Sometimes even the powerful
Wynton Marsalis has to take no for an answer, as his score for the film Rosewood was commissioned and completed but ultimately not used. In this case, it's clearly the filmmakers' loss, for
Marsalis has written a soulful, stylistically wide-ranging set of cues that he put out anyway as part of his massive 1999 release schedule. The theme song for Rosewood is a cool, studied, country blues-flavored tune with
Cassandra Wilson exploiting the husky tones of her bottom range. Along the way,
Marsalis throws in some solo piano music; some bluegrass -- a dignified folk ballad and reel for fiddler
Mark O'Connor; some fine swing violin from the then-88-year-old marvel
Claude Williams; music for gospel choir and
Shirley Caesar; and handkerchief-waving New Orleans street music (the traditional "Sing On"). There are brief atmospheric cues for big band: the moody "Eyes Around the Corner" is an obvious homage to
Miles Davis and
Gil Evans; "Morning Song" -- with
Karen Briggs on violin -- could almost be an
Ellington outtake with
Ray Nance.
Marsalis' house players from Lincoln Center also receive sporadic room to ruminate, as does
Marsalis' own eloquent horn ("After the Dead," a lonely solo surrounded by a halo of reverb, is especially moving). It's good to hear
Marsalis stretching himself all over the spectrum of music of the American South, and always from the point of view of a staunch, respectful traditionalist.