''The Dark Keys'' is a jazz trio album by the Branford Marsalis Trio, featuring

Branford Marsalis Branford Marsalis (born August 26, 1960) is an American saxophonist The saxophone (often referred to colloquially as the sax) is a type of single-reed woodwind instrument with a conical body, usually made of brass. As with all single-reed inst ...

Reginald Veal Reginald Veal (born November 5, 1963) is an American jazz bassist and multi-instrumentalist from New Orleans, Louisiana. Veal grew up in New Orleans where he began piano lessons at a very early age. After receiving a bass guitar as a gift from hi ...

, and Jeff "Tain" Watts, with guest appearances from

Kenny Garrett Kenny Garrett (born October 9, 1960) is an American post-bop jazz musician and composer who gained recognition in his youth as a member of the Duke Ellington Orchestra and for his time with Miles Davis's band. His primary instruments are alto and ...

and Joe Lovano. Recorded July 31 to August 2, 1996, in the Tarrytown Music Hall in

Tarrytown, New York Tarrytown is a village in the town of Greenburgh in Westchester County, New York. It is located on the eastern bank of the Hudson River, approximately north of Midtown Manhattan in New York City, and is served by a stop on the Metro-North ...

, the album reached Number 9 on the ''

Billboard A billboard (also called a hoarding in the UK and many other parts of the world) is a large outdoor advertising structure (a billing board), typically found in high-traffic areas such as alongside busy roads. Billboards present large advertise ...

'' Top Jazz Albums chart.

Reception

In his

AllMusic AllMusic (previously known as All Music Guide and AMG) is an American online music database. It catalogs more than three million album entries and 30 million tracks, as well as information on musicians and bands. Initiated in 1991, the databas ...

review, Leo Stanley wrote that the performance "pushes at the borders of post-bop, adding elements of hip-hop and rock & roll, making for an adventurous and exciting listen." Steve Futterman concurred in his ''

Entertainment Weekly ''Entertainment Weekly'' (sometimes abbreviated as ''EW'') is an American digital-only entertainment magazine based in New York City, published by Dotdash Meredith, that covers film, television, music, Broadway theatre, books, and popular cul ...

'' review, noting that the album shows Marsalis returning "to contender status." Writing in 2009 in ''

The New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid ...

'', Ben Ratliff called the album one of the landmarks of the saxophone trio album tradition over the last 50 years.

Track listing

Personnel

* Branford Marsalis – Saxophones *

, bass * Jeff "Tain" Watts, drums *

, alto saxophone (on "Judas Iscariot") * Joe Lovano, tenor saxophone (on "Sentinel")

References

External links

BranfordMarsalis.com
{{DEFAULTSORT:Dark Keys 1996 albums Branford Marsalis albums