Friday, September 02, 2005

Honoring Duke

"In Honor of Duke" from Columbia is another good Marcus Roberts CD. Roberts doesn't honor Duke Ellington by playing his way through a slice of Ellington's songbook but rather by performing his own intricate, sophisticated set of Ellington-like arrangements.

One thing I find particularly cool about this mostly trio disk is the way Roberts makes drummer Jason Marsalis and bassist Roland Guerin coequal partners not simply the rhythm section. In fact, Marsalis is pretty much the leader in the opener "Ricktick Tick" as Guerin is on "Promises, Promises." Percussionist Antonio Sanchez adds a Latin tinge to a couple tracks.

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