Branford Marsalis - Upward Spiral

Upward Spiral
June 2016
  1. There’s a Boat Dat’s Leavin’ Soon For New York
  2. Blue Gardenia
  3. From One Island to Another
  4. Practical Arrangement
  5. Doxy
  6. I'm a Fool to Want You
  7. West Virginia Rose
  8. Só Tinha de Ser Com Você
  9. Momma Said
  10. Cassandra Song
  11. Blue Velvet
  12. The Return (Upward Spiral)
FLAC is a lossless, high quality alternative to MP3 files.
The Branford Marsalis Quartet with Special Guest Kurt Elling Soar on Upward Spiral.
 
First Meeting of Acclaimed Ensemble and Singer Yields a Program of Small Group Jazz with Voice for the 21st Century
 
It is no secret that the Branford Marsalis Quartet can be as freewheeling off the bandstand as in performance.  Saxophonist Marsalis, pianist Joey Calderazzo, bassist Eric Revis and drummer Justin Faulkner are each bold personalities with strong opinions, equally intense in both musical and verbal exchanges.  “The band talks about all kinds of things, many of which are unprintable,” Marsalis admits.  “But we have serious musical debates as well.”  One of these conversations led to Upward Spiral, the new album with special guest Kurt Elling that Marsalis Music is releasing via OKeh Records on June 10, 2016.
 
“One topic we got into was picking the best singer to work with our band,” Marsalis recalls.  “My candidate was Kurt Elling, because he has the most flexible voice around, is always in tune and is a true jazz musician.  When I met Kurt two years ago at a Thelonious Monk Institute competition, we had a conversation at the bar about doing a record together.”
 
“I had bumped into Branford on the road a handful of times, and we always had significant conversations,” Elling adds.  “So when he mentioned making a record, I said ‘any time.’”  What has emerged, after an intense week of performance and recording in New Orleans, is a collection that blends Songbook staples, jazz standards, and standards-to-be from a diverse array of composers.
 
The goal from the outset was to create a true partnership.  “I usually reject the word `collaboration,’” Marsalis admits, “because it implies a third thing from that which each collaborator does well.  I don’t need a collaborator to do what I normally do, and Kurt doesn’t, either.  But this time, none of us were going to do what we normally do.  The goal here, even though he sings lyrics, was to highlight Kurt’s voice as an instrument.”
 
Elling was more than prepared for the challenge.  “I love singing with a hard-hitting band,” he confirms, “and I’ve spent so much time trying to be with excellent tenor players.  From when I started in Chicago, working with Von Freeman, Eddie Johnson and Ed Petersen up to more recent gigs with Ernie Watts, Joel Frahm and Houston Person, I’ve made it a point to be comfortable around a great tenor sound.  I didn’t want Branford’s band to feel that it had to hold back because a singer was there.  To be welcomed into the Quartet’s circle, which is all about new challenges and hard blowing, was very important to me.  When I asked Branford what to bring about a week before the date, he said ‘Don’t worry, you’ve got the thing.’  So I brought ‘the thing.’”

Choosing songs, which were tested over a weekend’s engagement at New Orleans’ Snug Harbor before three days in the studios of the Ellis Marsalis Center for Music, became a process in which all five musicians had input.  “Everyone in the band is always listening to all kinds of music,” Marsalis emphasizes, “so it’s not as if we had to go out and do research on vocal records.  

“For example, I had been listening to the Oscar Brown song `Long as You’re Living’ for two years before the date.  The first time I heard Sting’s `Practical Arrangement,’ I called him and asked for a lead sheet, because I wanted to play that song with the quartet even before the idea of recording with Kurt came up.  I also chose ` Tinha de Ser Com Você,’ a Jobim song that has not been done to death.  I told everyone to study Elis Regina’s version, because I wanted us to sound authentic rather than generic.  Doing `Blue Gardenia’ was my idea, while Eric originally suggested Chris Whitley’s `From One Island’ when we were talking about more recent songs.  

“At one point Kurt said that there was too much melancholy, so I came up with `There’s a Boat Dat’s Leavin’ Soon’ because I love Shirley Horn’s version.  But so much of the beauty is in the melancholic material, and I’m confident that my audience is ready for real life.”
 
Elling also brought ideas and several songs to the partnership. “I had been working on some difficult classical music at the time and was content not to have one of my songs on the record,” Marsalis admits, “but Joey showed Kurt `Cassandra’ at Snug Harbor and Kurt wanted to write a lyric and record it.”  Calderazzo wrote the music for “The Return (Upward Spiral)” and sent it to Elling, who added a lyric prior to the session.  The singer also suggested “Doxy,” the Sonny Rollins classic with lyrics that Mark Murphy introduced; “West Virginia Rose,” with music and lyrics by pianist Fred Hersch; and “Momma Said,” with the quartet responding spontaneously in the studio to the Calvin Forbes poem.
 
Two classic ballad performances complete the collection.  “Kurt had wanted to do `Blue Velvet,’ using Bobby Vinton’s hit version as a starting point,” Marsalis recalls.  “I said that I’d write it out, but Kurt said, `No, I want us to sound like ghosts, with just enough technique to get the message across.’  He also wanted to do a voice/tenor duet, which I was originally against, but we tried `I’m a Fool to Want You’ and he was right.  When you have a singer who can inhabit the emotional space, it works.”
 
Every track on Upward Spiral confirms the beyond-category strengths of both the Quartet and Elling.  “No one in the band had to make adjustments, because good musicians can play many styles of music,” Marsalis notes.  “We’re fully engaged with one another when we’re playing, so it was easy to engage with Kurt.  The only adjustment was not to play long solos, but if making the music sound good means playing less, you play less.”
 
Elling adds that “My thing is always about tailoring what I do to the vision and personality of the band, and Branford’s quartet is a real working band, which is both an incredible luxury and incredibly important for the music.  They provided everything on a silver platter.”
 
For Marsalis, Upward Spiral is consistent with all of his previous music.  “My philosophy of jazz is that it should be about strong melodies and a great beat, and every song here has a melody that you can hold in your mind, that you can sing.  This is not jazz as a personal think tank, where people are only concerned with impressing everyone already inside of the tank with deconstruction and reharmonization.  This is the kind of music that should expand our base to include people who would like jazz if it were friendlier.  From the minute Kurt started performing with us, it was all good.”

Preview the music on the album here.

Other Releases by Branford Marsalis

In My Solitude: Live at Grace Cathedral
Branford Marsalis
2014

Branford Marsalis continues to prove that there is no context too large or small to contain his gifts. A reigning master of the jazz quartet format, dedicated champion of the duo setting, in-demand soloist of classical ensembles both chamber and orchestral, and session-enhancing special guest on an array of rock, roots and pop performances over the course of his career, his ever-broadening creativity and instrumental command have created the profile of a multi-dimensional musician with few peers among contemporary performers. Read more »

Four MFs Playin' Tunes
Branford Marsalis
2012

Branford Marsalis           saxophones
Joey Calderazzo             piano
Eric Revis                       bass
Justin Faulkner              drums
  

…the album is a knockout: hard nosed and hyperacute, tradition minded but modern, defined by the high-wire grace of his working band.” -Nate Chinen, New York Times

Legendary saxophonist Branford Marsalis and his tight-knit working band invite audiences into their world of musical cohesion with the release of Four MFs Playin’ Tunes. On this nimble and sparkling album, the band respects the emotional intent of each song and executes that intent with musicianship focused solely on serving the purpose of each tune. Read more »

Songs of Mirth and Melancholy
Branford Marsalis
2011

Branford Marsalis - Saxophones
Joey Calderazzo - Piano

Few contemporary pairings of saxophonist and pianist have been as inspired and productive as that of Branford Marsalis and Joey Calderazzo.  Since replacing the late Kenny Kirkland in Marsalis’ quartet in 1998, Calderazzo has blended seamlessly into the uncompromising creative atmosphere of the ensemble and revealed new facets of his own conception, while Marsalis in turn has been inspired by the pianist’s challenging instrumental support and growing strength as a composer.  The relationship grows ever deeper, as documented on the new Marsalis Music CD Songs of Mirth and Melancholy. Read more »

Metamorphosen
Branford Marsalis
2009

Branford Marsalis - Saxophones
Joey Calderazzo - Piano
Eric Revis - Bass
Jeff “Tain” Watts - Drums

Time flies when you are making great music, as Branford Marsalis will be the first to attest. “I had no idea that two years had passed since we made our last album,” says the celebrated saxophonist, composer, producer and leader of the Branford Marsalis Quartet. The realization prompted a simple charge to Quartet members Joey Calderazzo, Eric Revis and Jeff “Tain”Watts. Read more »

Braggtown
Branford Marsalis
2006

Over the course of its life - and most particularly on its previous Marsalis Music scs - the Branford Marsalis Quartet has revealed an ability to express every kind of emotion, including an informed sense of history (on the label-launching Footsteps of Our Fathers in 2002 and the 2004 DVD Coltrane’s ‘A Love Supreme’ Live in Amsterdam), a sensitivity to other artistic disciplines (Romare Bearden Revealed from 2003) and a profound sense of intimacy that stretched the concept of a “ballads album” (2004’s Eternal). Read more »

Harry and Branford: A Duo Occasion
Branford Marsalis
2005

Pianist Harry Connick, Jr. and saxophonist Branford Marsalis are old friends who regularly
surprise the music world with their eclectic tastes and ability to deliver in a variety of idioms.
When the pair got together to record Occasion from Marsalis Music’s Connick on Piano
series, the setting may have been unexpected, but the results were typically challenging and
satisfying. After the positive response that Occasion received upon its spring 2005 release,
further encounters by the pair were inevitable. One particularly memorable set, from the Read more »

A Love Supreme Live In Amsterdam
Branford Marsalis
2004

For Marsalis Music’s second DVD release, label founder Branford Marsalis and his quartet have been captured in a complete performance of John Coltrane’s 1964 masterpiece A Love Supreme. This legendary suite, which tenor saxophonist Marsalis included on his label’s premier release, Footsteps of Our Fathers, was performed at Amsterdam’s Bimhuis during a European tour in March 2003. Read more »

Eternal
Branford Marsalis
2004

For Rafi Zabor’s full liner notes for Eternal, please follow this link.

Many musicians create collections of ballads to serve as background listening in one-dimensional moods. Branford Marsalis is an uncommon musician, however and Eternal is no ordinary ballad album. The new CD, Branford’s third on his Marsalis Music label, will be released on September 14. Read more »

Romare Bearden Revealed
Branford Marsalis
2003

Branford Marsalis Quartet
Branford Marsalis  saxophones
Joey Calderazzo  piano
Eric Revis  bass
Jeff “Tain” Watts  drums

Special Guests
Harry Connick, Jrpiano
 Delfeayo Marsalis  trombone
Ellis Marsalis  piano
Jason Marsalis  drums
 Wynton Marsalis  trumpet
Reginald Veal  bass
Doug Wamble  guitar

Jazz musicians have frequently inspired and been inspired by visual artists; but the interchange has never been more direct and intense than on Romare Bearden Revealed. This disc, comprised entirely of newly recorded music, was produced by saxophonist Branford Marsalis in celebration of “The Art of Romare Bearden,” a major retrospective that opened at the National Gallery of Art in Washington, D.C. in 2003. Read more »

Footsteps of Our Fathers
Branford Marsalis
2002

Branford Marsalis has never been one to stand still. The acclaimed saxophonist forges new paths with an assurance born of lifelong dedication and keenly honed knowledge, in the company of his stunning quartet. Together they have created Footsteps of Our Fathers, a joyous homage to jazz immortals living and dead who helped shape a value system that inspires not only Branford’s playing and writing, but also his determination to ensure that true creativity will be properly documented through his new Marsalis Music label. Read more »