Congo Square (2008)

Congo Square is a musical tribute to New Orleans composed and performed by Wynton Marsalis, trumpet master from New Orleans and Yacub Addy, an African master drumer -- a unique collaboration where a Lincoln Center's great jazz orchestra mingles with an African percussion ensemble in a 2 hour concert of original music filmed at the 2007 Montreal Jazz Festival.

 Beauty forged in horror
If you've got blood in your veins, Congo Square will move it. This collaboration of Jazz at Lincoln Center and Ghanaian percussion ensamble Odadaa! boils with intensity from start to finish, a fitting tribute to Congo Square, once a tiny island of release for the slaves of New Orleans.

The cinematography is basic, but who cares? You don't have to watch the screen. The mix of African sounds and American jazz conjures the tumult, the chatter, and the dancing with compelling drums, horns, and here and there a vocal or spritz of sparkling piano. Congo Square is a crowd scene rather than a showcase for soloists, including Marsalis. Maybe closer to Gershwin than typical big band sounds.

This music is an accessible and exuberant achievement, a tonic for the pop weary. It richly deserves an audience.

April 15, 2008

 Wynton Marsalis & African Drummer Yacub Addy Create History
It took two great and unique musicians - the African drummer Yacub Addy and Wynton Marsalis - to blend Ghanaian percussion and songs with jazz forms on this level. The result is amazing. This is a culturally historic masterwork, but it's also some of the most dynamic and hot music you've ever heard - it lifts the spirit and moves the body.

Each of the musicians of the Jazz at Lincoln Center Orchestra and Yacub Addy's ensemble Odadaa! have made a great effort and the love shows.

This concert was the opening event of the 2007 Montreal Jazz Festival, and comes at the end of the second national tour of the music. The music naturally evolved over this time and the result is a performance unique from the CD recorded at the end of the first tour. March 22, 2008

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