老牌乡村天王威利尼尔森从七○年代声势大涨以后，一直和各类型的乐手合作各式各样的专辑，即使如此，这张和爵士小号天王马沙利斯合作的专辑，却还是不管他或是马沙利斯音乐生涯中最特别的一部作品。这张专辑是2007年1月12、13日他们两人在美国林肯中心合作的录音。 温顿马沙利斯一直都是爵士死硬派，他的爵士甚至不愿意接受七○年代以后的融合风格，而威利则是个最包罗万象的歌手，几乎不曾抗拒任何乐风，这两人的组合，可以说是让人最料想不到的对立，但在专辑中，他们却融合得非常完美，靠著马沙利斯乐团中的钢琴家Dan Nimmer、鼓手Ali Jackson、贝斯手Carlos Henriquez以及萨克斯风手Walter Blanding，再加上尼尔森自己带来的口琴手Mickey Raphael，这张专辑的基本衬底是很舒服的爵士搭配，但是乐曲的走向，却是纯粹蓝调取向的，正好由威利尼尔森来主导，他很聪明地选中了他生平最畅销的专辑“Stardust”，这张他以爵士风加入乡村风的1978年经典，其中“Georgia on My Mind”正是他最为人熟知的畅销曲，并刻意将唱腔和吉他风调整得更爵士化，这位老乡村乐手，藉此向一代爵士小将致敬；专辑中其他歌曲也似乎有意在蓝调和乡村、纽奥良和爵士之间混淆了界线，将尼尔森从六○年代今唱过的一些名曲，适度地作了新的编曲和回顾，让人感受到创意、又领受到温暖的老歌情意。 Two Men with the Blues is no more a jazz album than a blues album. It's neither jazz returning home, nor blues wandering out. What Willie Nelson and Wynton Marsalis have created is a compilation of jump-blues standards with arrangements that compliment both genres. While most of the album is careful not to take itself too seriously, there are a few tracks that seem to plod on for ages. The live set kicks off with the upbeat "Bright Lights, Big City," on which Marsalis' horn is crisp and full. "Ain't Nobody's Business" and "Basin Street Blues" are arranged slower than better known versions but still fit the album's context. Nelson and Marsalis's take on "Stardust" comes off as a bit too "Sinatra" for Nelson's thin vocal, while "Georgia on My Mind" just doesn't work at all. Still, the things that work, work well. "Night Life" and "Rainy Day Blues" are particular stand-outs, and "Caldonia" is a faithful homage to the Louis Jordan original (minus Jordan's screaming punch line, of course). The album ends riding high on closer "That's All," with its straight-out-of-a-New-Orleans-Baptist-church feel. Both Nelson and Marsalis are notorious for collaborating with other artists. Therefore, it seems only natural that they've found themselves on a project together. Overall, this set is well worth the wait. --Eric C.P. Martin  The event was simply billed as "Willie Nelson Sings the Blues," but the historic two-night stand on January 12 and 13, 2007 at Jazz at Lincoln Center was far more than that. Call it a summit meeting between two American icons, Willie Nelson & Wynton Marsalis, two of the most significant figures in modern-day country and jazz, who discovered common ground in their love for jazz standards and the blues. Their performance stirred the sounds of New Orleans, Nashville, Austin and New York City into a brilliantly programmed mix that was equal parts down-home and cosmopolitan, with plenty of swing and just a touch of melancholy. To say that these shows were a hot ticket would be an understatement. Luckily, the tapes were rolling and the results of this unique collaboration now constitute the Blue Note album Two Men With The Blues for everyone who couldn't cram into The Allen Room. Featuring great playing from one of the hottest bands around these classic tracks are given new life by the extraordinary dual talents of Willie Nelson and Wynton Marsalis. At a time when most people are thinking of retirement, Willie has never been busier. His profile has been high in recent weeks with his various career retrospective releases and sold out tour and this album can rightly stake it's place alongside anything else he has done. Wynton rarely sounds so relaxed and both of these musical giants are clearly having the time of their lives together on these new interpretations of some of the greatest songs of the 20th century.