THE LINCOLN CENTER JAZZ ORCHESTRA WITH WYNTON MARSALIS - Big Train (1999) APE (image+.cue), lossless

On 1999's Big Train, Marsalis tries on the mantle of Duke Ellington in the latter's centennial year and finds that it suits him. A 52-minute big band suite modeled after Ellington's long-form essays, it purports to evoke the moods, sounds and feelings of a cross-country train trip with selections named after a train's various cars. Like an Ellington suite, the sections run together; after the striking "All Aboard," you're in Ellington country, right down to the plunger mute wah-wah riffs. "Union Pacific" paraphrases "Rockin' in Rhythm"; the ballad "Sleeper Car" evokes Johnny Hodges and Tricky Sam Nanton quite explicitly. Inevitably, there's a track called "Night Train"; thankfully, its bossa nova flavor has nothing to do with Duke's piece. Marsalis has mastered the Ellington idiom, writing and organizing the piece skillfully and getting the Lincoln Center Jazz Orchestra to play with precision and emotion. Yet the one thing that Ellington (and Billy Strayhorn) could do and Marsalis has yet to demonstrate is the ability to come up with a big, memorable tune; there's craft, emotion, and swing, but little else to take home with you. If you didn't know that this work was about trains, you might not guess it; you can't really feel the rocking, chugging, streamlined motion of the rails in this work. There is fine soloing all around in the hard bop tradition from Wessell Anderson, Victor Goines, Wycliffe Gordon, Ted Nash and Walter Blanding, Jr., though the liner fails to note which of the multiple tenor, alto, trombone players are soloing on which tracks. But overall, this is one of Marsalis' better extended form essays. Richard S. Ginell
Tracklist :
1    All Aboard    5:48
2    Observation Car    5:05
3    Union Pacific Big Bay    5:53
4    Smokestack Shuffle    5:08
5    Northbound-Southbound    2:51
6    Dining Car    2:23
7    Night Train    2:24
8    Engine    6:39
9    Bullet Train    3:51
10    Sleeper Car    3:35
11    Station Call    2:04
12    The Caboose    7:08
Credits :
Alto Saxophone, Sopranino Saxophone, Clarinet – Wessel Anderson
Alto Saxophone, Soprano Saxophone, Tenor Saxophone, Clarinet – Walter Blanding Jr.
Alto Saxophone, Soprano Saxophone, Tenor Saxophone, Clarinet, Bass Clarinet – Victor Goines
Bass – Rodney Whitaker
Drums – Herlin Riley
Guitar, Banjo – Doug Wamble
Percussion – Roland Guerrero
Piano – Farid Barron
Producer – Delfeayo Marsalis
Soprano Saxophone, Alto Saxophone, Piccolo Flute, Clarinet, Bass Clarinet, Flute – Ted Nash
Soprano Saxophone, Baritone Saxophone, Bass Clarinet – Joe Temperley
Trombone – Ronald Westray, Wayne Goodman
Trombone, Tuba – Wycliffe Gordon
Trumpet – Marcus Printup, Riley Mullins, Ryan Kisor, Seneca Black, Wynton Marsalis