Marcus Roberts - 1997 - Blues for the New Millennium FLAC

Marcus Roberts - 1997 - Blues for the New Millennium

This intriguing release features pianist Marcus Roberts and a dozen of his originals played by a variety of young musicians in groups as large as 11 pieces. The compositions (other than Robert Johnson's "Cross Road Blues" and Jelly Roll Morton's "Jungle Blues") are all by the pianist, as are the arrangements. In general, the original tunes themselves are not all that memorable (none of the melodies are destined to catch on), but the charts are quite colorful and often make the ensembles sound like a distortion of early-1930s Duke Ellington (with some McCoy Tyner-like piano here and there from Roberts). There are plenty of excellent solos from the band (which includes trumpeter Marcus Printup, trombonist Ronald Westley and altoist Sherman Irby) during the episodic music, and the CD rewards repeated listenings. An intriguing set. (AllMusic)

Track list:
01 - Cross Road Blues
02 - Jungle Blues
03 - Anytime, Any Place
04 - That Was Then, and This Is Now
05 - Jade
06 - When the Mornin' Comes
07 - Heart of the Blues
08 - Whales from the Orient
09 - A Servant of the People
10 - Late Rehearsal
11 - Express Mail Delivery
12 - Early Rehearsal
13 - I'll See You at One
14 - It's Maria's Dance

Enjoy and share!