Black Codes (From the Underground)

Amazon.com essential recording
Much has been made of Wynton Marsalis's early-career emulation of the prefusion Miles Davis quintet, an obvious homage that only the most blinkered apologists have refused to ackowledge. Marsalis has accomplished so much on his own that the out-and-out tribute to the classic Davis lineup that "Black Codes..." represents should be seen as a positive step in the remarkable development of an artist rather than an act of fraud. This is sublime music by the first Marsalis quintet, led by Wynton on trumpet and featuring brother Branford on soprano and tenor sax, Jeff "Tain" Watts on drums, Charnett Moffet on bass and Kenny Kirkland on piano. All of these musicians would go on to greater heights, but they're in the zone here. --John Swenson

Tracks:

Black Codes
For Wee Folks
Delfeayo's Dilemma
Phryzzinian Man
Aural Oasis
Dhambers Of Tain
Blues

Amazon.com essential recording

Much has been made of Wynton Marsalis's early-career emulation of the prefusion Miles Davis quintet, an obvious homage that only the most blinkered apologists have refused to ackowledge. Marsalis has accomplished so much on his own that the out-and-out tribute to the classic Davis lineup that "Black Codes..." represents should be seen as a positive step in the remarkable development of an artist rather than an act of fraud. This is sublime music by the first Marsalis quintet, led by Wynton on trumpet and featuring brother Branford on soprano and tenor sax, Jeff "Tain" Watts on drums, Charnett Moffet on bass and Kenny Kirkland on piano. All of these musicians would go on to greater heights, but they're in the zone here. --John Swenson

Customer Reviews:

Yee-hah...Wynton smokes 'em.......2006-10-31

It's maybe not too original, the last tune sounds almost identical to something Miles recorded around 1954 for Prestige (forget what it's called) where they turned down the lights in the studio so they'd get that "after-hours," chairs-stacked-on-the-tables feel, but this is still a smoker of an album, played with such passion that Watts and Kirkland in particular sound like they're about to explode at any moment.

While the concept for this album is none too original, the jamming is fresh and exciting. Wynton plays some of the most intense trumpet of his career, and while he never sounds completely spontaneous, the others around him are having enough of a blast to make up for his cool demeanor. Brother Branford is smoothness to Wynton's jagged edges, although at times in his Black Codes solo he starts to channel Conference of the Birds a little. Kirkland is so stunning one grows sad knowing what a loss to jazz his death has been. This was the debut album of Charnett Moffett, all of 16 at the time, but you wouldn't know it because he plays like an old veteran. And Jeff "Tain" Watts...well, you wonder how many arms he has.

There are no weak tracks on this set, though some of the arrangements maybe sound a *little* dated now (For Wee Folks stands out, with that airy soprano and whooshy cymbalwork that was so popular at the time). The best compositions include the title tune and especially Delfeayo's Dilemma, a great piece that should be a standard. Also notable is the incredibly naturalistic sound on the disc. The drums in particular sound airy and spacious as I've rarely heard before or since. I wonder why with subsequent albums the boxy, constricted sound so loved by milti-miking producers came back in. Do they really think that sounds better than this?

I'm not WM's biggest fan, but here everything came out right. I was hoping, when I heard this back in 1985, that this was the start of a powerful new direction. One can see at this distance it wasn't as "new" as it seemed then, and it didn't turn out to be the declaration of independence that it might have seemed like at the time. But it's still a fine album that will get your pulse pounding--at least!

Wynton's most important single album set.......2005-07-28

Wynton Marsalis is so heavily documented and so heavily opinionated these days that it's difficult to assess his work fairly. For everyone who thinks he single-handedly saved acoustic jazz in the 80s, another will say he is killing its creativity and radical spirit in the 2000s. Certainly I've wavered on this issue over time. Whatever your opinion on Wynton, Black Codes is the strongest of his early albums, before he took to preserving the jazz tradition. More than any of the other albums Black Codes strives to advance it.

The band on here is great. This was before Branford left to join Sting and the heads to the tunes are tight. Jeff Watts is a phenomenal drummer and Wynton shares the spotlight by using "Chambers of Tain" as a drum feature. Kenny Kirkland drives many of the vamps on this album and comps assertively and the bass player strongly anchors these tunes as well.

This album plays well start to finish and has some of Wynton's strongest writing. "Black Codes" with its low end piano as part of the head, "For Wee Folks" with its out of tempo opening and "Delfeayo's Dilemma", a tune that has been covered by artists like Kenny Garrett, are highlights in the set. Wynton nods to the tradiiton by concluding with a blues as well.

The innovations on this album are subtle. It's more a summary of two splendid jazz ensembles: the tight ensembles of the Jazz Messengers that Branford and Wynton played with early in their careers and the thorny modal improvisations of the Miles Davis Quintet. Some people focus only on Miles when assessing this album, but if you listen to Jazz Messengers albums like Mosaic and Free For All you hear how the discipline of this music and the vigor of Tain's playing are more assertive than the cool effortlessness of Miles' group.

I don't listen to all of Wynton's stuff so much now but I've enjoyed this album and I strongly recommend it as a high point of jazz in the decade of the '80s.

--5 stars

SD

pretty good.......2005-05-19

When I first played this I was reminded more of VSOP from the 70s than straight 60s Miles (there is an obvious chain there). Try VSOP "The Quintet."

Not JUST Solid.......2005-04-12

Honestly, even if this was a complete rip off of Miles' work, which it clearly isn't, the group is stunning enough. I mean, Joe Henderson made a TRIBUTE ALBUM to Miles and it also won two grammys (and pretty much deserved them), and no one gave him any problems. No one will doubt that this quintet with Branford, Wynton, Kenny Kirkland, Tain Watts, and Moffet, was one of the best of the 1980s, and this album, as I and most others contend, this is probably their definitive album. Yet, I don't think really think this was a homage album to Miles Davis. If it was, Wynton probably would have brought direct attention to it. Clearly, Wynton's trumpet playing is definitely influenced by Miles 1960s work, but not solely. Yet other than that, I really don't any real obvious similarities between 65-68 Miles Quintet and this work, and trust me, I know Miles' work from that period very well. Really, the only copying going on related to "Black Codes From the Underground" was by critics who didn't know any better than to call the album an advance in Miles' music if they liked Wynton, or to call it a rip off of Miles if they didn't like him. I think a lot of these critics were either jaded by the extremely rapid acoustic jazz revival of the 1980s, or just didn't know much about the musical details of jazz and made a swift, dumb assumption according to other critics' views. Trust me, this should be one of, if not your first Wynton album. It is a group of great improvisers and complete musicians at their tightest, and at least for me, evokes a great amount of emotion. Also, despite what some say, this is a highly creative effort.

oh lord.......2004-01-05

First off, comparing this album to Miles is absurd; it would be like comparing Monet to Fleming; both geniuses, but 2 different time frames, eras, periods and concepts.

Black Codes is pure modern jazz energy at its most urban, refined, freshest, sophisticated and complex; it IS a seminal album because it provides the natural evolution and continuation of a hard bop movement that seemed to be floundering a bit in the late 70's, always seeming to have to fight the mediocre commercialism and superficialness that was plauging not only the music scene, but American culture then, and still today.

Dark, moody, hip, furious, dissonant, deep---very deep, ahhh, there simply aint' enough adjectives. But if words are meaningless, then how about one sustained goose bump of pure reverie and jazz joy when digging this album?

What is especially astounding are the virtuoso performances of an absolutely sick, monstrous rhythm section, and the horn and saxophone blowing which is a reflection of the best of improvisational recording during the last fifty years. I agree with the reviewer: don't walk, run and get it. It belongs next to Miles, Clifford, Coltrane and Bird, but put this one last (or latest) in the line-up.

Black Codes
Average customer rating:
Black Codes
Wynton Marsalis
Manufacturer: Sony
ProductGroup: Music
Binding: Audio CD

Bebop General | Bebop | Jazz | Styles | Music
General | Jazz | Styles | Music
Modern Postbebop | Jazz | Styles | Music
ASIN: B000G1T3O2
Release Date: 2006-07-31

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