For this CD, veteran pianist
Ellis Marsalis performs songs composed by some of the top modern New Orleans players of the 1960s, including drummer
James Black, tenor saxophonist Nat Perrilliat, clarinetist
Alvin Batiste, saxophonist Harold Battiste, and himself. With the exception of
Alvin Batiste's tunes (based on "Cherokee" and a Dixieland-ish blues), the originals have strong melodies, slightly tricky chord structures, and sound quite fresh.
Marsalis utilizes his son,
Branford, on tenor and soprano; bassist
Robert Hurst; and drummer
Jeff "Tain" Watts; the young
Jason Marsalis sits in on drums during two numbers.
Ellis Marsalis is in particularly inventive form on this unusually obscure material. ~ Scott Yanow