When Jazz and Country Honor a Legend
Nelson's guitar is too scarce here, giving way to Marsalis' jazz band rotating solos exhaustively.
Here We Go Again arrived in 2009 to mixed notices. The Los Angeles Times gave it three stars and appreciated the inventive arrangements across Ray Charles standards like "Hit the Road Jack" and "Unchain My Heart." But Rolling Stone spotted a real problem: the album felt like a missed opportunity, with Willie Nelson's distinctive nylon-string guitar buried under Wynton Marsalis' orchestra cycling through solos. Texas Monthly had similar reservations about how the arrangements handled the material.
Those critiques matter because they point to the album's core tension. Nelson brought his signature restraint and cool to these songs, and the orchestra—anchored by Marsalis on trumpet, Carlos Henriquez on bass, Dan Nimmer on piano, Walter Blanding on tenor saxophone, Ali Jackson on drums, and Mickey Raphael on harmonica—had genuine invention to offer. But recorded live at the Rose Theater in February 2009, the record sometimes tips toward showcase arrangements that overshadow the songs themselves.
This isn't a major entry in either artist's catalog. It's a one-off tribute that works best when it steps back and lets Nelson's playing breathe, which happens often enough to make it worth hearing if you're already curious about how these two would interpret Charles together. The instrumentation itself earned praise from critics, and on tracks where the balance tips right, you hear why.
Who's playing
Carlos Henriquezbass
Dan Nimmerpiano
Willie Nelsonguitar
Walter Blandingtenor saxophone
Wynton Marsalistrumpet
Ali Jacksondrums
Mickey Raphaelharmonica
Where next?
More by Norah Jones
All 23 albums →
The musicians on this record
Their own records, close in time
