Wynton Marsalis: Chambers of Tain

My CD copy of this release does not provide any composer information, or list the musicians, or even tell you the state or country where the music was recorded. (Although it does note the microphones employed: Neuman: U-67, KM-84, T170i; AKG: 414EB-P48, 451.) But you can't keep a band this good a secret, no matter how hard the folks at Sony / Columbia work to hide their light under a bushel. When these unknown musicians first released the mystery track on the Black Codes (From the Underground) LP, back in the mid-1980s, a host of cryptographers worked to decipher the discographical information from a cypher supposedly hidden in Stanley Crouch's liner notes. But seasoned jazz fans didn't need to break the Black Codethey just listened to this sizzling hot performance for a few seconds before bowing in deference to Wynton Marsalis, his brother Branford, and the stellar rhythm section of Kenny Kirkland, Jeff 'Tain' Watts and Charnett Moffett. In all honesty, this record shook people up when it first came out, and still amazes today. Wynton puts it all together in his sologreat ideas, peerless virtuosity, hard-edged swing. And the whole band clicks, both on the labyrinthine head and during the fast-paced modally-oriented solos. A classic performance from the mid-1980s.