Blood On The Fields: Two Decades Later

Blood on the Fields, the historic oratorio on slavery and freedom written by Wynton Marsalis, premiered April 1, 1994 in Alice Tully Hall. In 1997 it became the first jazz composition to receive the Pulitzer Prize in Music.

This coming February 21–23 in Rose Theater, the masterpiece is brought to life by the Jazz at Lincoln Center Orchestra (JLCO) with Wynton Marsalis, and guest vocalists Gregory Porter, Kenny Washington, and Paula West, plus special guest pianist Eric Reed. Reed performed on the premiere of the commission and on the recording of Blood On The Fields.

Telling the story of two slaves, Jesse and Leona, Blood On The Fields carries us along their difficult journey to freedom. It remains one of Marsalis’ greatest works. JLCO multi-instrumentalist Victor Goines, who made the musical trek through the years with Marsalis, is closely connected to the Marsalis composition; he was on the premiere performance, tour and recording of Blood On The Fields.

“It is an outstanding work,” says Goines. “It is truly educational. That is the one thing I have noticed about Wynton as a composer. Everything he does has research involved in it. It has a specific goal that he tries to reach as a project. It was his attempt to put into music the history of slavery. I think he did a great job at it.”

Blood On The Fields is certainly an ambitious work, a 3-hour long oratorio that reaches back to the roots of American music to provide a staggering portrait of slavery. Many critics praised its musical scope. Here’s what Willard Jenkins wrote in a 1997 article for JazzTimes. “Blood on the Fields is indeed a massive work, one that combines numerous elements of the black musical experience in America, including three or four shades of the blues, chants, field hollers, spiritual forms and liberal doses of New Orleans and Caribbean rhythmic traditions. Unlike a number of earlier extended forms for jazz orchestra, several of Blood On The Fields' movements stand on their own as viable vehicles apart from the whole.”

The original recording featured the vocals of Miles Griffith, Cassandra Wilson, and Jon Hendricks, and the violin of Regina Carter. In the original presentation, “The lyrics make it very clear,” says Goines, “as in ‘Souls For Sale’ and ‘Look And See,’ both sung by Jon Hendricks, that it is the depiction of a slave ship. The swaying back and forth with Cassandra Wilson singing in a very low range, the darkness of her voice along with the darkness of the orchestra.

It showed the struggles and pain that must’ve taken place on the slave ships. And of course, as in jazz, the sound of the blues is in the forefront. So you have sorrow and optimism coming together. It is depicted in every aspect of it; the harmonic part of it, the rhythmic sense, the melodic sense, the textural sense of the piece as well as the lyrics, because [Wynton] wrote all of the lyrics to it.

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