After a desultory, red-light district blast of horns, the Wynton Marsalis-led Jazz at Lincoln Center Orchestra settles into this funereal rhythm, swaying from side to side as Eric Clapton rips off a few blues-simmered, heartfelt asides.
If you hadn’t checked the liner notes, the song itself — a signature moment for the guitarist as a member of Derek and the Dominos — would remain unrecognizable, almost 1:30 into the tune. It’s only when the band quiets itself for the initial verse — “what will you do when you get lonely,” Clapton sings, to a surprised round of applause from the New York audience — that “Layla” reveals itself.
Marsalis keeps the tempo of the band at lightly swinging dirge throughout, adding a crepuscular mystery to the track, and neatly reframing the misery in Clapton’s anguished cries for a withheld love. Still, as intriguing as this new update is, like the lilting unplugged version from a while back, “Layla” will always feel incomplete without Jim Gordon’s emotionally revealing, agelessly engaging coda.
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MORE FROM AROUND THE WATERCOOLER AT SOMETHING ELSE! TOWERS …
MARK SALESKI: I saw the track listing and was sort of disappointed to see ‘Layla’ there. Apparently, it wasn’t Clapton’s idea. And yeah, I’ve always kinda liked the ‘Unplugged’ version … guess I got burned out from the original.
TOM JOHNSON: Probably really fun to experience live, but something got lost along the way. I keep thinking that I’m going to get about 3 listens out of this and then never touch it again.
S. VICTOR AARON: The Storyville treatment sounded much better than I though it would. I’ll probably have my fill of it by the third listen, though.
MARK SALESKI: Weird how things work: There’s some classic rock that I can go back to, but early Clapton (and to a certain extent, Cream and the other British blues artists) is something I can do without.
TOM JOHNSON: I’d be fine never hearing the original again, except for maybe the coda, which has never sounded tired.
S. VICTOR AARON: I already strongly suspect this record isn’t going to stand as a significant entry in either player’s vast catalog. Just a nice little get-together, that’s all.
One of my favorite live jazz album, which I had reviewed on my blog. Sometimes Clapton getting too dominated the show over Marsalis, but this is still one of Marsalis’s best live event