White, Michael / Blue Crescent
Album: Blue Crescent   Collection:Jazz
Artist:White, Michael   Added:Jun 2008
Label:Basin Street  

A-File Activity
Add Date: 2008-07-27 Pull Date: 2008-09-28 Charts: Jazz
Week Ending: Sep 28 Sep 7 Aug 31 Aug 17 Aug 10 Aug 3
Airplays: 1 1 1 1 2 2

Recent Airplay
1. May 13, 2011: No Cover, No Minimum
Dark Sunshine
4. Aug 29, 2008: No Cover, No Minimum
Majestic Strut
2. Sep 24, 2008: Rorshach's Dance
King Of The Second Line
5. Aug 15, 2008: No Cover, No Minimum
Dark Sunshine
3. Sep 05, 2008: No Cover, No Minimum
Dark Sunshine
6. Aug 08, 2008: No Cover, No Minimum
Katrina

Album Review
Fo
Reviewed 2008-07-27
DR MICHAEL WHITE: Blue Crescent
Basin Street, 2008

NEW ORLEANS JAZZ – Unlike many other post-Katrina CDs, this one stays largely upbeat, focusing on the city’s positive sprit rather than what has been lost (although White, a leading clarinetist and educator, lost a lot in the storm). Most of the tracks are originals, played beautifully and full of life, with some nice gospel tunes mixed in.

Fo’s Picks: 2, 3, 5, 7, 9, 10, 11

1. 3:50 – merry tune; low-key vox in French; good-time piano, trumpet, clarinet
2. 4:19 – slow-dance ballad: clarinet plays sweet ‘n’ low, pretty & charming
3. 4:15 – St. Louis Blues as tough li’l march: growling trumpet, wailing clarinet
4. 4:16 – cute calypso melody, bounces lightly; bright horn interplay
5. 7:50 – slow funeral march, expressive but not melodramatic; horns trade solos around like men commiserating by passing a bottle
6. 3:16 – jaunty gospel tune; gruff but happy vocal
7. 5:42 – low creep, very cool: clarinet slinks & slides; conspiratorial piano
8. 4:00 – upbeat vocal tribute to late bandleader “Doc” Paulin (1907-2007)
9. 3:49 – gospel tune in slow waltz time: nice vocal, good use of banjo
10. 2:57 – twisty clarinet melody over good-time barrelhouse stomp
11. 5:22 – sweet bluesy drag: great “talking” trumpet & clarinet solos
12. 5:17 – exotic intro, then a relaxed lilting Mediterranean melody/stomp
13. 6:05 – perky tune chugs along with a loose jam feel and nice drumming
14. 2:29 – street parade classic, full of joy

[ Fo ] 27-Jul-08

Track Listing
1. Comme Ci Comme Ca   8. King Of The Second Line
2. Blue Crescent   9. He Leads Me On This Journey
3. St. Louis Blues   10. London Canal Breakdown
4. Crescent City Calypso   11. Majestic Strut
5. Katrina   12. Algeria
6. Sunday Morning   13. Ooh La La
7. Dark Sunshine   14. Will The Circle Be Unbroken