ProJazz.net

Loved Ones is a jazz duo album by Ellis Marsalis and Branford Marsalis. Originally conceived as Ellis’s solo record of songs about “unforgettable women,” it became a duo project based on his realization that “Branford would sound really good on some of (the songs).” The album reached Number 5 on the Billboard Top Jazz Albums chart.

In his AllMusic review, Scott Yanow calls the set “pleasing and thoughtful if not quite essential,” noting that Branford’s contributions “sometimes (liven) up the selections although mostly playing a subsidiary role to his father.” Don Heckman, writing in the Los Angeles Times, called the recording “one of the most appealing CDs of the year,” citing “the warm camaraderie of the father-son musical connection.

Track listing:
1. “Delilah (Delilah’s Theme)” (Victor Young) 5:26
2. “Maria” (Leonard Bernstein, Stephen Sondheim) 6:09
3. “Lulu’s Back in TownLulu’s Back In Town” (Al Dubin, Harry Warren) 4:55
4. “Miss Otis Regrets” (Cole Porter) 4:41
5. “Angelica” (Duke Ellington) 4:41
6. “Stella by Starlight” (Ned Washington, Young) 7:00
7. “Louise” (John Lee Hooker, Leo Robin, Richard A. Whiting) 4:14
8. “Bess, You Is My Woman Now” (George Gershwin, Ira Gershwin, DuBose Heyward) 8:02
9. “Liza (All the Clouds’ll Roll Away)” (G. Gershwin, I. Gershwin, Gus Kahn) 2:35
10. “Nancy With the Laughing Face” (Jimmy Van Heusen, Phil Silvers) 2:11
11. “Laura” (Johnny Mercer, David Raksin) 6:19
12. “Alice in Wonderland” (Sammy Fain, Bob Hilliard) 6:22
13. “Sweet Lorraine” (Cliff Burwell, Mitchell Parish) 4:21
14. “Dear Dolores” (Ellis Marsalis) 6:39

Personnel:
Branford Marsalis – saxophones
Ellis Marsalis – piano

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Released: February 1996
Recorded: August & September 1995
Length: 73:35
Label: Sony Music
Producer: Delfeayo Marsalis