''Blood on the Fields'' is a two-and-a-half-hour jazz

oratorio An oratorio () is a large musical composition for orchestra, choir, and soloists. Like most operas, an oratorio includes the use of a choir, soloists, an instrumental ensemble, various distinguishable characters, and arias. However, opera is mus ...

Wynton Marsalis Wynton Learson Marsalis (born October 18, 1961) is an American trumpeter, composer, teacher, and artistic director of Jazz at Lincoln Center. He has promoted classical and jazz music, often to young audiences. Marsalis has won nine Grammy Awar ...

. It was commissioned by

Lincoln Center Lincoln Center for the Performing Arts (also simply known as Lincoln Center) is a complex of buildings in the Lincoln Square neighborhood on the Upper West Side of Manhattan. It has thirty indoor and outdoor facilities and is host to 5 millio ...

and treats the history of slavery and its aftermath in the United States of America. The oratorio tells the story of two slaves, Jesse and Leona, as they traverse the difficult journey to freedom. The narrative suggests that the individual freedom and agency of its protagonists is necessarily and inextricably intertwined with the empowerment of the community and nation as a whole. The work received the 1997

Pulitzer Prize for Music The Pulitzer Prize for Music is one of seven Pulitzer Prizes awarded annually in Letters, Drama, and Music. It was first given in 1943. Joseph Pulitzer arranged for a music scholarship to be awarded each year, and this was eventually converted i ...

, being the first time the prize was ever given for a jazz music composition, an honor that had previously been reserved for classical composers.

Track listing

Disc 1

# Calling the Indians Out # Move Over # You Don't Hear No Drums # The Market Place # Soul for Sale # Plantation

Coffle A coffle was a group of enslaved people chained together and marched from one place to another by owners or slave traders. History In the Antebellum South, slave traders such as Franklin and Armfield arbitraged slave prices by purchasing slaves a ...

March # Work Song (Blood on the Fields)

Disc 2

# Lady's Lament # Flying High # Oh We Have a Friend in Jesus # God Don't Like Ugly # Juba and a O'Brown Squaw # Follow the Drinking Gourd # My Soul Fell Down # Forty Lashes # What a Fool I've Been # Back to Basics

Disc 3

# I Hold Out My Hand # Look and See # The Sun Is Gonna Shine # Will the Sun Come Out? # The Sun Is Gonna Shine # Chant to Call the Indians Out # Calling the Indians Out # Follow the Drinking Gourd # Freedom Is in the Trying # Due North

Musicians

– trumpet, oratory vocal *

Jon Hendricks John Carl Hendricks (September 16, 1921 – November 22, 2017), known professionally as Jon Hendricks, was an American jazz lyricist and singer. He is one of the originators of vocalese, which adds lyrics to existing instrumental songs and rep ...

– vocal *

Cassandra Wilson Cassandra Wilson (born December 4, 1955) is an American jazz singer, songwriter, and producer from Jackson, Mississippi. She is one of the most successful female Jazz singers and has been described by critic Gary Giddins as "a singer blessed wi ...

– vocal * Miles Griffith – vocal *

Roger Ingram Roger O'Neal Ingram (born November 13, 1957) is a jazz trumpeter, educator, author, and instrument designer. He played trumpet for the orchestras of Maynard Ferguson, Woody Herman, Wynton Marsalis, Ray Charles, and Harry Connick Jr. Early life T ...

– lead trumpet, oratory vocal * Marcus Printup – second trumpet, oratory vocal *

Russell Gunn Russell Gunn (born October 20, 1971 in Chicago) is an American contemporary jazz trumpeter. He grew up in East St. Louis, Illinois playing trumpet. As a kid his musical interest was hip hop, with LL Cool J being his first music idol. His project ...

– third trumpet, oratory vocal *

Ron Westray Ronald Kenneth Westray, Jr. (born June 13, 1970 in Columbia, South Carolina) is an American jazz trombonist, composer, and educator. He holds a B.A. from South Carolina State University and a Master of Arts degree from Eastern Illinois University ...

– lead trombone, oratory vocal * Wayne Goodman – second trombone, oratory vocal *

Wycliffe Gordon Wycliffe A. Gordon (born May 29, 1967) is an American jazz trombonist, arranger, composer, band leader, and music educator at the collegiate-conservatory level. Gordon also sings and plays didgeridoo, trumpet, soprano trombone, tuba, and piano. ...

– trombone and tuba, oratory vocal * Walter Blanding – soprano saxophone, oratory vocal *

Wes Anderson Wesley Wales Anderson (born May 1, 1969) is an American filmmaker. His films are known for their eccentricity and unique visual and narrative styles. They often contain themes of grief, loss of innocence, and dysfunctional families. Cited by so ...

– lead alto saxophone, oratory vocal * Robert Stewart – lead tenor saxophone, oratory vocal *

Victor Goines Victor Louis Goines (born August 6, 1961) is a jazz saxophonist and clarinetist who has served as president and chief executive officer of Jazz St. Louis since September 2022. From 2000 to 2007, he was director of the jazz program at Juilliard. ...

– tenor, soprano saxophones, clarinet and bass clarinet, oratory vocal * James Carter – baritone saxophone, clarinet and bass clarinet, oratory vocal *

Regina Carter Regina Carter (born August 6, 1966) is an American jazz violinist. She is the cousin of jazz saxophonist James Carter. Early life Carter was born in Detroit and was one of three children in her family. She began piano lessons at the age of t ...

– violin, oratory vocal * Michael Ward – violin, oratory vocal * Eric Reed – piano, oratory vocal * Reginald Veal – bass, oratory vocal *

Herlin Riley Herlin Riley (born February 15, 1957) is an American jazz drummer and a member of the Lincoln Center Jazz Orchestra led by Wynton Marsalis. A native of New Orleans, Riley started on the drums when he was three. He played trumpet through high ...

– drums, tambourine, oratory vocalLiner Notes from ''Blood on the Fields'' CD set, Columbia Records 1997.

References

{{Authority control Pulitzer Prize for Music-winning works Wynton Marsalis albums 1995 compilation albums 1994 compositions Columbia Records compilation albums