Marsalis, Wynton / From The Plantation To The Penitentiary
Album: From The Plantation To The Penitentiary   Collection:Jazz
Artist:Marsalis, Wynton   Added:Mar 2007
Label:Blue Note  

A-File Activity
Add Date: 2007-04-29 Pull Date: 2007-07-01 Charts: Jazz
Week Ending: Jul 1 Jun 17 Jun 3 May 27 May 13 May 6
Airplays: 1 1 3 2 1 2

Recent Airplay
1. Feb 24, 2018: blues with a feelin'
Where Y'all At?
4. Jul 05, 2010: shedding light
Where Y'all At?
2. Oct 24, 2011: lunch special
Where Y'all At?
5. Oct 19, 2009: shedding light
Where Y'all At?
3. Aug 28, 2010: blues with a feelin
Where Y'all At?
6. Jul 04, 2009: blues with a feelin'
Where Y'all At?

Album Review
Fo
Reviewed 2007-04-25
WYNTON MARSALIS - From the Plantation to the Penitentiary
Blue Note, 2007

Really a suite, this "message" album assigns blame for the continuing plight of African-Americans -- on "raggely" public schools, rampant consumerism, skewed governmental priorities and, most pointedly, at the willful degradation of black media culture. The music is more passionate than most of Marsalis' output but otherwise textbook: technically challenging but rendered with crisp precision and swaggering confidence, and firmly rooted in New Orleans and the jazz tradition. Good stuff, with great vocals by Jennifer Sanon.

Fo's Picks: 1, 3, 5, 7

1. 11:48 - shuffling work-gang rhythm, deliberately off-key vocals, moaning horns: a litany of slavery, past and present
2. 9:34 - sunny vocal & melody, but deeply troubling lyrics; relaxed tempo, heavy break in the middle
3. 8:37 - cute and playful instrumental, but dark at the edge: tinkly piano, marching drums, perky horns
4. 7:40 - slow ballad, lovely vocal: fights misogyny and "minstrel" rap culture with plea for the "return of romance"
5. 6:55 - frantic song of greed: breathless vocals, good lyrics, with slow-drag breaks
6. 8:04 - optimistic ballad, with nice laid-back conversation among the horns
7. 5:48 - Wynton raps! He calls out all those who talk but do not act, shouting rhymes over a nifty second-line groove

Track Listing
1. From The Plantation To The Penitentiary   4. Love And Broken Hearts
2. Find Me   5. Supercapitalism
3. Doin' (Y)Our Thing   6. These Are Those Soulful Days
  7. Where Y'all At?