Reginald Veal – Bass

Brother Veal. Swingdoom. Nothing more needs to be said. To quote Wynton Marsalis himself, ‘Swing Is In The House’. The 1989 Marsalis album, ‘Crescent City Christmas Card’ my favourite Christmas album of all time. I listen to it often and love the arrangements that Marsalis has done to these evergreens. There is always a risk of dong a ‘Maria Carey’ on these tunes but Marsalis has written that whole New Orleans vibe into each of the tunes throughout this record. His band are almost all local men who he grew up with in and around his home town and there guys had already been playing together for decades (and still are) but this album is all joy and is steeped in Christmas spirit.

Veal’s playing is always deep (as in profound) and there are passages in this chart that are really creative and show that ‘playing it straight’ doesn’t just mean playing it dull. Marsalis doesn’t use technicians but prefers his bass players to be solid, rounded and grounded; Veal, Hurst, Wolfe, Henriquez – the best without the flash. This tune is ‘Winter Wonderland’ but I whole heartedly recommend the whole album.