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Delfeayo Marsalis Uptown Jazz Orchestra: Jazz Party

By Jerome Wilson
May 17, 2020
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Delfeayo Marsalis Uptown Jazz Orchestra: Jazz Party

This album was recorded in 2019 but its message of unabashed joy is welcome these days for obvious reasons. The people responsible for it are

Delfeayo Marsalis

trombone
b.1965

" data-original-title="" title="">Delfeayo Marsalis and Uptown Jazz Orchestra. The music is steeped in the various musical traditions of Marsalis' native New Orleans but brings in a few outside influences to enhance the fun.

All sorts of Big Easy sounds are touched on here. "Blackbird Special," a tune originally by the Dirty Dozen Brass Band, intensifies that group's infectiously jubilant sound through the power of a full brass-heavy orchestra, with its composer, former Dirty Dozen member

Roger Lewis

saxophone, baritone

" data-original-title="" title="">Roger Lewis, featured on buzzsaw baritone sax. "7th Ward Boogaloo" is a slinky rumba with Marsalis' sinuous trombone and

Roderick Paulin

saxophone, tenor

" data-original-title="" title="">Roderick Paulin's romantic tenor sax up front. "So New Orleans" has Dr. Brice MIller rapping about the city's culture over a big stomping groove and "Let Your Mind Be Free" could best be called Second Line Doo Wop. The orchestra shakes out a brassy dance rhythm and sings a soulful massed vocal while Paulin adds a swooning r'n'b-style solo.

It is not all New Orleans music, though. Other flavors of jazz and soul make appearances as well. "Dr. Hardgroove" is a slab of greasy funk with electric piano under the horn riffs which sound like 70s'

Quincy Jones

arranger
1933 - 2024

" data-original-title="" title="">Quincy Jones. "Mboya's Midnight Cocktail" is a sultry spoken-word fantasy dedicated to Marsalis' younger brother, Mboya, with Karen Livers playing the part of a female bartender talking seductively to the young man. Then there is the screaming punch of "Raid on the Mingus House Party"; as the title suggests, this piece marries New Orleans beats to the careening horns and dangerous edge of Charles Mingus' music, with compositions like "Jump Monk," "Wednesday Night Prayer Meeting," and "Boogie Stop Shuffle" hinted at along the way.

Gregory Agid

clarinet
b.1987

" data-original-title="" title="">Gregory Agid bubbles on clarinet,

Khari Allen Lee

saxophone, alto
b.1980

" data-original-title="" title="">Khari Allen Lee and

Scott Johnson

drums, steel

" data-original-title="" title="">Scott Johnson exchange siren wails on tenors and

Ryan Hanseler

piano

" data-original-title="" title="">Ryan Hanseler rolls on piano.

In his liner notes Delfeayo Marsalis talks about recording this music to make people happy. He and the orchestra do their best to achieve that goal. This music has a constant smile on its face, beaming with Southern sassiness and exploding with exuberant force. It is more unalloyed fun than most jazz albums and that is no bad thing these days.

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Track Listing

Jazz Party; Blackbird Special; 7th Ward Boogaloo; Raid on the Mingus House Party; Mboya's Midnight Cocktail; So New Orleans; Dr. Hardgroove; Let Your Mind Be Free; Irish Whiskey Blues; Caribbean Second Line; Mboya's Midnight Cocktail (Instrumental).

Personnel

Delfeayo Marsalis

trombone

Terrance Taplin

trombone

Christopher Butcher

trombone

T.J. Norris

trombone

Khari Allen Lee

saxophone, alto

Roderick Paulin

saxophone, tenor

Amari Ansari

saxophone, alto

Roger Lewis

saxophone, baritone

Gregory Agid

clarinet

Trevarri Huff-Boone

saxophone, tenor

Scott Frock

trumpet

Andrew Baham

trumpet

Dr. Brice Miller

trumpet

John Gray

trumpet and vocals

Michael Christie

trumpet

David Pulphus

bass

Additional Instrumentation

Khari Allen Lee: soprano saxophone; Roderick Paulin: soprano saxophone; Scott Johnson: tenor saxophone, alto saxophone; Kyle Roussel: piano (1,3, 5-110; Joseph Dyson, Jr.: drums, percussion (1-3, 5-6, 8, 11); Alexey Marti: congas, percussion (3, 5, 7, 10-11); Detroit Brooks: guitar (1); Ryan Hanseler: piano (4); Willie Green: drums (4); Raymond Weber, Jr.: drums (5); Tonya Boyd-Cannon: vocals (1,6); Karen Livers: vocals (5); Uptown Jazz Orchestra: vocals (8).

Album information

Title: Delfeayo Marsalis and the Uptown Jazz Orchestra's Jazz Party | Year Released: 2020 | Record Label: Troubadour Jass Records

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