08 AM

    alright, in the words of the RZA (?), "let's talk about dem shits":

    "In early 2007 two of contemporary American music's greatest icons, jazz trumpeter and composer Wynton Marsalis and country music legend Willie Nelson, teamed up for a couple of unforgettable nights at New York's Lincoln Center.
    Both love the blues, and love to play it over-easy, Nelson's vocal staying light and playful."

    ReplyDelete
  2. lex dexterDecember 25, 2008 at 1:10 AM

    "There are all kinds of blues - downhearted, rude, even goodtime blues. The sort on this recording could be called country blues, because of the presence of Willie Nelson. There are also several party blues...But the main point is that it's all fun."

    (see, I read _blues_ commentary like this and I start to see why two great, unrelated minds like Scharpling and Molinaro could reach the reactionary point of discounting the genre altogether.)

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  3. lex dexterDecember 25, 2008 at 1:11 AM

    "I, however, enjoyed Rainy Day Blues and the other tunes that follow, which are what the album is supposed to be about: the blues. This album is simply fun. You will love it."

    (I think that when this author refers to "You," he means Wilbro.)

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  4. lex dexterDecember 25, 2008 at 1:15 AM

    "There is a happy medium between Willie and Wynton, and it is on the dusty bayou roads that link these two icons. The delta Blues Sound is unmistakable. Miles Davis once said that he enjoyed listening to Willie Nelson because he had a jazz sense to his music. Wynton Marsalis must have heard this because he has proven that theory is correct. Nonetheless this is enjoyable music, I can't stop listening to this CD. Think Billie Holliday replaced by Willie's Texas twang. Songs like "Basin Street Blues" and "Rainy Day Blues" are awesome."

    (this bit was written - and I mean, WRITTEN - by a guy nicknamed "kayaker." it's maybe a little subtle/non-existent if yr not out of yr mind on xmas eve, but that last sentence really kills me.)

    (ps -- Who else can't help but think of Barbara the (blues) bassist from Earles and Jensen's _Just Farr a Laugh_?)

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  5. AnonymousDecember 25, 2008 at 7:09 PM

    REALLY?!?

    nobody but me cares about this car crash/album? nobody?

    what, is it because it's "CHRISTMAS" or whatever?

    (Anonymous) patrick-guy

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  6. AnonymousDecember 25, 2008 at 10:38 PM

    They forgot to mention that Miles thought Wynton was an assface.

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  7. WilburDecember 26, 2008 at 7:27 PM

    COPCHILD!

    ReplyDelete
  8. Ky'all McCaterbearDecember 29, 2008 at 2:37 PM

    Party Blues are the only blues for me.

    ReplyDelete
  9. brown beardJanuary 5, 2009 at 4:47 PM

    I'm late on this, but, lexer, I love it.

    ReplyDelete