 
Wynton Marsalis gets a lot of stick for his opinions. His is a prominent voice in jazz circles, so when he says Jazz died after Ellington people get upset. I remain unprejudiced because he is very good at what he does. His band is very tight in concert, I saw them at the Royal Festival Hall in London a few years ago and they were superb, even if what they do is largely programmatic old-timey N'Orlins-style jazz. But that's just what is called for by director Ken Burns for his biopic about the heavyweight boxer Jack Johnson, which will premiere on PBS in January. Marsalis was one of the main talking heads in Mr Burns's fascinating epic documentary on the story of jazz, so it's little wonder (the "Stevie" has been left out for conciseness and clarity) he called on ole Wyntoon for the soundtrack to his latest historical drama, which will revive the old debate about whether Jack Johnson was the greatest heavyweight ever. Viewers will also be fascinated by the story of a man who lived as if there were no colour bar in a world deeply divided by race and he slept with anyone he wanted to, further infuriating whites. The soundtrack is a pastiche of Jelly Roll Morton, Duke, Pops, and all those cats, and works really well. You even think you know some of the tunes when they start off, but I guess they are public domain by now. One or two are credited to Morton and W.C. Handy ("Careless Love" which was done so well by Skip James). Since everyone from Bela Bartok to A.R. Rahman knows the value of good samples, it seems like an okay approach. I look forward to the broadcast and meanwhile have been digging this album. -- Doctor Rhythm
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WYTON
MARSALIS