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Thomas Marriott: Crazy: The Music of Willie Nelson
ByEnter trumpeter/flugelhornist Thomas Marriott, with Crazy: The Music of Willie Nelson.
Marriott and the band take on a couple of Nelson's best known compositionsthe 1961 Patsy Cline hit "Crazy," and the Nelson-recorded "On the Road Again" (is there a person alive who hasn't heard those tunes?), along with a bunch of lesser-known gems. But if you're expecting understated, subtle country flavors, think again. The sound has a distinctly modern and often brash tone, thanks in no small part to the three members of the under-recorded Matt Jorgensen + 451 ensemble: drummer Jorgensen, saxophonist Mark Taylor, and keyboardist Ryan Burns. Especially Burns, who switches from the acoustic piano mode of his Tree-O (Odd Bird Records, 2007) in favor of some serious musical adventurousness with his Fender Rhodes and Moog synthesizer.
The opener, "Phases & Stages, Circles and Cycles" pulses to life on Geoff Harper's slow bass throb leading into a rhythm that sizzles behind Marriott's echoing horn, giving way to Taylor's cool, sweet nuances on soprano sax before Ryan Burns splashes neon colors and gleaming metallic sounds around.
The disc closes with "On the Road Again," probably Nelson's most familiar melody. Marriott and company change the original's quiet country charm into an expansive, lush, electric wash of sound that seems as if it could have been issued from the underbelly of an alien spacecraft that has picked up an errant Willie broadcast out in space, and is now hovering in a starry sky, broadcasting its otherworldly renditions down to an awe-struck earthly crowd.
And of course there's "Crazy." The band begins simply, gently, reverently, before things fall apartthe horns and keys sounding like misfiring neuronscrazy.
This set of eleven Willie Nelson songsdone up in a quite adventurous jazz modeis an unusually fine and original listening experience.
Track Listing
Phases & Stages, Circles & Cycles; Everywhere I Go; Write Your Own Songs; You Wouldn
Personnel
Thomas Marriott
trumpetThomas Marriott: trumpet, flugelhorn; Mark Taylor: saxophone; Ryan Burns: Moog synthesizer, Fender Rhodes; Geoff Harper: bass; Matt Jorgensen: drums; Wayne Horwitz: keyboards (3); Rick Mandyck: guitar (10), vocal (11); Cecil Young: gong (11).
Album information
Title: Crazy: The Music of Willie Nelson | Year Released: 2008 | Record Label: Origin Records
Comments
About Thomas Marriott
Instrument: Trumpet
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