Cain and Abel
The differences between the Marsalis brothers’ playlists are interesting:
Reflecting his musical career, Branford’s is all over the musical map, from Sting (who he played with in the early 80’s) to Son House. Branford chooses an intense, loose, improvisatory Miles Davis track from the Bitches Brew sessions.
Wynton’s reflects his very specific view of what good music is, including only relatively “inside” jazz. His Miles Davis selection is the very mellow, carefully arranged “Moon Dreams” from the Birth of the Cool sessions.
I admire Wynton as a musician and for what he has done for the visibility of jazz, but Branford is the more forward-looking and open-minded musician. He’s played and recorded with hip-hoppers, the Grateful Dead, funk bands, in addition to his own fantastic quartet (Tain is a monster). Wynton’s attitude seems to be “if it isn’t structured acoustic jazz or classical music, I’m not interested.”
Beyoncé gets the Celebrity Playlist Egotism Award for putting two of her own songs on hers. Those are in addition to several Destiny’s Child songs.
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