Track Listing

1. Debussy: l'Isle Joyeuse
2. Fadre: Pavane
3. Debussy: Arabesque No. 1
4. Rachmanioff: Vocalise
5. Stravinsky: Pastorale
6. Colombier: Emmanuel
7. Villa Lobos: Bachianas Brasileiras No. 5
8. Satie: Gymnopédie No. 3
9. Ravel: Prelude
10. Ravel: Piece en Forme de Habanera
11. Faure: Silcilienne from Pelleas et Mecisande
12. Stravinsky: Serenata from Pulcinella
13. Mussorgsky: Old Castle from Pictures at an Exhibition

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #21624 in Music
• Brand: Sony
• Released on: 1990-10-25
• Number of discs: 1
• Dimensions: .21 pounds

Customer Reviews

Fabulous!
This incredible album features Branford Marsalis' moving performances of classical music from the romantic period. I enjoy a variety of musical styles, particularly classical and jazz. I wasn't familiar with any of this music or many of these composers when I bought it 15 years ago. I bought it because I enjoyed Marsalis' Jazz, and thought a classical album from him would be interesting. 15 years later, this remains one of my very favorite CDs in my large collection, and I now love music from composers like Faure, Villa-Lobos, and Satie, which this album introduced me to. And I have never heard these pieces performed better than on this great album.

puts the class in classical
It would be disingenuous to say this is a "crossover" CD for Branford Marsalis, popularly known as a jazz artist. But what this achingly beautiful collection does is to melt all stereotypes away. Not only those that have been pinned on jazz artists in general, or Marsalis in particular, but the entire classical genre. As classical music can often be so intimidating and inaccessible to a mainstream audience, Marsalis dares to let his haunting sax breathe new life into all the selections. Trust me. As other reviewers have said, this will do three things: 1) Become one of your top five CD's in your collection, 2) Make you run out and buy other Marsalis CD's, and 3) Awaken or re-awaken you to the classics. Played like this, you can close your eyes and know, just know, it is the soundtrack of your life and all lives worth living.

If you own just one classical Saxophone CD
I do like classical music. I have had this CD for a number of years and it is still great. The soprano sax is a difficult instrument to play in tune and Marsalis does that and with a wonderful tone, too.