Jazz Articles about Willie Nelson

Catching Up with Willie Nelson

by AAJ Staff
July 24, 2021

From the 1995-2003 archive: This article first appeared at All About Jazz in October 1999. Willie Nelson is a man of the people. In a single night (the night of this interview), I witnessed Willie sign more autographs and shake more hands (genuinely) than Al Gore has through his entire two terms as Vice President. Willie's legions of fans are very loyal to him and he strives to honor each and every one of them. Warren Beatty? Donald ...

Willie Nelson's Outlaw Festival

by Christine Connallon
September 30, 2017

Willie Nelson's “Outlaw Music Festival" Northwell Health at Jones Beach Theater Wantagh, NY September 9, 2017 The sun blazed overhead on the Saturday afternoon in September as Willie Nelson and Blackbird Presents Outlaw Music Festival Tour landed at Northwell Health at Jones Beach Theater on Long Island, NY. With an early 4 PM start to accommodate a wealth of talent, the parking lot already contained a hearty number of cars and tailgating fans ready to ...

Willie Nelson and Family: Let’s Face the Music and Dance

by C. Michael Bailey
May 4, 2013

While it is an apologia for Willie Nelson, at 80, he has more than earned the right to do as he damn well pleases when he records. When Ray Charles passed away in 2004, Nelson was the only American musician to possibly accept the Charles mantle of musician with the greatest depth and breadth, having had an immeasurable impact on American music. Having composed country standards like “Crazy," “Hello Walls" and “Funny How Time Slips Away"--recording the ...

Willie Nelson and Wynton Marsalis: Two Men With the Blues

by Mike Perciaccante
August 14, 2008

What do you get when you pair a certified country music renegade with contemporary jazz's “keeper of the flame"? When the renegade is Willie Nelson and the jazz champion is Wynton Marsalis, the end result is one of the best CDs of 2008.Two Men With the Blues was recorded during a historic two-night stand on January 12 and 13, 2007 at Lincoln Center's Allen Room in New York and billed as “Willie Nelson Sings The Blues." If this ...

Willie Nelson & Wynton Marsalis: Two Men with the Blues

by Chris M. Slawecki
August 13, 2008

Recorded live during “Willie Nelson Sings the Blues," his 2007 two-night stand with the Wynton Marsalis Quintet for Jazz at Lincoln Center, where Marsalis serves as artistic director, Two Men with the Blues is by far the most enjoyable music of 2008.

Nelson and Marsalis meet each other halfway between the acoustic country blues of Nashville (via Austin) and the Dixieland and ragtime blues of New Orleans. Nelson previously recorded every tune they call off, including perennial classics ...