Willie Nelson & Wynton Marsalis - Two Men With The Blues

Who would've thought that Willie Nelson (the VERY accomplished country musician) would be making a live Jazz-Blues album with composer/trumpeter Wynton Marsalis? The album is full of life, and energy. Pulling a few covers from Ray Charles, Louis Jordan, Spencer Williams, and others- it sounds like a solid, yet bewildering experience.





"Bright Lights Big City" kicks straight off, and the entire band starts up without a notice. While Willie Nelson begins to sing, you can really see how multi-dimensional his voice really is. The song has a very upbeat, happy feeling that fits this record almost perfectly.


"Night Life" starts with a simple upright bass, and Wynton Marsalis chimes in with his trumpet, giving a wonderful performance for any trumpeter in quite a while. When Willie Nelson's vocals kick in with the piano and jazz drumbeat. The song is very good on it's own, but superbly showcases Wynton Marsalis' trumpeting abilities.


"Caldonia" is a very swing, blues song. Full of lively trumpet, trombone, and saxophone. While the vocals hit over a nice portion of the song, the rest is filled with various live solo's from members of the bands, including a lengthy Harmonica solo.


"Star Dust" comes off as a very heartfelt piano ballad, that has a very contemporary pop sound to it. Near the three-minute mark, Wynton brings out the trumpet and woos the crowd with his admirable abilities.


"Basing Street Blues" is a very well delivered song from Willie Nelson's side, as it shows of his dynamic and chemistry with the band behind him. Hearing the song can instantly take someone to New Orleans in their mind, and see the French Quarter- and the various musicians playing there.


"Georgia On My Mind" is a classic. Everyone has heard it at some point or another in their lives. The song is beautifully composed, and the band playing it on this record delivers the performance just as amazingly as Ray Charles did. You can hear obviously parts of how Wynton added his own flavors to the classic song.



"Rainy Day Blues" is a very soulful blues song, that gets the crowd up and clapping. The song shows how the band functions well together, and often feed off of each other for the chance to shine. It seems that the stardom between Wynton (and his band) and Willie Nelson seem to make the song sound simple, and give the efforts of their life to make a song song so soulful.


"My Bucket's Got A Hole In It" is a very Memphis-blues influenced song. Marsalis' and Nelson both use the song to show off their instruments of choice; giving Nelson one (of the few) guitar solos that works well with the song, and only gives the rest of the band to play off, and when it seems like the song can't peak anymore- Marsalis sings a few lyrics and hops right back to his trumpet. Near the songs end, it becomes almost percussion oriented- and the drums hit, cowbells are banged, and crowds are delighted.


"Ain't No body's Business" is just that. It's the band carrying their tune, and their song without even paying attention to the band, bringing their egos down to the same floor, to share the same tune. The dark, bluesy song is carried very well with Willie Nelson's vocals, resting perfectly over the band as they play, to give a stellar sound.

"That's all" feels like a perfect, swinging end to the record. It keeps the upbeat nature going, with background vocals proved from previously unheard voices. While the song clocks in at over six minutes, it keeps the power moving all through.

It's odd to think that this combination would ever work. Willie Nelson, a well revered country musician... would make a live, jazz-standard record with a well accomplished composer, and trumpeter like Wynton Marsalis, but it does. The record fulfills, and never lets down at all.

The only negative thing foreseeable in this record- is the fact that it's ALL covers. There are no originals (though, one or two songs previously written by Nelson), and it'd be interesting to hear the entire band play original songs together, and see the obviously chemistry blend even further.

Final Score: 8.5 Giraffes Out Of 10.

Beck - Modern Guilt

Beck could be considered one of the better (if not the best) songwriters of this generation. His catchy lyrics, and genre-jumping extremes have earned him a place in music history. From the intensity of his slide guitar antics on "Mellow Gold", to his infectious organ keys on "Odelay!", Beck knows what he's doing when he releases his music. His newest record, dubbed "Modern Guilt" is to be released July 8th in America (which also shares Beck's birthday), and to be produced by the great producer; DJ Danger Mouse who has already made name for himself over the past few years. The new album is said to be a mix of the classic Beck and 60's Brit rock.


"Orphans" is a song that is scarily catchy. The song has so much happening (musically) that you couldn't ever find yourself walking away humming it as much as you do. With verse and chorus over-singing by Cat Power- it makes this song VERY complicated, but very likable and distinct for what the rest of the record has in store for you.

"Gamma Ray" has a very "driving down a secluded highway in a Shelby Mustang" feel, it feels like Beck is properly incorporating (not replicating) the Brit rock feel. When Beck's vocals begin, you get a warped, mixed feeling that sounds like the character of "The Man From Another Place" from the TV show "Twin Peaks. "Gamma Ray" song really shows off how DJ Danger Mouse influenced the record, with his trademark eerie keyboard vocal overtones.

"Chemtrails" was the first single, and first released song from the new album. The song starts with very elegant ambient keyboard and bass, while Beck begins to sing over top of it all. The song kicks kicks in with an impressive drum beat that brings complete life to the song. While the song shows of the experimentation of the album, it doesn't feel completely like it belongs on the album. It feels like it could most certainly be a B-Side of sorts... but, the album wouldn't be tarnished without the existence of this song.

"Modern Guilt" which plays the role of the title track, is also one of the catchiest songs from the album. The song even FEELS like it was written to be catchy, even including "da-da-da's" into parts of the song. The bass and drum are rather prominent through the song, with the guitar chiming in more loudly during the chorus- while the Piano and Keyboard are featured pretty much throughout the entire song to fill in and give life to the song.

"Youthless" sounds like it fell directly out of Beck's previous effort, "The Information". With a hip-hop bass line, and lots of synth and minimalism- it seems to blend perfectly with what is in the rest of the record, which- could be considered a bad thing, if you're looking for tracks that stand out to the ear, and make you envision what you're hearing.

"Walls" is the second song on "Modern Guilt" in which Beck is accompanied by indie-pop musician Cat Power. Like the previous song with Cat Power, it boils down to her singing quietly under Beck's vocals, while the different drum beats and orchestrations stand out. The song works well and seems to follow along the same emotional feel of the record.

"Replica" has a spastic, shattering drum-beat, and an impressive guitar riff that sounds like it fell directly out of an "Explosions in the Sky" song. This song shows off yet another branch of creativity that Beck is known for- minimalist aspects, and cultured music.

"Soul of a Man" takes a more classic Beck approach to songwriting. Filled with a heavy guitar riff, and infectious grooves- it feels like one of the first Beck-revival songs in a long time (Though to place that Beck has a paticular sound is rather redundant in of itself).

"Profanity Prayers" begins with a very orchestral synth intro- then spouts directly into a rough, radioheadesque garage sound. at about the 2:40 mark, it lashes into an intense drum beat, with an acoustic guitar over top- just as quickly as it happens, it's over- and back into the song. The last 30 seconds are a barrage of weird, low-volume synths hitting over top of the previous garage sound.

"Volcano" is the last track on the record, and it doesn't let down. The second the vocals kick in over the acoustic guitar, it can take anyone (familiar with Beck at least) back to the Sea Change era. Even the chorus has the weird hyphy sound from the beginning of "Lost Cause". With the emotional nature of this song, it makes a perfect closer to the album.



Beck could possibly be considered one of the most innovative, provocative, and spontaneous musicians of this (or any) generation.

The fact that he decided to work with such an acclaimed producer like DJ Danger mouse (who already has an impressive portfolio himself) says that he takes his music seriously.

When you look at who he was, and how he wrote his early records like "Mellow Gold" and compare them to this one- you can note how he's grown up in front of everyone (musically, at least).

He went from being an anti-folk superstar that writes about how Mountain Dew Fucked with his head, to writing heartfelt songs about emotional breakdowns.

The music in "Modern Guilt" often feels like "The Information: Part 2", because many of the songs feel like they fell exactly from that era.

This record is in NO way a dud, but- it's to listen to THIS Beck, when you know that "Odelay!" is out there.

Final Score: 8.5 Giraffes out of 10.