Requiem

1	Doctone 6:07
2	Trieste 8:23
3	A Thousand Autumns 10:38
4	Lykief 9:40
5	Bullworth 6:35
6	Elysium 9:35
7	Cassandra 8:48
8	16th St. Baptist Church 9:43

Barnes & Noble

Many young jazz musicians claim Marsalis's 1980 quartet recording CRAZY PEOPE MUSIC as a fount of inspiration. It's likely they'll feel the same about his much-anticipated followup, REQUIEM. Here, the saxophonist's foursome combines freebop's derring-do with a rhythmically skewed swing, creating a sound that's just as fertile but a bit more refined than its predecessor. Marsalis' agenda for acoustic jazz is simple: He wants the thickest interplay possible without forfeiting groove. With drummer Jeff "Tain" Watts creating a mighty bounce on "Doctone" and "16th St. Baptist Church," the leader gets his wish. Their rapport is exceptional, as is that of Marsalis and pianist Kenny Kirkland, who died while the disc was being recorded (the impulsive "Elysium" is a trio cut). With coordination marking each move, the band casts jazz as an art of intricate exchange. The loose-limbed parade beats of "Bullworth" create a zigzag of ideas from all four participants (bassist Eric Revis proves just as pliable as his compatriots). Even the stately ballad "Cassandra" is contoured with elaborate turns. Searching for the unexpected, Marsalis steers his unit toward the sublime. Jim Macnie

All Music Guide

Branford Marsalis' longtime pianist Kenny Kirkland died two months after the sessions for this album began -- hence the title -- and after a futile attempt to finish the recording in December 1998, Branford decided to leave the music as is, first takes and all. If there are any serious flaws in the playing, they will escape the vast majority of ears out there, for this is an uncompromising, well-played disc of acoustic jazz that leans a bit toward adventure at times. At first, Branford's foursome (Kirkland, Eric Revis on bass, and Jeff "Tain" Watts on drums) seems content to turn out a pretty good facsimile of the John Coltrane Quartet, with Kirkland playing brilliantly and reflectively in the McCoy Tyner manner. But with "Lykief" -- a pun on Keith Jarrett's name -- Branford takes up Jarrett's long unanswered challenge and pushes through a tumbling, nearly rhythmically free piece attractively anchored by Jarrett's gospel harmonies and melodic methods. "Bullworth" blasts off on a Watts hip-hop rhythm, with Branford going nuts in an angular bit of soloing, and "16th St. Baptist Church" apparently sends the CD home on a funky New Orleans street march, only to be followed by a touching, uncredited Marsalis/Kirkland benediction. Once again, the post-Tonight Show, post-Buckshot Marsalis makes a credibly serious jazz statement in what turned out to be the swan song for one of the neo-bop era's finest lineups. Richard S. Ginell