Well You Needn’t – 1983
Wynton Marsalis
The Marsalis Brothers with Herbie Hancock’s .VSOP II.
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Wynton Marsalis was quite a phenomenon when he burst upon the jazz scene with Art Blakey’s Jazz Messengers during 1989-90.
In 1991 he took time off from the Jazz Messengers to tour with the Herbie Hancock Quartet which also included bassist Ron Carter and drummer Tony Williams.
In 1993, along with his brother saxophonist Branford Marsalis, Hancock, Carter and Williams, he toured again, this time with a group called VSOP II.
Still just 21 at the time, Wynton Marsalis takes a blazing solo on Thelonious Monk’s “Well You Needn’t” during a version filled with tempo and mood changes.
The 22-year old Branford Marsalis is also on fire with the rhythm section raging behind him, and Hancock creates a particularly inventive solo; listen to what the pianist plays over the closing vamp
A timeless performance.
-Scott Yanow
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