<HTML><FONT FACE=arial,helvetica><FONT SIZE=3>In a message dated 2/25/03 11:41:40 AM Central Standard Time, Trumpetom@aol.com writes:<BR>
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<BLOCKQUOTE TYPE=CITE style="BORDER-LEFT: #0000ff 2px solid; MARGIN-LEFT: 5px; MARGIN-RIGHT: 0px; PADDING-LEFT: 5px">I caught the family band special last night on PBS. Struttin' With Some Barbecue was a treat! Several styles were played at the same time. The best part for me was the brothers having musical fun quoting each other during the round of solos on that piece.<BR>
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Tom Loeb</BLOCKQUOTE><BR>
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Tom, I happened to cath that show and I wold like to comment. These Marsalis brothers are very fine musicians...but there is something missing...like feeling. <BR>
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The "struttin' with some Barbeque' was a sop to us traditionalists...'Hey!...we can play this stuff, too. The front line on the Dixieland-polyphonic ensemble sounded like Saddam Husseins' Palace jazz band. Three horns playing with absolutely no feeling or relationship to each other. The audio equivalent of three drunken Brits throwing darts at the same time in a pub.<BR>
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Wynton on Barbeque wasn't quite sure what to do. He would flub around trying to approximate Armstrong then give it up and wander around rather aimlessly, trying to playing what he thinks is 'New Orleans' trumpet. His phrasing is stilted and frankly he doesn't swing playing traditional things.<BR>
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They played a couple of really forgettable 'modern' things. The elder Marsalis plays the mindless modern-comp piano that has infested jazz for so long.<BR>
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Jason, I guess is the youngest, and plays decent enough on drums but is very stiff. He looked like he was scared to death of his brothers.<BR>
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Delfeyo is the trombonist and plays like a hundred other comtemporary trombonists who have a lot of technique and are very stiff. He played Tyree Glenn's 'Sultry Serenade' without any warmth whatsoever.<BR>
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They all looked good with expensive clothes and cool stage moves. Harry Connick Jr. made a guest appearance. He had been a teenage apprentice of the elder Marsalis. His piano style seems to be a teenagers take on 'Thelonius Monk.' He and Ellis did a duo pino on 'Caravan.' <BR>
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All in all, to me it was not disappointing because I didn't expect anymore from the Marsalis family band. I was curious as to what they would sound like together and they lived down to those expectations. There were some mildly interesting interviews about the family and early pictures. We were spared any harangues & lectures from Wynton<BR>
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Here is a family of accomplished 'jazz' musicians that were born and raised in New Orleans, and they can't play what we think of as New Orleans jazz. Yet, they will look down on those who can.<BR>
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Curmudgeonly yours,<BR>
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Jim Beebe<BR>
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