Tag Archives: Ratio Man

Editors’ Picks: November 2014

by Bobby Reed
Downbeat
November 1, 2014

As the album title The 21st Century Trad Band suggests, Jason Marsalis’ quartet mixes modern-day sounds with traditional ones. The title track includes a quote from the most traditional of tunes, “When The Saints Go Marching In,” while the song “BP Shakedown” begins with a recording of Rep. Joe Barton’s comments on the federal government’s response to the 2010 oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico. Marsalis, who topped the category Rising Star–Vibraphone in the 2013 DownBeat Critics Poll, has surrounded himself with fantastic musicians: pianist Austin Johnson, bassist Will Goble and drummer David Potter. Some of the album’s tracks feature the so-called Discipline Ensemble—Marsalis on marimba, glockenspiel, tubular bells, vibraphone and xylophone—but this is truly a band effort. The quartet has fashioned a strong album with an appeal that extends beyond the thrill of hearing a master of the mallets at work. One section of “Ratio Man” shows just how killer this band can be as a trio (when Marsalis isn’t playing). Marsalis’ tune “Nights In Brooklyn,” which has the feel of a film-noir soundtrack, features Potter’s supple brushwork and Johnson’s gorgeous piano lines. This album showcases Marsalis’ command of the vibraphone’s melodic and percussive qualities, as well as the leader’s eagerness to share the spotlight with his fine collaborators.

Jason Marsalis (@JasonMarsalis) Vibes Quartet ‘The 21st Century Trad Band’ Album Out Now + LIVE on Tour!

by RJ Frometa
Vents
October 28, 2014

Jason Marsalis, the youngest of New Orleans’ Marsalis jazz dynasty, has released his second Vibes Quartet offering, The 21st Century Trad Band, today via Basin Street Records! The follow-up to 2013’s In A World Of Mallets, which hit #1 on the JazzWeek radio charts, The 21st Century Trad Band puts a spotlight on the growing synergy between the young & talented musicians consisting of Jason himself, Will Goble on bass, Austin Johnson on piano & David Potter on drums. For a taste of what to expect from the album, the Jason Marsalis Vibes Quartet previously unveiled cuts “The 21st Century Trad Band” & “Ratio Man.”

With songs on the album like “Offbeat Personality” Marsalis takes us on a journey through a complex arrangement combining hard-swinging sections with more melodic interludes, unexpected turn-arounds, and an introspective outro. While songs like “The Man With Two Left Feet” and the titular track play with the trad jazz idiom in a contemporary modality. What’s clear throughout the album is the developed control the band has cultivated through further years of playing together; the unspoken communication is evident.

As with previous albums, Marsalis continues his “Discipline” series accompanying himself on a variety of mallet-based instruments including Marimba, Glockenspiel, Tubular Bells, Vibraphone, and Xylophone, further establishing his voice as a mallet-player with the off-kilter blues of “Discipline Meets the Offbeat One” and several interludes with unusual rhythmic patterns and meters.

In addition to including original compositions from his band mates, Marsalis has taken a step further in encouraging the vanguard of the next generation of jazz by including compositions of the young New Orleans musicians Cliff Hines (“Interzone”) and Jasen Weaver (“Blues for Now”), both graduates of the New Orleans Center for Creative Arts.

The shear amount of music, seamless interludes, and a track reflecting on the BP Oil Spill, “BP Shakedown” are testaments to Marsalis’ serious nature towards his work. But just as he touched on playful, uncharted territory with In A World of Mallets’ “Ballet Class” he explores a film noire theme with “Nights in Brooklyn.”

Banjoist Bela Fleck has praised Marsalis for “brilliant ideas that sound as if he’s played them his whole life, but are really coming off the top of his head.” The NEA Jazzmaster stated himself that his last record was “the beginning of a new chapter.” It’s clear The 21st Century Trad Band is a continuation of that chapter, and it’s full of those “brilliant ideas” for which the bandleader has become known.

 

Drummers’ Choices: Setting the Beat, Calling the Tune

Jason Marsalis in the New York Timesby Nate Chinen
New York Times
October 24, 2014

The shift from drums to vibraphone began quietly for Jason Marsalis, about 15 years ago. By now, it’s complete; “The 21st Century Trad Band” (Basin Street Records) is the second album fully to feature his Vibes Quartet, an agile, swinging unit with the pianist Austin Johnson, the bassist Will Goble and the drummer Dave Potter. The title indicates Mr. Marsalis’s cheeky self-awareness as a New Orleans jazz scion, but it also reflects the genuine in-betweenness of this music, as much on a buoyant funk tune like “Ratio Man” as a clackety saunter like “The Man With Two Left Feet.” There’s a spine of traditionalism here, to be sure, but Mr. Marsalis, leading with flair, keeps its gaze pointed forward.