Martin Scorsese Presents the Blues: Piano Blues

• Artist: Original Soundtrack
• Release Date: September 09, 2003
• Type: Soundtrack
• Genre: Blues

Review

Clint Eastwood's chapter in Martin Scorsese Presents the Blues centers around the piano's role in the development of the blues. In typical Eastwood fashion, he goes not for the easy or common associations of the instrument with the music, but looks expansively at how the restricted sonics of the piano as a melodic instrument and its possibilities as a percussion instrument created a spiralling and deep-rooted bottom for the music in all genres of popular music as it developed in the 20th century. Here is Jimmy Yancey's primitive and profound version of "How Long Blues" juxtaposed against the harmonically sophisticated read of the song by Count Basie and his orchestra. The New Orleans blues are celebrated in their modern incarnations -- as they contributed to the architecture of rock & roll by the inclusion of Fats Domino's "Fat Man" and Joe Turner's "The Ladder." The blues as exemplified in soul music as it came from R&B are revealed by Ray Charles' "What'd I Say" -- both parts -- and as they informed modern jazz in the glorious trio recording of "Backwards Country Boy Blues" by Max Roach, Charles Mingus, and Duke Ellington, and in Thelonious Monk's "Blue Monk." What Eastwood is trying to show in the film and on the soundtrack is how the 12-bar blues was not only a platform, but a devil's playground for experimentation, rhythmic invention, and harmonic extrapolation. And he succeeds in this aural document by creating the most provocative of the series' soundtracks. ~ Thom Jurek, All Music Guide

Tracks

Track Title	Composers	Performers	Time
How Long Blues	Leroy Carr, Traditional	Jimmy Yancey	(3:03)
Boogie Woogie Prayer, Pt. 1	Albert Ammons, Pete Johnson, P.L. Johnson, Meade "Lux" Lewis	The Boogie Woogie Boys	(2:22)
How Long Blues	Leroy Carr, Traditional	Count Basie Orchestra	(3:02)
Driftin' Blues	Charles Brown, Johnny Moore's Three Blazers, Eddie Williams	Johnny Moore's Three Blazers	(3:13)
The Fat Man (Lyrics)	Dave Bartholomew, Fats Domino	Fats Domino	(2:36)
Tatum Pole Boogie	Art Tatum	Art Tatum	(2:25)
Tipitina	Henry Roeland Byrd	Professor Longhair	(2:38)
What'd I Say, Pts. 1 & 2	Ray Charles	Ray Charles	(6:28)
Good Morning Mr. Blues	Wynonie Harris, Otis Spann	Otis Spann	(3:22)
Backward Country Boy Blues	Duke Ellington	Charles Mingus, Max Roach, Duke Ellington	(6:20)
Blue Monk	Thelonious Monk	Thelonious Monk	(6:14)
Piney Brown Blues	Big Joe Turner, Pete Johnson, P.L. Johnson, Joseph Vernon Turner	Big Joe Turner, Jay McShann	(5:25)
Mission Ranch Blues	Dave Brubeck, Jay McShann	Dave Brubeck, Jay McShann	(3:48)
The Ladder		Big Joe Turner	(2:21)
Honey Dripper	Jimmy Liggins, Joe Liggins	Dr. John	(3:36)
World Full of People	H. Townsend	Henry Townsend	(4:01)
Big Chief	Earl King, Earl Gaines, Querzerque	Dr. John	(3:00)
Carmel Blues		Marcia Ball, Pinetop Perkins	(2:59)
Travelin' Blues	Dave Brubeck, Iola Brubeck	Dave Brubeck	(3:20)
How Long Blues	Leroy Carr, Traditional	Henry Gray, Dr. John, Pete Jolly	(5:14)

Credits

Ray Flerlage (Photography), Jay McShann (Piano), Ernest McLean (Guitar), Sho Komiya (Bass), Robert Barnett (Project Consultant), Charlie Rouse (Saxophone), Pat Lawrence (Executive Producer), Count Basie (Piano), Margaret Bodde (Producer), Hank O'Neal (Producer), Earl Palmer (Drums), Ellen Nygaard (Icon), Art Tatum (Piano), Jo Jones (Drums), Teo Macero (Producer), Alan Douglas (Producer), Dan Luskin (Production Assistant), Michele Horie (Project Coordinator), David "Fathead" Newman (Sax (Tenor)), Ken Robertson (Sonic Restoration), Patti Matheny (Artist Coordination), Duke Ellington (Piano), Herbert Hardesty (Sax (Tenor)), Harry "Sweets" Edison (Trumpet), Gene Cipriano (Saxophone), Ahmet Ertegun (Producer), Ulrich Felsburg (Executive Producer), Andy McKaie (A&R), Andreas Meyer (Sonic Restoration), Ernie Watts (Saxophone), Alex Gibney (Series Producer), Nat Hentoff (Liner Notes), Wayne Knight (Photography), Ryan Null (Photo Research), Buck Clayton (Trumpet), Henry Townsend (Vocals), Hank O'Neal (Photography), Billy Byers (Trombone), Dr. John (Piano), Eddie Durham (Arranger), Jerry Wexler (Producer), Ray Charles (Vocals), Michael Wimberly (Trombone), Dave Bartholomew (Producer), Johnny Otis (Drums), Darren Salmieri (Artist Coordination), Martin Scorsese (Liner Notes), John Guerin (Percussion), Alex Gibney (Producer), Otis Spann (Piano), Freddie Green (Guitar), Pete Johnson (Piano), Shad Collins (Trumpet), Howard Roberts (Guitar), Jody Patton (Executive Producer), Walter Page (Bass), Jo Hay (Design), Clarence Hall (Sax (Tenor)), Gene Norman (Producer), Dan Minor (Trombone), Jimmy Rushing (Vocals), Vartan (Art Direction), Jimmy Yancey (Soloist), Buddy Tate (Sax (Tenor)), Clint Eastwood (Compilation Producer), Thelonious Monk (Piano), Jerry Rappaport (A&R), Tom Piazza (A&R), Richard Hutton (Producer), Henry Townsend (Piano), Bruce Ricker (Compilation Producer), Pete Jolly (Piano), Bob Brookmeyer (Trombone (Valve)), Andy McKaie (Producer), Paul "PDA" Allen (Executive Producer), Steven Berkowitz (A&R), Edgar Willis (Bass), Christopher Austopchuk (Art Direction), Hank Crawford (Sax (Baritone)), Robert Edwards (Slide Guitar), Margery Greenspan (Design), Alex Gibney (A&R), Charles Brown (Vocals), Otis Spann (Vocals), Dave Bartholomew (Trumpet), Conte Candoli (Trumpet), Ray Charles (Piano (Electric)), Jeffrey Peisch (Series Producer), Didier C. Deutsch (Producer), Fats Domino (Piano), Oliver Nelson (Conductor), Ed Lewis (Trumpet), Eddie Williams (Bass), Bruce Ricker (Producer), Thomas Scott (Saxophone), Bobby Bryant (Trumpet), Frank Driggs (Photography), Alvin "Red" Tyler (Sax (Baritone)), Adam Traum (Photography), Benny Morton (Trombone), Dan Luskin (Photo Research), Geary Chansley (Photo Research), Meade "Lux" Lewis (Piano), Darcy Proper (Mastering), Howard Fritzson (Art Direction), Adam Owett (Art Direction), Jack Washington (Sax (Baritone)), Jack Washington (Sax (Alto)), Dave Brubeck (Piano), Frank Fields (Bass), Marcia Ball (Piano), Ernie Small (Saxophone), Milt Turner (Drums), Dicky Wells (Trombone), Albert Ammons (Piano), Johnny Moore Band (Guitar), David "Fathead" Newman (Sax (Alto)), Rhonda Shields (Project Manager), Max Roach (Drums), Marcus Belgrave (Trumpet), Steven Berkowitz (Producer), Paul Brissman (Photography), Larry Gales (Bass), Charles Mingus (Bass), Clint Eastwood (Producer), Charles Brown (Piano), Earle Warren (Sax (Alto)), The Raelettes (Vocals (Background)), Count Basie (Leader), Jeff Jones (Executive Producer), Dr. John (Vocals), Fred Hill (Trumpet), Jimmy Yancey (Piano), John Christiana (Packaging Manager), Oliver Nelson (Arranger), Lester Young (Sax (Tenor)), Salimah El Amin (Photo Research), Fats Domino (Vocals), Martin Scorsese (Executive Producer), John Paul Hunt (Trumpet)