[Dixielandjazz] Willie, Wynton & Ray Charles

[Stephen G Barbone]

Don't look now, but Willie and Wynton are tearing up the joint. Plenty  
of material here, like in their earlier appearance and record, for  
Dixieland Bands to cover. I don't know about others, but my band is  
updating "Bucket", Ain't Nobody's Business, Caldonia, and others along  
the lines of the W & W performances. They are perfect for swing  
dancing performances, as well as for jazz concerts.
Cheers,
Steve Barbone
www.myspace.com/barbonestreetjazzband

February 11, 2009 - NY TIMEs - by Nate Chinen

Much Brass, a Bit of Twang and Plenty of Ray Charles

Willie Nelson and Wynton Marsalis first shared a stage at Frederick P.  
Rose Hall two years ago, finding common cause in the wide, slow river  
of American music. That interaction yielded an album, “Two Men With  
the Blues” (Blue Note), that flattered them equally. So there was  
recent precedent to draw on at the Rose Theater on Monday night, in  
the first of two sold-out concerts presented by Jazz at Lincoln Center.

To their credit, the headliners didn’t repeat themselves; they played  
just one song from the album. It was “That’s All,” by Merle Travis,  
and, as on the album, it appeared as a grace note. Instead, following  
the suggestion of Mr. Nelson’s manager, they played songs associated  
with Ray Charles, the artist who most credibly covered all the  
pertinent terrain: jazz, country, blues and gospel, along with R&B and  
soul.

This was a fine idea made finer by the inclusion of Norah Jones, whose  
style can suggest a well-tended middle ground between the home bases  
of Mr. Marsalis and Mr. Nelson. She emerged early on to sing “Come  
Rain or Come Shine,” taking adroit and thoughtful liberties, and  
stayed on to join Mr. Nelson on “You Are My Sunshine,” over a loping  
Latin rhythm. For the rest of the night, drifting on and offstage, she  
added hints of cool refinement and (to a lesser degree) sensuous  
comfort. But by and large it was a night for companionable tensions.  
Mr. Nelson, seated with an amplified acoustic guitar, sang in the  
appealingly modest, intractably casual style that has always been his  
calling card. Mr. Marsalis, armed with his trumpet and his quintet,  
advanced a dapper erudition.

Some of the best teamwork came on trudging, hard-luck fare like  
“Busted” and “Losing Hand.” But Mr. Nelson also worked small wonders  
with “Unchain My Heart” and “Crying Time,” which had Ms. Jones singing  
harmony.

The arrangements, by Mr. Marsalis and others, featured plenty of  
intricate maneuvers for trumpet and saxophone. At times this seemed at  
odds with the vocals: Mr. Nelson’s plain-spoken grace on “I Love You  
So Much (It Hurts)” was half obscured by the chromatic scrawl of Mr.  
Marsalis and the tenor saxophonist Walter Blanding. On some other  
tunes the solo sections stretched long enough that the singers  
appeared stranded, despite engaging work by the soloists, including  
Mr. Nelson’s harmonica player, Mickey Raphael.

And a few anticipated highlights fell short. “Here We Go Again,” which  
Ms. Jones recorded with Charles shortly before he died in 2004,  
sounded unrehearsed. “What’d I Say” and “Hit the Road Jack” were  
rousing but contrived. And the absence of “Georgia on My Mind” felt  
like a missed chance, though it appears on “Two Men With the  
Blues.” (It’s the song that best connects Mr. Nelson to Charles, and  
Ms. Jones could have nailed it.)

But the concert’s core results were compelling, largely because of a  
workhorse rhythm section: Dan Nimmer on piano, Carlos Henriquez on  
bass and Ali Jackson on drums. Whatever the groove, they were sharp  
and committed, making the others sound better. With that foundation,  
Mr. Nelson and Mr. Marsalis were free to move as far in each other’s  
direction as needed, with every ounce of their easy aplomb.