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The Essential Wynton Marsalis

The name Wynton Marsalis has become almost a metaphor for music in our time, be it visionary jazz or beautifully wrought performances of classical works for his beloved instrument, the trumpet. He has done it all. Marsalis made his reputation simultaneously in jazz and classical music, but his legacy as a classical virtuoso dramatically demonstrates the great depth and range of his musical gifts – a rich basis for his revolutionary understanding of all the music can be to the modern listener.

The Essential Wynton Marsalis

Album Info

Ensemble Multiple Ensembles
Release Date July 10th, 2007
Record Label Sony Classical
Catalogue Number 88697 09579 2
Formats CD, Digital Download
Genre Classical Recordings, Jazz Recordings

Track Listing

Track Length Preview
CD 1
The Prince of Denmark’s March – (Jeremiah Clarke) 2:51 Play
Rondeau (Theme from Masterpiece Theater) – From Suites de Symphonies, Première suite, Fanfares. (Jean-Joseph Mouret) 2:04 Play
The King’s March – (Jeremiah Clarke) 1:13 Play
Entrada from The Indian Queen – (Jeremiah Clarke) 2:51 Play
Trumpet Air from The Indian Queen – (Henry Purcell) 1:00 Play
Trumpet Tune from King Arthur – (Henry Purcell) 0:47 Play
Trumpet Voluntary – (John Stanley) 3:36 Play
Prelude from Te Deum, H. 146 – (Marc-Antoine Charpentier) 1:44 Play
Allegro assai from Brandenburg Concerto No. 2, BWV 1047 – (Johann Sebastian Bach) 3:02 Play
Concerto in C Major for Two Trumpets and Strings, RV 537 – (Antonio Vivaldi, arr: Raymond Leppard)
I. Allegro 3:07 Play
II. Largo 0:58 Play
III. Allegro 3:20 Play
Concerto for Trumpet and Orchestra in D Major – (Leopold Mozart)
I. Adagio 3:54 Play
II. Allegro Moderato 3:25 Play
Concerto for Trumpet and Orchestra in E-flat Major, Hob. VIIe:  1 – (Joseph Haydn, cadenza: Wynton Marsalis)
I. Allegro 6:47 Play
II. Andante 3:11
III Finale. Allegro 4:33 Play
Concerto in E-flat Major for Trumpet and Orchestra – (Johann Nepomuk Hummel)
I. Allegro con spirito 9:41 Play
II. Andante 4:12 Play
III. Rondo. Allegro molto 3:29 Play
Jauchzet Gott in allen Landen 4:34 From Cantata No. 51, BWV 51 – (Johann Sebastian Bach) 4:34 Play
Let the Bright Seraphim from Samson, HWV 57 – (George Frederic Handel) 5:31 Play
CD 2
Pièce en forme de habanera – (Maurice Ravel) 3:14 Play
Triptyque – (Henri Tomasi) Wynton Marsalis, trumpet / Judith Lynn Stillman, piano
I. Scherzo 0:40 Play
II. Largo 1:11 Play
III. Saltarelle 1:40 Play
Concertino for Trumpet, String Orchestra and Piano – (André Jolivet) 9:16 Play
Variations on “The Carnival of Venice”  – (Jean-Baptiste Arban, arr: Donald Hunsberger) 7:32 Play
Napoli – Variations on a Neapolitan Song – (Hermann Bellstedt, arr: Donald Hunsberger) 5:43 Play
‘Tis the Last Rose of Summer – (Traditional, arr: Donald Hunsberger) 1:46 Play
The Flight of the Bumblebee from Tsar Saltan – (Nicolai Rimsey-Korsakov, arr: Donald Hunsberger) 1:03 Play
Quiet City – (Aaron Copland, arr: Donald Hunsberger) Wynton Marsalis, trumpet / Philip Koch, English horn Eastman Wind Ensemble / Donald Hunsberger 10:52 Play
Rondo for Lifey – (Leonard Bernstein) Wynton Marsalis, trumpet / Judith Lynn Stillman, piano 1:26 Play
Prayer of St. Gregory for Trumpet & Organ, Op. 62b – (Alan Hovhaness) Wynton Marsalis, trumpet / Anthony Newman, organ 4:07 Play
Tiger Rag – (Music: D. James Larocca, Edwin Edwards, Henry W. Ragas, Anthony Sbararo, Larry Sheilds / Lyrics: Harry Da Costa / arr. Mark O’Connor) Wynton Marsalis, trumpet / with Mark O’Connor’s Hot Swing Trio: Mark O’Connor, violin / Frank Vignola, guitar / Jon Burr, bass 5:20 Play
Root Groove – (Wynton Marsalis) 3:48 Play
Cherokee – (Ray Noble) 2:21 Play
The End of a Love Affair – (Edward C. Redding) 3:12 Play
Soon All Will Know – (Wynton Marsalis) 3:35 Play

Liner Notes

It’s a life that could only happen in New Orleans: a child born to a family of musicians. The question for Wynton Marsalis never turned on whether he would become a musician – that was a given – rather, the issue turned on what kind of music he would play. DNA seemed to point to traditional New Orleans music, whether it was in a club or in a church or on the street. By eight years of age, Wynton was playing trumpet in the traditional New Orleans-style Fairview Baptist Church band, and he was also taking his place in neighborhood marching and funk bands.

But there has always been something voracious about this trumpet player’s musical appetite. After appearances with local youth orchestras, Wynton made his orchestral debut with the New Orleans Philharmonic when he was just fourteen. At eighteen he went to New York’s Juilliard School to study classical trumpet. Perhaps it was then that Marsalis realized that he didn’t have to choose between a life in jazz or a life in the concert hall. Scarcely two months into his freshman year at Juilliard, Marsalis was sitting in with Art Blakey’s Jazz Messengers, while his class days were devoted to Hummel and Vivaldi.

Being so deeply connected to both the classical and jazz traditions of his instrument, Marsalis brings the best of his classical and jazz chops to the interpretation and performance of both styles. The bulk of this collection is devoted to Marsalis’s classical recordings, but these tracks capture a cool and easy mastery that transcends the limitations of style. The crisp fluidity of his playing is at once astounding, yet gratifyingly elegant.
Still, for all these classical tracks, no portrait of the “essential” Wynton Marsalis would be complete without jazz – included here in a brace of bonus tracks from his collection of standards from the great American songbook.

While he is devoted to Jazz at Lincoln Center and to preserving the many styles of American jazz, Wynton Marsalis is no mere conservator. A Pulitzer Prize-winning composer, he is also active in promoting music education in America. In all, it seems that only a Marsalis could be what Wynton has become: through his family roots, his New Orleans experience and his boundless enthusiasm for music of all types, Marsalis is, in the best sense of the phrase, a living tradition-bearer of America’s musical heritage.

Credits

Disc 1

1. The Prince of Denmark’s March (2:51)
(Jeremiah Clarke)

2. Rondeau (Theme from Masterpiece Theater) (2:04)
from Suites de Symphonies, Première suite, Fanfares
(Jean-Joseph Mouret)

3. The King’s March (1:13)
(Jeremiah Clarke)

Wynton Marsalis, trumpet
English Chamber Orchestra / Anthony Newman
From the album In Gabriel’s Garden
SK 66244 / ® 1996 SONY BMG MUSIC ENTERTAINMENT

4. Entrada from The Indian Queen (0:42)
(Henry Purcell)

5. Trumpet Air from The Indian Queen (1:00)
(Henry Purcell)

6. Trumpet Tune from King Arthur (0:47)
(Henry Purcell)

Wynton Marsalis, trumpet
English Chamber Orchestra / Raymond Leppard
From the album Fasch, Handel, Torelli, Purcell, Molter with Edita Gruberova
MK 39061 / ® 1984 SONY BMG MUSIC ENTERTAINMENT

7. Trumpet Voluntary (3:36)
(John Stanley)

8. Prelude from TeDeum, H.146 (1:44)
(Marc-Antoine Charpentier)

Wynton Marsalis, trumpet
English Chamber Orchestra / Anthony Newman
From the album In Gabriel’s Garden
SK 66244 / ® 1996 SONY BMG MUSIC ENTERTAINMENT

9. Allegro assai from Brandenburg Concerto No. 2, BWV 1047 (3:02)
(Johann Sebastian Bach)

Wynton Marsalis, trumpet
William Bennett, flute
Neal Black, oboe
Cho-Liang Lin, violin
Charles Tunnell, cello
Ian Watson, harpsichord continuo
English Chamber Orchestra / Anthony Newman
From the album In Gabriel’s Garden
SK 66244 / ©1996 SONY BMG MUSIC ENTERTAINMENT

Concerto in C Major for Two Trumpets and Strings, RV 537
(Antonio Vivaldi, arr: Raymond Leppard)
10. I. Allegro (3:07)
11. II. Largo (0:58)
12. III. Allegro (3:20)

Wynton Marsalis, trumpets 1 & 2 (synchronization)
English Chamber Orchestra / Raymond Leppard
From the album Baroque Music for Trumpets
SK 92620 / ® 1988 SONY BMG MUSIC ENTERTAINMENT

Concerto for Trumpet and Orchestra in D Major
(Leopold Mozart)
13. I. Adagio (5:34)
14. II. Allegro moderato (3:21)

Concerto for Trumpet and Orchestra in E-flat Major, Hob.VIIe: 1
(Joseph Haydn, cadenza: Wynton Marsalis)
15. I. Allegro (6:47)
16. II. Andante (3:11)
17. III. Finale. Allegro (4:33)

Concerto in E-flat Major for Trumpet and Orchestra
(Johann Nepomuk Hummel)
18. I. Allegro con spirito (9:41)
19 II. Andante (4:12)
20. III. Rondo. Allegro molto (3:20)

Wynton Marsalis, trumpet
English Chamber Orchestra / Raymond Leppard
From the album The London Concert (Expanded Edition)
SK 93084 / ® 1994 SONY BMG MUSIC ENTERTAINMENT

Bonus Tracks

21. Jauchzet Gott in allen Landen (4:34)
from Cantata No. 51, BWV 51
(Johann Sebastian Bach)

22. Let the Bright Seraphim from Samson, HWV57 (5:33)
(George Frideric Handel)

Wynton Marsalis, trumpet
Kathleen Battle, soprano
Orchestra of St. Luke’s / John Nelson
From the album Baroque Duet
SK 46672 / ® 1992 SONY BMG MUSIC ENTERTAINMENT

*Disc Two *

1. Pièce en forme de habañera (3:14)
(Maurice Ravel)

Triptyque
(Henri Tornasi)
2. I. Scherzo (0:40)
3. II. Largo (1:11)
4. III. Saltarelle (1:40)

Wynton Marsalis, trumpet
Judith Lynn Stillman, piano
From the album On the Twentieth Century
SK 47193 / ® 1993 SONY BMG MUSIC ENTERTAINMENT

5. Concertino for Trumpet, String Orchestra and Piano (9:10)
(Andre Jolivet)
Wynton Marsalis, trumpet I Craig Sheppard, piano
Philharmonic Orchestra / Esa-Pekka Salonen
Originally released on Tornasi & Jolivet: Trumpet Concertos
MK 42096 / ® 1986 SONY BMG MUSIC ENTERTAINMENT

6. Variations on “The Carnival of Venice” (7:32)
(Jean-Baptiste Arban, arr: Donald Hunsberger)

7. Napoli – Variations on a Neapolitan Song (5:43)
(Hermann Bellstedt, arr: Donald Hunsberger)

8. ’Tis the Last Rose of Summer (1:40)
(Traditional, arr: Donald Hunsberger)

9. The Flight of the Bumblebee from Tsar Saltan (1:03)
(Nicolai Rimsky-Korsakov, arr: Donald Hunsberger)

Wynton Marsalis, trumpet
Eastman Wind Ensemble / Donald Hunsberger
From the album Carnaval
MK 42137 / ® 1987 SONY BMG MUSIC ENTERTAINMENT

10. Quiet City (10:52)
(Aaron Copland, arr: Donald Hunsberger)

Wynton Marsalis, trumpet
Philip Koch, english horn
Eastman Wind Ensemble / Donald Hunsberger
From the album Copland, Vaughan Williams and Hindemith
MK 44916 / ® 1989 SONY BMG MUSIC ENTERTAINMENT

11. Rondo for Lifey (1:26)
(Leonard Bernstein)

Wynton Marsalis, trumpet
Judith Lynn Stillman, piano
From the album On the Twentieth Century
SK 47193 / ® 1993 SONY BMG MUSIC ENTERTAINMENT

12. Prayer of St. Gregory for Trumpet & Organ, Op. 62b (4:07)
(Alan Hovhaness)

Wynton Marsalis, trumpet
Anthony Newman, organ
From the album Classic Wynton
SK 60804 / ® 1998 SONY BMG MUSIC ENTERTAINMENT

Bonus Tracks

13. Tiger Rag (5:20)
(Music: D. James Larocca, Edwin Edwards, Henry W. Ragas, Anthony Sbararo, Larry Sheilds / Lyrics: Harry Da Costa / arr. Mark O’Connor)

Wynton Marsalis, trumpet / with Mark O’Connor’s Hot Swing Trio: Mark O’Connor, violin / Frank Vignala, guitar / Jon Burr, bass
From the album In Full Swing
SK 87880 / ® 2003 SONY BMG MUSIC ENTERTAINMENT

14. Root Groove (3:48)
(Wynton Marsalis)

Wynton Marsalis, trumpet
Lincoln Center Jazz Orchestra / Wynton Marsalis, conductor
From the album Jump Start and Jazz
SK 62998 / ® 1997 SONY BMG MUSIC ENTERTAINMENT

15. Cherokee (2:21)
(Ray Noble)
Wynton Marsalis, trumpet
Marcus Roberts, piano
Robert Leslie Hurst III, bass
Jeff “Tain” Watts, drums
From the album Standard Time Vol. 1
CK 40461 / ® 1987 SONY BMG MUSIC ENTERTAINMENT

16. The End of a Love Affair (3:12)
(Edward C. Reading)

Wynton Marsalis, trumpet
Marcus Roberts, piano
Reginald Veal, bass
Herlin Riley, drums
From the album Standard Time Vol. 2
CK 47346 / ® 1991 SONY BMG MUSIC ENTERTAINMENT

17. Soon All Will Know (3:35)
(Wynton Marsalis)

Wynton Marsalis, trumpet
Marcus Roberts, piano
Robert Leslie Hurst III, bass
Jeff “Tain” Watts, drums
From the album Popular Songs: The Best of Wynton Marsalis
CK 85496 / ® 1987 SONY BMG MUSIC ENTERTAINMENT

Art Direction: Roxanne Slimak
Graphic Design: Elisabeth Ladwig
Photography: Janusz Kawa
Project Director: David Foil
Compilation: Warren Wernick
Product Management: Leslie Collman-Smith / Stacie Negas

Personnel

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