This is a good album that should have been great.
Two lengthy originals ("The Majesty of the Blues" and "Hickory Dickory Dock") find Wynton Marsalis displaying his rapidly developing writing skills, which were being prodded at the time by Duke Ellington and Charles Mingus.
His sextet with pianist Marcus Roberts, tenorman Todd Williams, and altoist Wes Anderson is in outstanding form on these performances.
However, the three-part "New Orleans Function" has two fatal flaws.
Marsalis returned to his New Orleans heritage by welcoming the erratic clarinetist Dr.
Michael White, veteran banjoist Danny Barker, trombonist Freddie Lonzo, and trumpeter Teddy Riley as guests.
Unfortunately, an endless "Sermon" about jazz, written by Stanley Crouch and narrated by Reverend Jeremiah Wright, Jr., drones on for 16 minutes and is unspeakably pompous, killing the momentum for the record.
In addition, the closing Dixieland blues is led by the frequently faltering Teddy Riley (while Marsalis plays second trumpet) and is much too ragged to have been released.
So, the main reason to acquire this album is for the first two pieces.
| Title/Composers | Performer | Listen | Time | Size | Size | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | The Majesty of the Blues (The Puheeman Strut)Wynton Marsalis | Wynton Marsalis | Play | 15:06 | 34 MB | 83 MB |
| 2 | Hickory Dickory DockWynton Marsalis | Wynton Marsalis | Play | 09:07 | 20 MB | 46 MB |
| 3 | The New Orleans Function | Wynton Marsalis | Play | 35:47 | 81 MB | 172 MB |
| 60 mins | 137 MB | |||||
| 60 mins | 302 MB | |||||
| Artist | Job | |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Wessell Anderson | Sax (Alto) |
| 2 | Danny Barker | Banjo |
| 3 | Dr. George Butler | Executive Producer |
| 4 | Stanley Crouch | Composer, Liner Notes |
| 5 | Josephine DiDonato | Art Direction |
| 6 | Steven Epstein | Producer |
| 7 | Dennis Ferrante | Assistant Engineer |
| 8 | Tim Geelan | Engineer |
| 9 | Freddie Lonzo | Trombone |
| 10 | Wynton Marsalis | Composer, Plunger Mute, Primary Artist, Trumpet |
| 11 | Henri Matisse | Artwork |
| 12 | Herlin Riley | Drums |
| 13 | Teddy Riley | Trumpet |
| 14 | Marcus Roberts | Guest Artist, Piano |
| 15 | Frank Stewart | Photography |
| 16 | Reginald Veal | Bass |
| 17 | Dr. Michael White | Clarinet, Guest Artist |
| 18 | Todd Williams | Sax (Soprano), Sax (Tenor) |
| 19 | Todd Sebastian Williams | Sax (Soprano), Sax (Tenor) |
| 20 | Dr. Jeremiah Wright, Jr. | Narrator |
| Quality | Format | Encoding | Description |
|---|---|---|---|
| Standard | MP3 | 320kps 44.1kHz | MP3 is an audio coding format which uses a form of lossy data compression. The highest bitrate of this format is 320kbps (kbit/s). MP3 Digital audio takes less amount of space (up to 90% reduction in size) and the quality is not as good as the original one. |
| CD Quality | FLAC | 16bit 44.1kHz | FLAC is an audio coding format which uses lossless compression. Digital audio in FLAC format has a smaller size and retains the same quality of the original Compact Disc (CD). |