Trio Jeepy

Studio album by

Branford Marsalis

Released

June 1989

Recorded

January 3 & 4, 1988

Studio

Astoria (New York City)

Genre

Jazz

Length

1:13:32

Label

Sony Music

Producer

Dr. George Butler (executive producer)/ Delfeayo Marsalis (producer)

Branford Marsalis chronology

Random Abstract
(1987)

Trio Jeepy
(1989)

Do the Right Thing (soundtrack)
(1989)

Professional ratings
Review scores
Source	Rating
Allmusic	^[1]
The Penguin Guide to Jazz Recordings	^[2]

Trio Jeepy is a jazz album by saxophonist Branford Marsalis, in which he leads a trio featuring notable bassist Milt Hinton.^[3] Recorded January 3–4, 1988 at Astoria Studios in New York City and released in 1989,^[4] Trio Jeepy was later nominated for a Grammy Award in the 1989 category for 'Best Jazz Instrumental Performance, Group'.^[5]

Marsalis' cover of Makin' Whoopee would become the first music video featured on VH1 Smooth upon its initial broadcast on August 1, 1998.^[6]

Reception

In an AllMusic review, Scott Yanow commented that Marsalis "clearly had a lot of fun during this set... The performances are quite spontaneous (the occasional mistakes were purposely left in) and Marsalis really romps on such tunes as "Three Little Words," "Makin' Whoopee," and "Doxy." On the joyful outing that is also one of Branford Marsalis' most accessible recordings, Milt Hinton often steals the show."^[7]

The importance of Hinton's performance was highlighted in a contemporary review by the Jazz Journal, which described his contribution "as tasty as ever" and Marsalis to be "well served" by the octogenarian bass player.^[1] Commentary by the New York Times similarly declared Trio Jeppy to be "a catalogue of Mr. Hinton's diverse skills".^[3] In a positive review for the The Guardian, John Fordham described the trio Marsalis assembled for Trio Jeepy to be a "shifting, ambiguous rhythmic tapestry" that a "soloist of Marsalis' skills can erupt over", labelling the trio a 'tour de force'.^[8]

Billboard selected Trio Jeepy as one of their Top Jazz Albums of 1989.^[9]

Track listing (compact disc)

"Housed from Edward" (Branford Marsalis) - 9:29
"The Nearness of You" (Hoagy Carmichael, Ned Washington) - 10:34
"Three Little Words" (Bert Kalmar, Harry Ruby) - 5:07
"Makin' Whoopee" (Walter Donaldson, Gus Kahn) - 0:47
"U.M.M.G." (Billy Strayhorn) - 7:09
"Gutbucket Steepy" (Milt Hinton, Branford Marsalis, Jeff Watts) - 6:18
"Doxy" (Sonny Rollins) - 7:57
"Makin' Whoopee (Reprise)" (Donaldson/Kahn) - 9:06
"Peace" (Ornette Coleman) - 9:09
"Random Abstract (Tain's Rampage)" (Branford Marsalis) - 8:00

Note: The original LP and cassette releases included one additional track, a version of "Stardust" lasting 9:07 and featuring Milt Hinton and Jeff Watts.

Personnel

Branford Marsalis - saxophones
Jeff "Tain" Watts - drums
Milt Hinton - bass (tracks 1-6, 8)
Delbert Felix - bass (tracks 7, 9, 10)

References

^ ^a ^b Gardner, Mark (1991). "JJ 07/91: Branford Marsalis – Trio Jeepy". Jazz journal. No. July. Jazz Journal. Retrieved 29 August 2024.
^ Cook, Richard; Morton, Brian (2008). The Penguin Guide to Jazz Recordings (9th ed.). Penguin. p. 948. ISBN 978-0-141-03401-0.
^ ^a ^b Freedman, Samuel G. (1989). "A Jazzman's Fountain of Youth". The New York Times. No. 8 Oct. The New York Times Company. Retrieved 4 September 2024.
^ "Trio Jeepy". Branford Marsalis.com. Archived from the original on 2014-09-13. Retrieved 2014-09-12.
^ "Here's a list of Grammy nominees". Tampa Bay Times. No. Jan. 13. Times Publishing Company. 1990. Retrieved 29 August 2024.
^ Hay, Carla (August 22, 1998). "MuchMusic Readies Awards, Spinoff Channel; MTV's Suite Set". Vol. 110, no. 34. Nielsen Business Media, Inc. p. 85. Retrieved March 12, 2017.
^ Yanow, Scott. "Trio Jeepy - Branford Marsalis". AllMusic. AllMusic Netaktion LLC. Retrieved 29 August 2024.
^ Fordham, John (1991). "Trio's tour de force". The Guardian. No. Sep 6. Guardian News & Media Limited. Retrieved 3 September 2024.
^ "1989; The Year In Music - Top Jazz Albums". Billboard. No. 51. P-MRC. Dec 23, 1989. Retrieved 3 September 2024.