News

Two Men With The Blues in stores now!

The new album by Willie Nelson and Wynton Marsalis is now available in stores! Released today by Blue Note Records, Two Men with the Blues features Willie Nelson and Wynton Marsalis recorded live in The Allen Room at Jazz at Lincoln Center. In our dedicated page you can find all the info about the new album and buying links for Amazon and iTunes.

We are also happy to announce that, by popular demand, they’re back! Catch Willie and Wynton live in Willie Nelson & Wynton Marsalis: Two Men with the Blues in a very special one night concert on February 9, 2009 in Rose Theater. Tickets will go on sale to the public on August 13th!

To hear what you might have missed the first time around, listen to Willie and Wynton on Jazz at Lincoln Center Radio! (real player required)
Willie and Wynton will also appear on NBC’s “The Tonight Show with Jay Leno!“ airing Thursday July 10th. Check your local listings.

If you buy the new album, feel free to discuss it using the comments to this post or writing in a special thread on our forum.

MasterCard cardholders have early access to Jazz at Lincoln Center’s 2008-09 season concert tickets including this special Willie Nelson and Wynton Marsalis performance when using their MasterCard card to purchase tickets. This offer is valid July 21 – August 13, 2008.

Willie Nelson will also replace Natalie Cole, who was scheduled to appear as a special guest with the Jazz at Lincoln Center Orchestra with Wynton Marsalis at the Hollywood Bowl on Wednesday, July 9, 2008. Natalie Cole has been forced to cancel due to illness.

Two Men With The Blues DVD will be on sale from September 2008.

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Comments

  1. Far from downplaying these contrasts, Marsalis and Nelson exploit them. On the slow blues “Night Life,” the trumpeter opens with an impassioned plunger-mute wail that could take paint off the walls; Nelson follows with a relaxed, conversational delivery. Willie also softens “Georgia on My Mind,” crooning along, barely above a whisper, to the band’s gospel jubilee. But if Blues is about melding (and flaunting) disparate approaches, it’s also about chemistry. The group’s mutual humor is apparent in Hank Williams’s “My Bucket’s Got a Hole in It” (Blanding and Nelson trade “sobbing” clarinet and guitar solos) or the sly honky-tonk “Bright Lights, Big City”; a shared sentimentality suffuses “Stardust” and “Basin Street Blues.” In that sense, this is an experiment to see how far musical bonds can stretch. Sure, the novelty helps, and if it recurs too often, the glee of hearing Nelson and Marsalis mesh will diminish. But hearing once how they play with and against each other is a real treat.

    By MICHAEL J. WEST

    John Mitchell on Jul 26th, 2008 at 10:39am

  2. I have followed Willie Nelson since 1975 and he obviously has had a legendary career. This album excites me as much as Stardust did, and that album sold over 5 million copies. Wynton Marsalis is unbelievable as is his band along with Micky Rapheal from Willie’s band. This is one of the greatest albums of all time in my opinion.

    Stephen Brantley on Jul 22nd, 2008 at 11:14pm

  3. This is an awesome album! I first heard it on KUNV in Las Vegas and I’m so inspired, I’m getting in touch with my own love of singing and connecting with a voice coach. As a music lover, what else could I do listening to this album?

    Kathy Holmes on Jul 18th, 2008 at 3:03pm

  4. Willie Nelson & Wynton Marsalis’s acclaimed collaboration Two Men with the Blues debuted today at #20 on the Billboard Top 200 chart with first week sales of 21,650, marking a career-high for both of these legendary artists. That ranking is Willie’s highest of the Soundscan era, and his highest since 1982 when his album Always on My Mind hit #2 on the charts (Stardust peaked at #30 in 1978).

    For Wynton the charting is a career best. Previously, his album Hot House Flowers reached #90 on the Top 200 back in 1984.

    Released July 8, 2008, by Blue Note Records, Two Men with the Blues has also been garnering rave reviews from critics across the musical spectrum. The Boston Globe called it “an unmitigated, ear-tickling success,” while Billboard remarked that the album’s “enviably assured vibe pretty much drips out of the speakers.” The duo gave a stunning performance of “Bright Lights Big City” on NBC’s The Tonight with Jay Leno on July 10 [www.nbc.com] and NPR’s All Things Considered broadcast a fantastic 11-minute interview segment on July 12 [www.npr.org]

    Jazz at Lincoln Center has also just announced a return engagement to the site where the album was recorded live in January 2007. On February 9, 2009, Willie & Wynton will reunite, this time in JALC’s Rose Theater to help celebrate the 70th anniversary of Blue Note Records. Tickets will be available for purchase thru JALC’s box office beginning August 13.
    For more information please visit [www.jalc.org]

    Luigi on Jul 17th, 2008 at 11:42am

  5. just saw this and had to post it here. i have never been so excited about this and very happy for both
    willie & wynton.

    PATRICIA WHITTINGTON on Jul 17th, 2008 at 11:30am

  6. Barbara,
    for now there’s one date only.
    February 9, 2009, at Rose Theater (New York)

    We’ll let you know through the TOUR section, if other dates will be posted.

    Luigi on Jul 16th, 2008 at 2:52pm

  7. Will you be bringing your Two Men With the Blues performance to Chicago?

    Barbara Stevens on Jul 16th, 2008 at 12:25pm

  8. This album is really Great, but how couldn’t it be?? Thanks to both musicians, they are fantastic!
    I disscovered Wynton at the “festival de marciac” (I am from France) and I can’t help stoping listening to his Jazz!! Carry on making us dream, Guys!

    valentin on Jul 13th, 2008 at 12:48am

  9. The DVD will be released this fall.
    Stay tuned about updates…

    Luigi on Jul 11th, 2008 at 2:59am

  10. this is without a doubt the most up lifting and beautiful collaboration of all, i have ever heard.
    the variations in the choices of music is outstanding, from jazz and blues to country. this is the ultimate in listening enjoyment. i look forward to the dvd coming out in the fall. i was not able to get a ticket to the performance last year at the Lincoln center and am happy to hear their will be a repeat performance coming up next february, 2009. i pray i make it this time, and will keep all the positive thoughts with me.
    their is nothing like seeing a live performance of this high distinction. bravo many times over.

    Patricia Whittington on Jul 11th, 2008 at 1:55am

  11. I saw Willie and Wynton playing together last night at the Hollywood Bowl. I was totally blown away! The Jazz at the Lincoln Center musicians were phenomenal! And then when the two of them started playing together in the last part of the show, it was like the music was coming straight from heaven. They both had these big smiles on their faces, their two styles blending seamlessly. It transcended any preconceived notions a person might have had. It was moving, exciting, inspirational. I am so thankful I had the opportunity to see these great artists perform together.

    Paula Maxwell on Jul 10th, 2008 at 7:01pm

  12. I love this album; it’s so beautiful. So glad to hear they continue to play together. I think a dvd will be out in fall?

    Linda on Jul 9th, 2008 at 9:03am

  13. just got my files from iTunes music store.
    Simply excellent! thanks Willie and Wynton. This is a magic release.
    I hope to be at Rose Theater next year!!!!!!!!!!!

    Karol on Jul 8th, 2008 at 12:17pm

  14. I got a pre release copy of these sides..they really are great! This will introduce Wynton to a whole other audience….He is the MAN!!!

    Neil King on Jul 8th, 2008 at 12:14pm

  15. I just finished watching the video clip for Two Men with the Blues and it was so unexpectedly beautiful that tears started rolling down my cheek. Part of the beauty is the music is terrific, part of it is the amount of respect I have for both you and Willie. At a deeper level, it is a great example of human relations. You and Willie are different in many ways. Instead of saying “we are too different from one another to work together”, you created a synergetic slant on some old songs.

    Best wishes,

    Trent Kreitler

    Trent Kreitler on Jul 8th, 2008 at 9:07am