Publication: Something Else! [1]
Author: Nick DeRiso
Date: December 21, 2014
There were surprises, and there were comebacks. There were consolidations, and amazing innovations. But what bound together these Best of 2014 selections was a streak of soulful emotion.
No. 3 — BRANFORD MARSALIS – IN MY SOLITUDE: LIVE AT GRACE CATHEDRAL (JAZZ): Never one to shy away from a big moment, Branford Marsalis brought his saxophones — and nothing else — to one of jazz’s most iconic settings. The results don’t supercede Duke Ellington’s initial 1960s-era Sacred Concert — held there, as well — so much as endeavor to expand the vocabulary of that stirring triumph. Ellington, back then, was focused on blending jazz, black gospel and classical into a kind of large-scale, yet intimate tapestry of emotion. Marsalis instead crafted more in miniature but at the same time, pushed in his own way to blur the lines between post-bop jazz and contemporary classical. In place of the sacred, he delved into modernity of free-form improv — and the results were stunning.
To read the rest of Nick DeRiso’s top picks for 2014, please visit Something Else! online [1].
Links:
[1] http://somethingelsereviews.com/2014/12/21/best-of-2014-blues-r-and-b-jazz/
[2] https://marsalismusic.com/branford-marsalis
[3] https://marsalismusic.com/releases/my-solitude-live-grace-cathedral
[4] https://marsalismusic.com/category/tags/best-2014
[5] https://marsalismusic.com/category/tags/branford-marsalis
[6] https://marsalismusic.com/category/tags/grace-cathedral
[7] https://marsalismusic.com/category/tags/my-solitude
[8] https://marsalismusic.com/category/tags/solo
[9] https://marsalismusic.com/category/news-categories/press