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Royal Garden Blues
Studio album by Branford Marsalis
Released	1986
Studio	RCA (New York City, New York) Blue Wave (St. Philip, Barbados) Newbury Sound (Boston, Massachusetts)
Genre	Jazz
Label	Columbia
Producer	Delfeayo Marsalis
Branford Marsalis chronology
Romances for Saxophone (1986) Royal Garden Blues (1986) Renaissance (1987)

Royal Garden Blues is an album by the American saxophonist Branford Marsalis, released in 1986. Marsalis promoted it with a North American tour.

The album was nominated for a Grammy Award for "Best Jazz Instrumental Performance, Soloist". It peaked at No. 2 on Billboard's Traditional Jazz Albums chart.

Production

Royal Garden Blues was produced by Delfeayo Marsalis. Ron Carter and Herbie Hancock contributed to the album.

The title track is a cover of the jazz standard. Its video was directed by Spike Lee. "Strike Up the Band" is a version of the song composed by George Gershwin. "Emanon" was written by Wynton Marsalis. "Shadows was written by Larry Willis. Ellis Marsalis Jr. played piano on "Swingin' at the Haven", which he also wrote. "The Wrath of Tain", a tribute to drummer Jeff "Tain" Watts, was written by Branford.

Critical reception

Professional ratings

Review scores
Source	Rating
AllMusic
Robert Christgau	B+
The Encyclopedia of Popular Music
Los Angeles Times
MusicHound Jazz: The Essential Album Guide
The Penguin Guide to Jazz Recordings
The Rolling Stone Album Guide
Windsor Star	A

Robert Christgau labeled Marsalis the "more fun" member of the family, but determined that "his artistic personality is still unformed." The Los Angeles Times noted that "despite having been bitten by the rhythm-and-blues bug and stung by Sting, the saxophonist-leader leaves no doubt that jazz is his home turf." The Sun-Sentinel stated that the music "is played very conservatively, without any hint of modern musical forms, instrumentation or rhythms."

The Chicago Tribune concluded: "Formerly inclined to summon up as much heat as possible, Marsalis seems to have realized that he is not a passionate, ecstatic player but a coolheaded, technically agile craftsman." The New York Times wrote that the album is "steeped in the songful, harmonically complex style of the mid-1960's Miles Davis quintet and of the Blue Note Records stable." The Sunday Times considered the title track "a serious, unflinching improvisation."

AllMusic deemed Royal Garden Blues "one of Branford's more playful albums."

Track listing

Personnel

• Branford Marsalis – tenor saxophone (1, 3, 4, 6, 7), soprano saxophone (2, 5, 7)
• Ellis Marsalis Jr. – acoustic piano (1)
• Kenny Kirkland – acoustic piano (2, 7)
• Larry Willis – acoustic piano (3, 5, 6)
• Herbie Hancock – acoustic piano (4)
• Ron Carter – bass (1, 4, 5)
• Charnett Moffett – bass (2, 3, 7)
• Ira Coleman – bass (6)
• Ralph Peterson Jr. – drums (1)
• Jeff "Tain" Watts – drums (2–4, 7)
• Al Foster – drums (5)
• Marvin "Smitty" Smith – drums (6)

Production

• George Butler – executive producer
• Delfeayo Marsalis – producer, mixing, editing
• Tim "Cheem" Geelan – engineer (1, 4)
• Patrick Smith – mixing (1, 4)
• Jim Scott – engineer (2, 3, 5–7), mixing (2, 3, 5–7)
• Branford Marsalis – mixing (2, 3, 5–7)
• Dennis Ferrante – assistant engineer
• Tony Dawsey – mastering
• Alan Moy – mastering
• Masterdisk (New York, NY) – mastering location
• Mark Larson – design
• Robert Cohen – photography

References

1. Lichtenstein, Grace; Dankner, Laura (September 9, 1993). Musical Gumbo: The Music of New Orleans. W.W. Norton. ISBN 978-0-393-03468-4.
2. "Branford Marsalis Biography, Songs, & Albums". AllMusic.
3. Riley, Norman (Nov 1986). "The Young Lions". The Crisis. Vol. 93, no. 9. p. 9.
4. MacInnis, Craig (6 Feb 1987). "Bored-again Branford back to jazz". Toronto Star. p. D19.
5. "Branford Marsalis". Recording Academy. Retrieved 9 September 2022.
6. "Branford Marsalis". Billboard.
7. Santosuosso, Ernie (5 Dec 1986). "Another Tenor Saxophonist to Star in Film". Arts and Film. The Boston Globe. p. 46.
8. McKenzie, Madora (5 Nov 1986). "Soundtakes". Arts. The Christian Science Monitor.
9. Gioia, Ted (September 9, 2012). The Jazz Standards: A Guide to the Repertoire. Oxford University Press. ISBN 978-0-19-976915-5.
10. Magro, Anthony (September 9, 2002). Contemporary Cat: Terence Blanchard with Special Guests. Scarecrow Press. ISBN 978-0-8108-4323-3.
11. Miller, Mark (6 Nov 1986). "Royal Garden Blues Branford Marsalis". The Globe and Mail. p. D3.
12. ^ Feather, Leonard (9 Nov 1986). "Jazz Album Briefs". Calendar. Los Angeles Times. p. 55.
13. ^ Stevens, Peter (24 Jan 1987). "Jazz". Windsor Star. p. C2.
14. Moody, Lois (24 Apr 1987). "Branford Marsalis Royal Garden Blues". Ottawa Citizen. p. F5.
15. Tranfa, Anthony D. (November 7, 1986). "'Royal Garden Blues', Branford Marsalis". Daily Breeze. p. E10.
16. ^ "Branford Marsalis Royal Garden Blues". AllMusic.
17. ^ "Branford Marsalis". Robert Christgau.
18. Larkin, Colin (2006). The Encyclopedia of Popular Music. Vol. 5. MUZE. p. 517.
19. MusicHound Jazz: The Essential Album Guide. Visible Ink Press. 1998. p. 745.
20. The Penguin Guide to Jazz Recordings (8th ed.). Penguin Books Ltd. 2006. p. 851.
21. The Rolling Stone Album Guide. Random House. 1992. p. 450.
22. Wissink, Stephen (8 Feb 1987). "Older Marsalis Falls Short". Sun-Sentinel. p. 3G.
23. Kart, Larry (14 Dec 1986). "Royal Garden Blues". Arts. Chicago Tribune. p. 24.
24. Pareles, Jon (17 Dec 1986). "The Pop Life". The New York Times. p. C29.
25. Cook, Richard (November 9, 1986). "Swaggering saxophonist". Arts. The Sunday Times.

• Branford Marsalis albums
• 1986 albums
• Columbia Records albums