Track Listing

1. Clean Air
2. I Wonder Where Our Love Has Gone
3. Bumps
4. Everloving Star
5. Edith
6. The Latest
7. Skylark
8. My Life is a Tree
9. Bat Trad
10. Salty Dogs

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #184186 in Music
• Released on: 2007-04-10
• Number of discs: 1

Album Description
Marsalis Music continues its limited edition Honors Series with a focus on the diverse styles encompassed by the vast tradition of New Orleans. Marsalis Music Honors Alvin Batiste presents the legendary modern jazz clarinetist, composer and educator in his first album in over a decade, with assists from former students Branford Marsalis (who also produced) and Herlin Riley, plus special guest Russell Malone. The Honors Series, which has received a number of accolades (including a 10-Best pick in The New Yorker) for its focus on veteran artists who have not received their due in multi-generational ensembles, continues to feature the distinctive cover art of photographer Lou Jones.

Amazon.com
With the death of veteran clarinetist Alvin Bastite, New Orleans lost one of its great individual voices, as well as one of its prized music educators. Not well-known outside of Louisiana, partly because he was lamentably under-recorded, he basically left behind in print only this installment in the Marsalis Music label's series of tributes to overlooked heroes. While it doesn't do full justice to his freer improvising skills and we don't really need vocalist Edward Perkins on four songs, as agreeable as he is, any recording containing Batiste's beautiful, magically gliding, full-to-bursting solos is a keeper. Nicely backed on four cuts by label head and producer Branford Marsalis--a former student of his--on saxophone and the exceptional guitarist Russell Malone on four other tracks, Batiste polishes standards like "Skylark" and breathes bop as well as New Orleans tradition into originals like "Salty Dogs" and "Bumps." Another of his distinguished former students, drummer Herlin Riley, kicks the music sideways and forward as only he can. --Lloyd Sachs

Customer Reviews

An Important Treasure
I find this CD exemplary of the creative vision and musical genius of Alvin Batiste, who has been dubbed the "Mozart of New Orleans." Batiste is accompanied by a vibrant rhythm section--Lawrence Fields on piano, Ricardo Rodriquez on bass, Russell Malone on guitar, and Herlin Riley on drums. With his use of blues and a progressive improvisational style, Alvin Batiste joins the ranks of the great jazz improvisers of all time--from Charlie Parker to John Coltrane. As a pioneer of the New Orleans classic jazz clarinet tradition, Marsalis Music Honors Alvin Batiste is a must own CD. It is uniquely Alvin Batiste at his finest. The CD begins with "Clean Air" by Batiste followed by "I Wonder Where Our Love Has Gone" by Buddy Johnson. Batiste unravels Johnson's classic by wailing and moaning the blues, a trademark of his signature clarinet sound. Track three is one of my favorites. Name after his grandson, "Bumps" is certainly a clear example of what Jelly Roll Morton once observed about New Orleans jazz as having a Spanish tinge to it. As such, "Bumps" is a fusion of Cuban-based rhythms, southern Louisiana blues, and modal jazz. Speaking of collaboration, another favorite of mine is Batiste's "My Life is a Tree" with lyrics written by his wife, Edith. The essence and wisdom of "My Life is a Tree" s beautifully interpreted by the vocalist Edward Perkins, who reminds me of a cross between Leon Thomas and Oscar Brown, Jr. Other compositions by Batiste include track nine, "Bat Trad" which pays respect to one of his idols, Charlie Parker. The song signifies on "Cherokee" a jazz standard that only the masters whip through chord changes as Parker did and as Batiste does here. The final track closes with another one of Batiste's compositions "Salty Dogs". What I like about this piece is its unique blues structure, second-line feel, and the addition of Perkins on vocals and Branford Marsalis on soprano sax. It's typical New Orleans--funky and spicy! Essentially, this CD project reflects two generations of New Orleans wind players--Alvin Batiste and Branford Marsalis. But above all, the CD unfolds as a touching tribute to one of New Orleans legends, Alvin Batiste (1932-2007).