Willie Nelson & Wynton Marsalis

Willie Nelson & Wynton Marsalis

Two Men With the Blues

(Blue Note)

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If anyone could loosen up Wynton Marsalis, it’d be Willie Nelson, said Larry Katz in the Boston Herald. In early 2007, jazz’s self-appointed keeper of the flame unexpectedly extended an offer for Nelson to join him for two performances at New York’s Lincoln Center. Two Men With the Blues captures what happened over those memorable nights. A “frolicsome step” outside the box for both men, the album finds them remarkably at ease as they tackle such American standards as “Stardust” and “Bright Lights, Big City.” Nelson even gets Marsalis to put down his trumpet and sing along on “My Bucket’s Got a Hole in It.” Nelson made his name as a country singer but has always explored other musical realms, said Mario Tarradell in The Dallas Morning News. Both his “fluid guitar picking” and habit of “singing behind the beat” fit right into jazz styles. The songs are “expertly played and passionately presented,” and the performers are certainly enjoying themselves. But the material isn’t a real stretch for either one. This may not be “risk-taking music,” said Chris May in Allaboutjazz.com. That was never the point of the recording. Two Men With the Blues was clearly made with pleasure, so the best way to listen is to “kick back and get happy.”