Play the Blues: Live from Jazz at Lincoln Center

chronology
Play the Blues: Live from Jazz at Lincoln Center
Live album by Wynton Marsalis , Eric Clapton
Publication ; (s)	September 2011
admission	2011
Label (s)	Recapitulation
Format (s)	CD, DVD
Genre (s)	Blues , jazz , rock
Title (number)	10 or 11 (DVD with bonus track)
running time	74:37
occupation	Wynton Marsalis - trumpet , vocals ; Eric Clapton - guitar , vocals; Victor Goines - clarinet ; Marcus Printup - Trumpet; Chris Stainton - keyboard ; Chris Crenshaw - trombone , vocals; Dan Nimmer - piano ; Don Vappie - Banjo ; Taj Mahal - banjo, singing; Carlos Henríquez - bass ; Ali Jackson Jr. - drums ;
production	Eric Clapton, Wynton Marsalis, Ashley Schiff Ramos, Steve Woolard
Studio (s)	Lincoln Center

Play the Blues: Live From Jazz at Lincoln Center is a live album , which in co-operation of the British rock musician Eric Clapton with the US American jazz trumpeter Wynton Marsalis was born. It was released in September 2011 on the Reprise label .

background

For some concerts, the two friendly musicians over three days in April 2011 at New York's Rose Theater gave, they decided to play in instrumentation, the 1923, the Creole Jazz Band of King Oliver had, and these too to piano and guitar supplement, because this band has anchored the blues at the center of jazz with numbers like Dippermouth Blues . Clapton selected pieces that Louis Armstrong , Howlin 'Wolf , Memphis Minnie and Bessie Smith had once played; they have now been arranged by Marsalis in the style of New Orleans jazz ; In addition, at the request of the bassist, the band Layla was added to the repertoire and interpreted as a funeral march .

Track list

Ice Cream (Howard E. Johnson, Robert AK King , Billy Moll ) - 7:38
Forty-Four ( Chester Burnett ) - 7:12
Joe Turner's Blues ( WC Handy , Walter Hirsch) - 7:47
The Last Time (Bill Ewing, Sara Martin ) - 4:18
Careless Love (Handy, Martha E. Koenig, Spencer Williams ) - 7:43
Kidman Blues ( J. Mayo Williams ) - 4:20
Layla (Clapton, Jim Gordon ) - 9:08
Joliet Bound ( Joe McCoy , Minnie McCoy) - 3:50
Just a Closer Walk with Thee (Traditional) - 12:20 pm with Taj Mahal
Corrine, Corrina (Armetia Chatman, Mitchell Parish , J. Mayo Williams) - 10:21 with Taj Mahal
Stagger Lee (bonus track DVD) Solo performance by Taj Mahal

reception

Professional reviews
source	rating
Allmusic
The Guardian

Marsalis, according to the critic of the Focus , “arranged the song selection presented by Clapton into a highly demanding total work of art consisting of lively strolling New Orleans jazz and heavily trailing blues.” However, Clapton's guitar work “worked like one in the arrangements for most of the time Foreign bodies. ”At times they even seemed“ lost like a schoolboy. ”His“ musical vocabulary ”was“ simply not enough to add substance to the jazzy dialogues of the evening. ”Johannes Waechter also came to the conclusion for the Süddeutsche Zeitung that the“ unusual “The album shows“ that Clapton has done well in this unfamiliar environment - but could not always keep up. ”The two protagonists, Marsalis and Clapton, also gave the impression of“ two musical hard workers who have to work hard for a bit to look relaxed. "

laut.de continues in its slap : The album is a “sleeping pill” with which “everything erotic, absurd, all of the ragged splendor” that belongs to the blues and New Orleans would be wiped out. The result is “a white blues factory from the drawing board in robot-like arrangements.” Like Marsalis, Clapton also robbed the pieces of “charisma instead of transporting them.” Only in a few places did “the undoubtedly sufficient charisma of the great band flash.”

Wynton Marsalis (2020)

The music website Allmusic , however, awarded four out of five possible stars. Critic Stephen Thomas Erlewine judged that you can tell that musicians are playing the music they love here and that their passion is contagious. So it's not difficult to enjoy this album. John Fordham of The Guardian also gave four out of five points: Although no "heartbreaking blues" are played here, they are "happily executed and devoted interpretations". Norbert Neugebauer from Rocktimes.de also praised: The album is “fun if you have a soft spot for this old music, which here in no way sounds antiquated, but sounds very fresh. A top line-up in which neither Marsalis nor Clapton are the stars and who let ›The Good Times‹ roll very skillfully and with relish at a high level. "

Chart success

The album was number one on Billboard's top blues album charts for three years and number one on the German jazz charts for one month . It reached number eight in the German album charts and stayed in the charts for a total of five weeks. In Austria and Switzerland, the album was ranked 11th and 18th. In the United Kingdom, the album was ranked 40th on the British album charts. In the United States, the album reached number 31 on the Billboard 200 and number twelve on the top rock album chart. The album was certified several times, achieved platinum status in Germany and won an ECHO Jazz as “bestseller of the year”.

Awards for music sales

album

The album version of Play the Blues: Live from Jazz at Lincoln Center received, among other things, a triple gold record (Jazz Award) for 30,000 units sold in Germany in 2015. The album is thus one of the best-selling jazz albums in Germany . The album sold over 100,000 times worldwide and received two gold and three platinum records.

Country / Region	Award	Sales
Awards for music sales (country / region, Award, Sales)
Brazil (PMB)	gold	20,000
Germany (BVMI)	3 × gold	30,000
Poland (ZPAV)	2 × platinum	40,000
United States (RIAA)	-	18,000
All in all	2 × gold 3 × platinum	108,000