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Birth of the American Orchestra

On January 9 and 10, Jazz at Lincoln Center Orchestra with Wynton Marsalis explores its big band roots. Partly inspired by Jazz at Lincoln Center’s Managing & Artistic Director Wynton Marsalis’ Harvard University lecture, “Setting the Communal Table: The Evolution of the Jazz Orchestra”, delivered on September 26, 2013, the Birth of the American Orchestra concerts will explore the development of the American orchestra through the syncopated dance beats of New Orleans, innovative ensemble virtuosity, and the monumentality of swing and the blues.

Bebop pioneer Dizzy Gillespie once told Marsalis something that would forever change his perception of big bands: “One should not consider it an achievement to lose one’s orchestral tradition.” At the forefront of this celebration are Don Redman, Fletcher Henderson, Bill Challis, Duke Ellington, Benny Carter, Eddie Durham, Chico O’Farrill, and Gil Fuller. These jazz architects, along with Gillespie’s profound mantra, are the foundation of the Jazz at Lincoln Center Orchestra – an orchestra with an astonishing concentration of immensely talented musicians and a collective regarded as the “finest big band in the world today.”

The Jazz at Lincoln Center Orchestra with Wynton Marsalis also celebrates its second consecutive win in the 2014 DownBeat Reader’s Poll ‘Big Band’ category. Marsalis garnered his second consecutive win in the ‘Trumpet’ category this year as well. The Birth of the American Orchestra concerts will take place in Frederick P. Rose Hall, home of Jazz at Lincoln Center, located at Broadway at 60th Street, New York, New York. The concerts will also stream live in high-definition audio and video for free to a global audience via wyntonmarsalis.org/live

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Comments

  1. I am looking forward to seeing this on Saturday. Can’t wait.

    A. Feliz on Jan 5th, 2015 at 7:47pm