[Dixielandjazz] The Double W Ranch House Band.

[Steve Barbone]

Willie & Wynton? Who's have thunk it? Don't try and get tickets, they're
sold out. 

Cheers,
Steve barbone

Just a Couple of Guys Dressed in the Blues

NY TIMES - By NATE CHINEN - January 15, 2007

Willie Nelson was halfway through a flinty and casually gripping guitar solo
on ³Rainy Day Blues² when everything clicked into place. It was his fifth
song at the Allen Room on Friday night, and the bright young rhythm section
onstage was finally locking in. At Mr. Nelson¹s right elbow Wynton Marsalis
shot the saxophonist Walter Blanding Jr. a knowing glance, one eyebrow
appreciatively raised. After a somewhat tentative start, the concert hit its
groove. 

Mr. Nelson was performing with Mr. Marsalis¹s quintet in the first of four
sold-out shows organized by Jazz at Lincoln Center, under the heading
³Willie Nelson Sings the Blues.² (It was a sequel to a brief encounter
several years ago when he played on a gala for the organization.) Because
the blues are as much of a bedrock for Mr. Nelson as they are for Mr.
Marsalis, this held the simple promise of a meeting on common ground. All
Mr. Nelson brought with him was an acoustic guitar and a trusted wingman,
the harmonica player Mickey Raphael.

He also brought his intractable style, which posed more of a challenge to
the other musicians than any clash of genre. His conversational way with
rhythm, in particular, momentarily threw the band. During a series of
stop-time breaks on ³Basin Street Blues,² the second tune, Mr. Nelson¹s
phrasing was almost perversely free of tempo, rustling like a breeze. In
much the same way, he seemed to regard the jump-blues thrust of ³Caldonia²
as merely a recommendation, something to heed at will.

And that, as his fans might say, is typical Willie. Though he has had one of
the broadest careers in American music, Mr. Nelson is no chameleon. His
colors are the same in any setting; and the calm, comforting tone of his
voice rarely warps or strains to fit a fashion. ³Rainy Day Blues² happens to
be the first track on his current album, ³Songbird² (Lost Highway), which
features anthems by the likes of Leonard Cohen and Fleetwood Mac. Though not
on his usual turf, Mr. Nelson sounds entirely unfazed, and unchanged.

Because that was true on Friday too, the onus of adapting rested on the
pianist Dan Nimmer, the bassist Carlos Henriquez and the drummer Ali
Jackson. They handled it professionally, attuning themselves to Mr. Nelson¹s
drifting cadences with an increasing understanding and command.

There was no such learning curve for Mr. Marsalis, who played his trumpet
with terse, unforced authority right out of the gate. He tinkered a fair
amount with timbre throughout the concert, using an array of different mutes
and techniques. He was pushing toward a vocal quality, singing through his
horn.

Mr. Marsalis also sang with his voice, on a version of ³Ain¹t Nobody¹s
Business² that quickly turned into a buddy duet. ³I hear you,² Mr. Nelson
said sympathetically during a roguish verse by Mr. Marsalis. It was a moment
evocative of the banter between Jack Teagarden and Louis Armstrong. And it
set a playful tone for what followed, including renditions of ³My Bucket¹s
Got a Hole In It² and ³Down by the Riverside.²

But the concert¹s most transcendent moments conveyed more of a quiet ache.
They were ³Stardust² and ³Georgia on My Mind,² a pair of Hoagy Carmichael
standards that Mr. Nelson long ago personalized. He sang them both with a
forthright intimacy, as if telling a cherished bedtime story. And the band
was right there with him, emphasizing how the blues are as much a feeling as
a form.