Big Train

by Wynton Marsalis

Overview

On 1999's Big Train, Marsalis tries on the mantle of Duke Ellington in the latter's centennial year and finds that it suits him. A 52-minute big band suite modeled after Ellington's long-form essays, it purports to evoke the moods, sounds and feelings of a cross-country train trip with selections named after a train's various cars. Like an Ellington suite, the sections run together; after the striking "All Aboard," you're in Ellington country, right down to the plunger mute wah-wah riffs. "Union Pacific" paraphrases "Rockin' in Rhythm"; the ballad "Sleeper Car" evokes Johnny Hodges and Tricky Sam Nanton quite explicitly. Inevitably, there's a track called "Night Train"; thankfully, its bossa nova flavor has nothing to do with Duke's piece. Marsalis has mastered the Ellington idiom, writing and organizing the piece skillfully and getting the Lincoln Center Jazz Orchestra to play with precision and emotion. Yet the one thing that Ellington (and Billy Strayhorn) could do and Marsalis has yet to demonstrate is the ability to come up with a big, memorable tune; there's craft, emotion, and swing, but little else to take home with you. If you didn't know that this work was about trains, you might not guess it; you can't really feel the rocking, chugging, streamlined motion of the rails in this work. There is fine soloing all around in the hard bop tradition from Wessell Anderson, Victor Goines, Wycliffe Gordon, Ted Nash and Walter Blanding, Jr., though the liner fails to note which of the multiple tenor, alto, trombone players are soloing on which tracks. But overall, this is one of Marsalis' better extended form essays. ~ Richard S. Ginell

Product Details

Release Date:	07/13/1999
Label:	Columbia
UPC:	0074646986028

Tracks

1. All Aboard
2. Observation Car
3. Union Pacific Big Boy
4. Smokestack Shuffle
5. Northbound-Southbound
6. Dining Car
7. Night Train
8. Engine
9. Bullet Train
10. Sleeper Car
11. Station Call
12. The Caboose

Album Credits

Performance Credits

Wynton Marsalis   Primary Artist,Trumpet
Lincoln Center Jazz Orchestra   Guest Artist,Orchestra
Wessell Anderson   Clarinet,Sax (Alto),Sax (Soprano)
Herlin Riley   Drums
Marcus Printup   Trumpet
Doug Wamble   Banjo,Guitar
Joe Temperley   Sax (Bass),Sax (Soprano),Clarinet (Bass)
Ryan Kisor   Trumpet
Wycliffe Gordon   Tuba,Trombone
Riley Mullins   Trumpet
Ted Nash   Flute,Piccolo,Clarinet,Sax (Alto),Sax (Soprano),Clarinet (Bass)
Farid Barron   Piano
Seneca Black   Trumpet
Wayne Goodman   Trombone
Victor Goines   Clarinet,Sax (Alto),Sax (Tenor),Sax (Soprano),Clarinet (Bass)
Ron Westray   Trombone
Rodney Whitaker   Bass

Technical Credits

Delfeayo Marsalis   Producer
Wynton Marsalis   Composer
Arnold Turner   Photography
Lee Crum   Photography
Kiku   Art Direction
Darby   Assistant Engineer
Jalmus   Editing
John Matousek   Mastering
Stanley Crouch   Liner Notes
Patrick Smith   Engineer
Dennis Jeter   Project Coordinator