{{Use mdy dates|date=May 2025}} {{Infobox album | name = Music Evolution | type = studio | artist = Buckshot LeFonque (Branford Marsalis) | cover = Buckshot LeFonque Music Evolution.jpg | alt = | released = April 1997 | recorded = | studio = | genre = * Jazz rap * R&B | length = 64:14 | label = Sony Music | producer = Branford Marsalis | chronology = Branford Marsalis | prev_title = The Dark Keys | prev_year = 1996 | next_title = Requiem | next_year = 1999 }} '''''Music Evolution''''' is the second album of Branford Marsalis's jazz/hip-hop/rock group Buckshot LeFonque. Featuring guest appearances from David Sanborn, Guru and Laurence Fishburne, the album peaked at number 8 on the ''Billboard'' Top Contemporary Jazz Albums chart.<ref name="allmusic" /> The track "Another Day" reached number 65 in the UK singles chart in December 1997. The album is notable in Branford's discography for marking his first collaboration with pianist Joey Calderazzo and bassist Eric Revis, both of whom would go on to record in his quartet in the 2000s and 2010s.<ref name="fourmfs">{{cite web |url=http://www.marsalismusic.com/news/branford-marsalis-quartet-four-mfs-playin-tunes-marsalis-music-1 |title=Four MFs Playin' Tunes |last=Weideman |first=Paul |date=2012-10-12 |accessdate=2014-11-12}}</ref>
==Critical reception== {{Music ratings |rev1 = AllMusic |rev1score = {{rating|3|5}}<ref name="allmusic">{{cite web |url=http://www.allmusic.com/album/music-evolution-mw0000092511 |title=Buckshot LeFonque |work=AllMusic |last=Stanley |first=Leo |accessdate=2014-11-12}}</ref> }} In his AllMusic review, Leo Stanley calls the album a "stronger, more confident record" than the first Buckshot LeFonque album but criticizes it as uneven, noting that it "(finds) a vibrant, exciting common ground between hard bop and hip-hop" despite the "occasional lapse into aimless fusion."<ref name="allmusic" /> Writing in ''JazzTimes'', Josef Woodard said the album "suggests a free-form radio show with an accent on African-American culture lineage."<ref name="jazztimes">{{cite web |url=http://jazztimes.com/articles/9666-music-evolution-buckshot-lefonque |title=Music Evolution |work=JazzTimes |date=September 1997 |accessdate=2014-11-12}}</ref> ''People'' magazine praised the album as "a sonic explosion that, even when it falters, is infused with the joy of playing."<ref name="people">{{cite journal |url=http://www.people.com/people/archive/article/0,,20122265,00.html |title=Picks and Pans: Music Evolution |journal=People Magazine |date=1997-06-02 |accessdate=2014-11-12}}</ref>
== Track listing == {{Track listing |all_writing = Branford Marsalis, except where indicated |title1= Here We Go Again |length1 = 2:26 |title2=Music Evolution |note2=Branford Marsalis, Ricky Dacosta |length2=4:59 |title3=Wasineveritis |length3=0:15 |title4=James Brown Part I & II |length4=4:56 |title5=Another Day |note5=Branford Marsalis, Bill Gable, Frank McComb |length5=3:34 |title6=Try These On |length6=5:44 |note6=Branford Marsalis, Rocky Bryant, Ricky Dacosta |title7=A Buckshot Rebuttal |length7=0:23 |title8=My Way (Doin' It) |note8=Branford Marsalis, L. Carl Burnett, Laurence Fishburne |length8=4:08 |title9=Better Than I Am |note9=Branford Marsalis, Delfeayo Marsalis, Frank McComb |length9=5:02 |title10=Paris Is Burning |length10=0:26 |title11=Jungle Grove |length11=4:45 |title12=Weary with Toil |note12=Branford Marsalis, Delfeayo Marsalis |length12=5:00 |title13=Black Monday |note13=Branford Marsalis, Ricky Dacosta, Keith Elam |length13=5:45 |title14=Phoenix |note14=Branford Marsalis, Delfeayo Marsalis |length14=6:06 |title15=Samba Hop |note15=Branford Marsalis, Ricky Dacosta |length15=3:53 |title16=...And We Out |length16=1:46 |title17=One Block Past It |note17=Branford Marsalis, Frank McComb |length17=4:56 }}
==Personnel== * Branford Marsalis – Saxophones * DJ Apollo – Wheels O' Steel * Rocky Bryant – Percussion * Reginald Veal – Acoustic Bass * L. Carl Burnett – Guitar * Joey Calderazzo – Piano * Russell Gunn – Trumpet * Mino Cinelu – Percussion * David Sanborn – Alto Saxophone * Reggie Washington – Bass * John Touchy – Trombone * Will Lee – Bass * Frank McComb – Keyboards, Vocals * Sue Pray – Viola * Julien Barber – Viola * Barry Finclair – Violin * John Pintavalle – Violin * Donna Tecco – Violin * Richard Locker – Cello * Carol Webb Sotomme – Concert Master * 50 Styles: The Unknown Soldier – Vocals * Laurence Fishburne – Spoken Word * Ben Wolfe – Acoustic Bass * Delfeayo Marsalis – Trombone * Eric Revis – Acoustic Bass
==References== {{Reflist}}
==External links== * [http://www.branfordmarsalis.com/albums/music-evolution BranfordMarsalis.com ]
{{Branford Marsalis|state=autocollapse}} {{Authority control}}
Category:1997 albums Category:Branford Marsalis albums Category:Albums produced by Branford Marsalis