Music Evolution

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. 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.

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." Writing in JazzTimes, Josef Woodard said the album "suggests a free-form radio show with an accent on African-American culture lineage." People magazine praised the album as "a sonic explosion that, even when it falters, is infused with the joy of playing."

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