[Slowhand] CLAPTON AND MARSALIS

[Jeff Elliott]

ERIC <http://www.nydailynews.com/topics/Eric+Clapton>  CLAPTON and Wynton
Marsalis <http://www.nydailynews.com/topics/Wynton+Marsalis>  entered Rose
Hall <http://www.nydailynews.com/topics/Rose+Hall>  from opposite sides of
the stage Friday night - a telling gesture.

While they both arrived ready to "Play The Blues " - as the show's name
instructed - they found their greatest connection in very different
expressions of the form.

Guitar god Clapton initially fell under the spell of the blues after hearing
its 1950s electric amplifications. Trumpet czar Marsalis found his closest
connection to the genre in its 1920s-era marriage to jazz. Would they find
common ground at this first-ever joint show (one held in a venue 1/20th the
size Clapton normally plays)?

Clearly, Clapton wondered the same thing. "It took a lot of courage for me
to come here and put my little jingle in," he said at one point.

It's a typical expression of Clapton's humility but, in truth, he was indeed
outnumbered. The eight-member backup band contained no fewer than seven
players from Marsalis' group, while Clapton only had the classic-rock
keyboardist Chris <http://www.nydailynews.com/topics/Chris+Stainton>
Stainton as his safety blanket. Given Clapton's stated intimidation, one
worried he might work too hard to blend in, losing the power of the sonic
contrast.

That fret faded with the rollicking first number, "Ice Cream," a
jump-jazz/blues ditty that energetically integrated crowded and giddy horn
solos with Clapton's own fast-fingered guitar. The piece, like the best of
this night, mashed up regions and eras of both blues and jazz with a defiant
ease. In these riffs and solos thrived the sounds of both '20s New
<http://www.nydailynews.com/topics/New+Orleans>  Orleans and 1950s Chicago
<http://www.nydailynews.com/topics/Chicago> , with Clapton adding some 1960s
rock spine, and the pianist Dan Nimmer
<http://www.nydailynews.com/topics/Dan+Nimmer>  and standup bassist Carlos
Henriquez <http://www.nydailynews.com/topics/Carlos+Henriquez>  throwing in
some chords from more modern jazz.

In the cover of Howlin' Wolf
<http://www.nydailynews.com/topics/Howlin%27+Wolf> 's "Forty-four," Clapton
drew on more of his early influence, aping the hard stomp and growl of
Chicago blues, while the four horns fell all over each other in a traffic
jam of New Orleans exuberance. The band found just as sure a groove in a
lighter number, like "Joe <http://www.nydailynews.com/topics/Joe+Turner>
Turner's Blues," a swoon in which the horns gently finished each other's
phrases and Clapton teased out a silky solo that, like many this night, was
quieter than his usual but no less fleet.

Songs by the likes of Louis Armstrong
<http://www.nydailynews.com/topics/Louis+Armstrong> , Bessie
<http://www.nydailynews.com/topics/Bessie+Smith>  Smith and W.C. Handy may
have dominated the 90-minute program, but it also found room for a piece the
playbill insisted the band wouldn't play: "Layla." Clapton, who otherwise
chose the material, blamed this one on Henriquez. But he should be proud to
take the credit. The song transformed into a sexy, slow blues vamp to which
Marsalis' trumpet added a graceful counter-melody. Like everything this
night, it proved how portable the blues can be when played by the right
hands.


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brothers_clapton__marsalis_make_sweet_music.html#ixzz1JAynz1M5>
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