Wynton Marsalis Combining Rhythm, Meter on New Jazz-Poetry CD

3/20/2009
John Winn
Wynton Marsalis has long been considered a poet of the jazz world. But as Marsalis's new CD debuts, the artist is putting paid to the notion, releasing some stanzas of his own to complement his saxophone trills.

According to the Associated Press, Marsalis, 47, is set to release his new album, He and She, a combination jazz-poetry album that combines the New Orleans resident's two loves.

Described as the story of a relationship between a man and a woman over a period of years, the album is an upbeat exploration of romantic love. The CD follows the couple from childhood to old age, tackling such romantic subjects as the first kiss and making love for the first time. Expounding on the first track, "School Boy," Marsalis described it as having a "Square, happy kind of feeling."

In addition to the horn trills, the album will feature lines of poetry originally penned by Marsalis.

"One plus one equals three," he said, describing his romances with his prior girlfriends, which informed the development of his latest album.

"I started to put these ideas together," he said. "I decided I would write a poem and have some music come out of the poem. . . . I wanted the structure to have all kinds of threes in it, a man a woman, and a country blues man. And things that are metaphors for that--the sun, the moon, the midnight sky."

Marsalis is no stranger to the jazz-poetry combo. In 1997, his jazz oratorio on slavery and freedom, "Blood on the Fields," won him the Pulitzer Prize in music.

When he isn't showing off his sensitive side, Marsalis hits the road, touring with his band. Oftentimes, he can be found chatting with his band members, talking William Butler Yeats and Whitman. In fact, he rarely leaves home without his copy of Yeats.

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