Wynton Marsalis Septet - The Marciac Suite ( Audio CD ) 2000

Wynton Marsalis' compositional aspirations are very grand, as proved by his immense works for jazz orchestra. Nonetheless, Marsalis remains far more effective when he keeps the scale small, as on The Marciac Suite (Columbia), written for septet and performed admirably by a now-familiar cast of his Lincoln Center cohorts (starring trombonist Wycliffe Gordon and reedmen Wes Anderson and Victor Goines).

Marsalis wrote the suite to celebrate his tenth annual appearance at Jazz In Marciac, a summertime festival in southwestern France. The suite's programmatic nature - with pieces dedicated to the festival site, the surrounding wine country, and various individuals - ideally suits his skills as a musical portraitist. Like his model and inspiration, Duke Ellington, Marsalis excels at miniatures and cameos, rather than the epic canvasses he seems to prefer. On The Marciac Suite, he's assembled a nicely varied collection of these smaller, self-contained pieces, and his combo performs them with robust pleasure. You won't hear anything new in Marsalis' writing or playing.

CONDITION: NEW, Punched UPC

TRACK LISTING

1 Loose Duck Wynton Marsalis 7:17
2 The Big Top Wynton Marsalis 4:39
3 Jean-Louis Is Everywhere Wynton Marsalis 4:57
4 Mademoiselle D'Gascony Wynton Marsalis 6:05
5 Armagnac Dreams Wynton Marsalis 6:06
6 Marciac Fun Wynton Marsalis 5:20
7 For My Kids at the Collège of Marciac Wynton Marsalis 4:03
8 Marciac Moon Wynton Marsalis 9:27
9 D'Artagnan Wynton Marsalis 4:47
10 Guy Lafitte Wynton Marsalis 4:07
11 B is for Boussaget (and Bass) Wynton Marsalis 3:58
12 In the House of Laberriere Wynton Marsalis 5:53
13 Sunflowers Wynton Marsalis 9:59