Blue Note Records
2008
Two Men With The Blues
About This Album
History has proven that Willie Nelson will duet with pretty much anybody who comes along, and while this open-hearted open mind sometimes backfires, more often than not it results in some of his most sublime recordings. Two Men with the Blues, his album with jazz trumpeter Wynton Marsalis recorded over a two-night stand at Jazz at Lincoln Center on January 12 and 13, 2007, belongs in the latter category, standing as truly one of the most special records in either Nelson's or Marsalis' catalog. If the pair initially seem like an odd match, it's only because Wynton long carried the reputation of a purist, somebody who was adamant against expanding the definition of jazz, which cast him as the opposite of Willie, who never found a border he couldn't blur. Marsalis mellowed over the years, but it's also true that he and Nelson share a common background in jazz and the Great American Songbook, so this pairing plays naturally, providing equal measures of comfort and surprise. The engine for this music is Marsalis' band -- pianist Dan Nimmer, drummer Ali Jackson, bassist Carlos Henríquez, and saxophonist Walter Blanding -- with Nelson bringing his harmonica player Mickey Raphael along, which is enough to give this a flavor that's quite distinct from a typical Marsalis session without being foreign.
Track List (try tracks 2,4,6 and 10)

1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.
8.
9.
10.