Eternal

1	The Ruby and the Pearl 8:55
2	Reika's Loss 7:53
3	Gloomy Sunday 12:43
4	The Lonely Swan 9:05
5	Dinner for One Please, James 8:02
6	Muldoon 4:16
7	Eternal 17:42

Barnes & Noble

Saxophonist Branford Marsalis started his own recording label to avoid the dictates of the corporate music world. And that’s understandable, considering his explosive Dark Keys and experimental Buckshot Lefonque. But Eternal would be welcome on any mainstream label. In its beauty and quietude the CD is accessible to a broad spectrum of listeners, though Marsalis had a higher mission than drawing larger audiences. The CD is an elegy for those who have recently passed: Ray Charles, Malachi Favors, Elvin Jones, James Williams, and his childhood friend Grace are among those to whom Marsalis dedicates the CD. On Eternal the ensemble -- bassist Eric Reevis, pianist Joey Calderazzo, and drummer Jeff "Tain" Watts -- is more traditional in expressing loss. Illustrating deepening of their intuitive link is “Gloomy Sunday,” on which Marsalis’ mournful tenor sax flows from a river of angry drums and a stream of keyboard blues, capturing two of the emotions that often accompany the death of those we cherish. It is a New Orleans funeral march without the constrictive rhythm or the host of horns. Sadness can be reflected in many scenes, and on “Dinner for One Please, James” Marsalis’ tenor becomes the heart of a woman who has been stood up at a fine restaurant. Calderazzo’s “The Lonely Swan” glides with both the sensuality and the expectancy of two dancers who are also strangers. The only Marsalis original on Eternal is the title cut. While the name of the tune could be taken as either auspicious or braggy, it is instead the expression of healing. Watts’s cymbals rise back to the here and now, then draw the rest of the band into a joyous -- in fact, exuberant -- present, and eventually to an acceptance of our shared mortality. Roberta Penn

All Music Guide

Eternal finds saxophonist Branford Marsalis in a contemplative mood performing a mix of original and standard ballads with his usual quartet of pianist Joey Calderazzo, bassist Eric Revis, and drummer Jeff "Tain" Watts. The title track, written for his wife Nicole, is a hushed and cerebral affair, but never feels anything but warm. Similarly, the lead-off track, "The Ruby and the Pearl," contains the faint blush of Ellington-ian exoticism and "Gloomy Sunday" brings to mind the rumbling and atmospheric late-'60s work of longtime Marsalis touchstone John Coltrane. The album, his second solo outing for his Marsalis Music label, is dedicated in memory to a list of people one can only assume were as influential musically on Marsalis as emotionally. Among them are bassist Malachi Favors, drummer Elvin Jones, saxophonist Steve Lacy, and the one and only Ray Charles. Their spirits are palpable here as Marsalis and his band have clearly documented a handful of quietly beautiful and deeply moving performances. Matt Collar