The “Tribute to Phoebe Jacobs, In Memoriam” program will feature the Jazz at Lincoln Center Orchestra with Wynton Marsalis as well as Jimmy Heath, Jon Faddis, Lew Soloff, Mercedes Ellington, Bobby Sanabria, Antoinette Montague, Robert O’Meally, Victor Goines, Bob Stewart, Stanley Crouch, George Wein, Norma Miller, Brianna Thomas and others. Immediately following the program will be a second-line procession along Central Park South. The event is free to the public, and attendees will be seated on a first-come, first-serve basis starting at 12:30 p.m.

A highly influential behind-the-scenes figure in jazz, Jacobs was best known as a publicist for such prominent musicians as Ella Fitzgerald, Sy Oliver, Peggy Lee, Sarah Vaughan, Duke Ellington and Della Reese. She worked closely for many years with Louis Armstrong and assisted in organizing the Louis Armstrong Educational Foundation, where she served as executive vice president. After Armstrong’s death in 1971, Jacobs continued to promote his legacy, and her efforts and influence helped establish the Louis Armstrong Center for Music and Medicine at Beth Israel Hospital, the Louis “Satchmo” Armstrong Summer Jazz Camp, the Louis Armstrong Archives at Queens College and the Louis Armstrong House Museum.

Jacobs worked tirelessly to provide scholarships to high school and college students through various non-profit organizations, and she was instrumental in launching the Jazz for Young People Concert Series at Jazz at Lincoln Center. In 1989, she helped establish the Jazz Foundation of America, a non-profit organization that provides support to musicians in need.

Jacobs discovered her love for jazz as a young woman and began working as a hat-check girl at the Manhattan jazz club Kelly’s Stable at age 17. She went on to work as a promoter and contractor, serving as director of public relations and producer of special events at the Rainbow Room at Rockefeller Plaza, where she was responsible for the appearances of many prominent entertainers. Early in her career, Jacobs also worked for Decca Records and the club Basin Street East.

In lieu of flowers, donations may be made to the Louis Armstrong Educational Foundation online at louisarmstrongfoundation.org

Focusing on new commissions and collaborations, one of the highlights of the residency is the UK premiere of jazz trumpeter Wynton Marsalis’ symphonic meditation on the evolution of swing, Swing Symphony (Symphony No. 3). The new work can be heard at the Barbican on 25 & 26 July performed by the Jazz at Lincoln Center Orchestra with Wynton Marsalis and the London Symphony Orchestra conducted by Sir Simon Rattle.

Taking the programme in exciting new directions, the residency also features two European premieres. The first is Wynton Marsalis’ Congo Square – a composition written by Wynton Marsalis and Ghanaian drum master Yacub Addy. The piece skillfully combines traditional African music with jazz and celebrates the historic Congo Square site in New Orleans, the only location in America where African slaves were allowed to perform music and dance from their motherland. Performed on 10 July by Jazz at Lincoln Center Orchestra with Wynton Marsalis and Yacub Addy’s celebrated Ghanaian percussion and vocal ensemble Odadaa!, Congo Square was premiered on 23 April 2006 in Congo Square itself, which is inside the Louis Armstrong Park in New Orleans.

The second European premiere on 13 July is Wynton Marsalis’ Abyssinian Mass , which was commissioned by Jazz at Lincoln Center and first performed to celebrate the bicentenary of New York City’s Abyssinian Baptist Church in 2008. This large-scale work brings together the Jazz at Lincoln Center Orchestra with a 100-voice choir, including Croydon SDA Gospel Choir & London Adventist Chorale and conducted by Damien Sneed, to perform modernist variants of New Orleans dirges and struts, modal excursions of hard-bop and the Ellington big-band legacies of brassy swing, and sumptuously harmonised ballads.

On 16 July the Jazz at Lincoln Center Orchestra and Wynton Marsalis are joined by Cuban percussionist Pedrito Martinez, plus musicians Ariacne Trujillo and Jhair Sala , for a concert entitled Afro-Cuban Fiesta. This event provides an opportunity for Marsalis and the orchestra to revisit their impressions and experiences from a recent historic visit to La Havana, Cuba, where they performed with Cuban musicians. The concert explores the connection between the American jazz big band tradition and Afro-Cuban jazz.

Each year, JALC Education produces a variety of education programmes that reach tens of thousands of participants around the world. Working together with the Barbican Guildhall Creative Learning Division, the residency programme includes a day of free workshops and jam sessions for all in East London (details to be announced at a later date), masterclasses with Guildhall School jazz musicians, and a project with the East London Creative Jazz Orchestra. This creative jazz ensemble is formed of up to 30 young people selected in partnership with Music Services from the ten Olympic Gateway Boroughs under the artistic direction of Band Director Paul Griffiths.

Another highlight of the Creative Learning work is the first UK-wide version of Jazz at Lincoln Center’s acclaimed Essentially Ellington High School Big Band Jazz programme. Eleven youth jazz orchestras of all standards from across the UK will learn traditional big band charts composed by Duke Ellington, Count Basie, Mary Lou Williams and Dizzy Gillespie. They will receive on-site visits and workshops delivered by teams of UK and US jazz musicians and the programme culminates in an event at the Barbican on 14 July with special guests from the Jazz at Lincoln Center Orchestra. The programme is based on the hugely successful annual Essentially Ellington High School Jazz Band Competition & Festival which is one of the most innovative jazz education events in the world.

Check out the full schedule

At an awards ceremony after the performances, Wynton Marsalis presented prizes and cash awards to each of the 15 finalist bands. Christopher Dorsey, Director of the Dillard Center for the Arts, accepted the 1st place trophy and an award of $5,000. Scott Brown, Director of Roosevelt High School, accepted the 2nd place trophy and an award of $2,500. Peter Francis, Director of New World School of the Arts accepted the 3rd place trophy and an award of $1,000.
Rio Americano High School, under the direction of Josh Murray, was named honorable mention band and received an award of $750. The remaining 11 finalist bands and winning community ensemble were awarded certificates of merit and cash awards of $500.  All monetary awards go toward improving the schools’ jazz programs.  Awards for outstanding soloists and sections were also presented (see listing below). 
 
“This is possibly the strongest competition we’ve had in 17 years.  As a former Essentially Ellington finalist band director, I have great insight into what it takes to get a band to this level,” said Jazz at Lincoln Center Director of Education Todd Stoll. “It has been inspiring to watch these young people interact with each other, members of our band and Wynton Marsalis over the last 3 days.  This Festival is a testament to the importance of music and arts education in America.  I congratulate all of the bands, the winners and our incredible Essentially Ellington team for a weekend that’s both inspirational and transformational.”

Jazz at Lincoln Center’s
17th Annual Essentially Ellington High School
Jazz Band Competition & Festival 2012 Awards
 
FIRST PLACE
Dillard Center for the Arts (Fort Lauderdale, FL)
 
SECOND PLACE
Roosevelt High School (Seattle, WA) 
 
THIRD PLACE
New World School of the Arts (Miami, FL)
 
HONORABLE MENTION BAND
Rio Americano High School (Sacramento, CA)
 
WINNING COMMUNITY ENSEMBLE
Tucson Jazz Institute (Tucson, AZ)
 
 
OUTSTANDING SOLOISTS

Honorable Mention Alto Saxophone:

Emery Mesich, Rio Americano High School

Max McArthur, DeKalb High School

Tim Leslie, Beloit Memorial High School

Angie Coyle, Eau Claire North High School


Marcelo Romero, New World School of the Arts

Outstanding Alto Saxophone:
Jorge Roldan, New World School of the Arts

 
Honorable Mention Tenor Saxophone:
Nick Hollon, Lakota East High School

Ruby Fore, Ballard High School

Outstanding Tenor Saxophone:

Adrian Noteboom, Roosevelt High School
David Leon, New World School of the Arts

Ben Stocker, Dillard Center for the Arts
Jonathan Hainsworth, Dillard Center for the Arts
 

Honorable Mention Baritone Saxophone:

Sarah Clausen, Badger High School

Trevor Bazile, New World School of the Arts



*Honorable Mention Clarinet
*:
Emma Cocatre-Zilgien, Champaign Central High School

 

Outstanding Trumpet
:
John Otten, Roosevelt High School
Max Boiko, Dillard Center for the Arts
Andrew Stevens, Rio Americano High School
Anthony Hervey, Dillard Center for the Arts
Noah Halpern, Roosevelt High School
Sam Zisette, Ballard High School
Aaron Todahl, Lakota East High School
 
Honorable Mention Trumpet:

Ryan DeWeese, Esperanza High School

Michael Dudley, Lakota East High School

Alex Rosenfeld, Medfield High School




Outstanding Lead Trumpet:
Christian Dorsey, Dillard Center for the Arts
 
Outstanding Trombone:
Coleman Hughes, Newark Academy
Michael Wang, Rio Americano High School
Ryan Earl, DeKalb High School
 
Outstanding Multi-Instrumentalist:
Max Goldschmid, Tucson Jazz Institute

 
Honorable Mention Piano:

Nathaniel Okun, Newark Academy

Taylor Griffin, Mountlake Terrace High School

 

Outstanding Piano:
Nathan Rice, Newark Academy
Grant Cherry, Tucson Jazz Institute
Pierre Charles, Beloit Memorial High School
Chris McCarthy, Roosevelt High School
 
Honorable Mention Bass:
Sean Blair, Dillard Center for the Arts


 
Outstanding Bass:
Russell Hall, Dillard Center for the Arts
Rinah Wilson, DeKalb High School
Jose Albizu Campos, New World School of the Arts
 

Honorable Mention Drums:

Carmen Rast, Champaign Central High School

Ryland Mandish, Tucson Jazz Institute

 

Outstanding Drums:
Sydney Henry, Dillard Center for the Arts
Nate Sampson, Roosevelt High School

Ryan Leppich, Mountlake Terrace High School
Nick Hach, Lakota East High School
Paul Slater, Rio Americano High School
 
Outstanding Vibraphone:
Kabir Thatte, Medfield High School
 
Honorable Mention Vocalist:
Isabella Yanke, Badger High School
 

Outstanding Vocalist:
Jade Likkel, Ballard High School
 
Outstanding Guitar:
Adam Shimabukuro, Roosevelt High School
Harley Basadre, New World School of the Arts




*Ella Fitzgerald Outstanding Soloist:*
Tony Madruga, New World School of the Arts
 
 
OUTSTANDING SECTIONS
 
Honorable Mention Reeds:
Roosevelt High School



*Outstanding Reeds:*
Eau Claire North High School
Mountlake Terrace High School
Dillard Center for the Arts
 
Outstanding Brass:
Tucson Jazz Institue
Badger High School
Roosevelt High School



Honorable Mention Pep Section

Champaign Central High School
 
Outstanding Trombones:
Dillard Center for the Arts
 
Outstanding Trumpets:
Dillard Center for the Arts 
 
Outstanding Rhythm Section:
New World School of the Arts

Mountlake Terrace High School
 
 
A photo gallery of the entire Essentially Ellington Competition & Festival and recordings of the competition performances will be available in upcoming weeks on http://www.jalc.org/essentiallyellington

PROGRAM OVERVIEW
Each year, Jazz at Lincoln Center selects and transcribes original transcriptions of Duke Ellington compositions and arrangements by other seminal big band arrangers and composers. 
 
The music along with reference recordings and other resources were distributed to all high school jazz bands that joined the free program.
 
Throughout April, Jazz at Lincoln Center sent, free of charge, a professional musician to each of the 15 finalist schools and community ensemble winner to lead an intensive workshop of rehearsals, lessons, and master classes.
 
The free clinics are part of the rich 17-year history of this unique music education program, which has reached more than 304,000 students in more than 4,000 high schools across all 50 United States, Canada, Australia and American schools abroad.  Essentially Ellington has produced and distributed more than 120,000 copies of 98 previously unavailable scores and 237 finalist bands have traveled to New York City to participate in the annual Competition & Festival.  
 
This year Jazz at Lincoln Center distributed more than 10,200 newly transcribed scores, reference recordings and additional educational materials. 
1,770 high schools in the United States, Canada, and American schools in Argentina, Australia, Brazil, Germany, Japan, Luxembourg, United Arab Emirates, Zimbabwe, Malaysia, New Zealand, Spain, South Africa, the People’s Republic of China and Switzerland received Essentially Ellington materials.
111 bands entered the competition by submitting a recorded performance of three compositions.
The entries were evaluated in a blind screening by jazz education experts RONALD CARTER, SHERMAN IRBY, LOREN SCHOENBERG, and STEVE FIDYK. 
15 finalists and one community ensemble were selected.
 
The 15 finalists for Essentially Ellington 2012 were:
 
Badger High School, Lake Geneva, WI
Ballard High School, Seattle, WA 
Beloit Memorial High School, Beloit, WI 
Champaign Central High School, Champaign, IL 
DeKalb High School, DeKalb, IL 
Dillard Center for the Arts, Fort Lauderdale, FL 
Eau Claire North High School, Eau Claire, WI 
Esperanza High School, Anaheim, CA 
Lakota East High School, Liberty Township, OH 
Medfield High School, Medfield, MA 
Mountlake Terrace High School, Mountlake Terrace, WA New World School of the Arts, Miami, FL 
Newark Academy, Livingston, NJ 
Rio Americano High School, Sacramento, CA 
Roosevelt High School, Seattle, WA
 
Winner of Community Band Category:

Tucson Jazz Institute, Tucson, AZ
 
Sponsorship:
Founding leadership support for Essentially Ellington is provided by The Jack and Susan Rudin Educational and Scholarship Fund.  Major support is provided by The Con Edison Community Partnership Fund, The Irene Diamond Fund, Gail and Alfred Engelberg, The Ella Fitzgerald Foundation, The Dexter Gordon Foundation, The William Randolph Hearst Foundation, The Charles Evans Hughes Memorial Foundation, Nathan P. Jacobs Foundation, The Mericos Foundation, and the Harold and Mimi Steinberg Charitable Trust.
 
 
Media Contact: Eva Dilmanian for Jazz at Lincoln Center
Phone: 646.675.8550
Email: eva@buzzwordpr.com

Q&A Part 1

Q&A Part 2

Q&A part 3

Q&A part 4

Q&A part 5

How:
To view the live webcast or for more information about the program, visit http://jalc.org/jazzed/ee/webcast2012.html
Follow the program on Twitter at twitter.com/EssEllington and on Facebook at facebook.com/jazzatlincolncenter

When:
All start times are EST. The webcast schedule is as follows:

Saturday May 5th
2:30-6:30 PM Competition Part I: 7 High School Bands Compete at Frederick P. Rose Hall

• Esperanza High School (Anaheim, CA) 3:00-3:20 pm
• Medfield High School (Medfield, MA) 3:20-3:40 pm
• Roosevelt High School (Seattle, WA) 3:40-4:00 pm
• Beloit Memorial High School (Beloit, WI) 4:40-5:00 pm
• Champaign Central High School (Champaign, IL) 5:00-5:20 pm
• Dillard Center for the Arts (Fort Lauderdale, FL) 5:20-5:40 pm
• Lakota East High School (Liberty Township, OH) 5:40-6:00 pm

Sunday, May 6th
10:00-11:30 AM Competition Part II: 4 High School Bands Compete at Frederick P. Rose Hall

• Newark Academy (Livingston, NJ) 10:10-10:30 am
• Rio Americano High School (Sacramento, CA) 10:30-10:50 am
• Badger High School (Lake Geneva, WI) 10:50-11:10 am
• New World School of the Arts (Miami, FL) 11:10-11:30 am

1:00-2:30 PM Competition Part III: 4 High School Bands Compete at Frederick P. Rose Hall

• Mountlake Terrace High School (Mountlake Terrace, WA) 1:10-1:30 pm
• Ballard High School (Seattle, WA) 1:30-1:50 pm
• Eau Claire North High School (Eau Claire, WI) 1:50-2:10 pm
• DeKalb High School (DeKalb, IL) 2:10-2:30 pm

4:00 PM 3 Top-Placing Bands Announced at Frederick P. Rose Hall

Sponsorship:
Founding leadership support for Essentially Ellington is provided by The Jack and Susan Rudin Educational and Scholarship Fund. Major support is provided by The Con Edison Community Partnership Fund, The Irene Diamond Fund, Gail and Alfred Engelberg, The Ella Fitzgerald Foundation, The Dexter Gordon Foundation in honor of Samuel Browne, The William Randolph Hearst Foundation, The Heckscher Foundation for Children, The Charles Evans Hughes Memorial Foundation, Nathan P. Jacobs Foundation, The Mericos Foundation, National Endowment for the Arts, The Harold and Mimi Steinberg Charitable Trust, Surdna Foundation, and the United States Department of Education.

FOR MORE INFORMATION:
Eva Dilmanian for Jazz at Lincoln Center
646.675.8550, eva@buzzwordpr.com

In an audio control room, Marsalis listened, commenting on Armstrong’s performance — and his remarkable life:

“I recently had a chance to hear these recordings,” he said. “And to be honest, I wasn’t even aware of their existence. It was quite a revelation.

“I was shocked by the energy and vigor of his playing. The material — I’d heard those songs many times with the exception of one track — but that he could play with this type of energy and intensity with that amount of time off. It was shocking. And I was also heartened by the type of love and warmth that I felt coming out of the room.

“There’s such a reverence and a love for Louis Armstrong, it’s really touching to hear it, because it’s five months before his death. And everybody at that time was wondering would he ever play again. And on ‘Hello Dolly,’ he plays actually unbelievably well in the upper middle register of the trumpet.

“My favorite track on this recording is Pops’s version of ‘The Boy from New Orleans.’ He takes you through his whole history. He starts with him being born in Jane Alley in dire poverty. And then him developing his trumpet playing and wanting the neighborhood to be proud of him.

“And this is something that Louis Armstrong had his entire life — [the] humility and a desire to please people with great quality music.

“I think that was his gift. He was able to turn the the light of the human soul on. And every time he breathed a note, either playing or singing, he uplift our spirits and the heavens would open up, and we would begin to see the world and feel the world in a different way.

“Louis Armstrong was one of the greatest human beings to ever set foot on this planet. He gave us a healing that still sits with us. Thank you, Pops.”

© 2012 CBS Interactive Inc.. All Rights Reserved.

Working with Founder and Artistic Director Wynton Marsalis, Mr. Scholl will be responsible for managing the storied American institution, including its landmark venues in the Time Warner Center, dynamic programming schedule, rich and growing catalogue of music and video, wide array of education programs, and international expansion. At the same time, Mr. Marsalis has agreed to deepen his engagement with JALC, taking formal responsibility for long-term strategic planning and for leading JALC into a new era of innovation around education and programming. Mr. Scholl will report to and work directly with Mr. Marsalis and incoming Chairman Robert Appel.

“It gives us great pleasure to welcome Greg Scholl as our new Executive Director. His leadership and understanding of content distribution will help make our curatorial and educational offerings available to a broader audience. He has a global cultural vision, a practical management sensibility, and a creative restlessness born of a dedication to uplift people’s lives through music,” said Wynton Marsalis, Artistic Director of JALC. “Greg loves Jazz and brings great intelligence, intensity, and integrity to the service of our mission. The staff and I look forward to working with him.”

“On behalf of the Board, we mirror Greg’s excitement and energy about meeting our future goals and making the music accessible to everyone,” said Lisa Schiff, Chairman, JALC. “This is a thrilling time to be part of Jazz at Lincoln Center.”

“We’re honored that Greg will join our team of dedicated and enthusiastic Board and staff members,” said Mr. Appel. “Matched with our desire to broaden audiences for jazz and his dynamic approach to business through technology, this is the propitious time in our growth to welcome Greg to Jazz at Lincoln Center.”

“This opportunity is the culmination of all I’ve worked towards after two decades in media. The chance to work closely with Wynton Marsalis, for whom I have great respect and admiration, on behalf of music I love, and for the unimpeachable mission of bettering the cultural fabric of our country and world is a dream come true,” said Mr. Scholl.

Most recently, Mr. Scholl served as President, Local Integrated Media at NBC Universal, where he oversaw a portfolio of businesses including all digital businesses for NBC’s 10 owned television stations, the production company LX.TV, the Nonstop cable network, and NBC’s digital out of home properties. In this role, he was responsible for NBC’s local strategies around social media and multi-platform audience engagement. During Mr. Scholl’s tenure, NBC experienced strong audience growth, particularly around social media engagement, and Mr. Scholl oversaw the launch of a suite of new mobile products for the iPhone, iPad and Android devices and a slate of new local digital entertainment and news franchises.

Prior to NBC, Mr. Scholl served as President & CEO of The Orchard, a leading distributor and marketer of independent music and video. Mr. Scholl joined The Orchard in 2003 over the next six years, built it into one of the world’s preeminent digital media enterprises, representing many of the biggest independent artists and labels and pioneering many of today’s industry-standard digital marketing and distribution practices. Under Mr. Scholl’s leadership, The Orchard was recognized by Deloitte as one of the 50 fastest-growing companies in North America from 2003-08.

Prior to The Orchard, Mr. Scholl was an Associate Partner at McKinsey & Associates and a Principal at Booz Allen Hamilton (for both, in their media practices) and ran a venture capital fund investing in media and technology companies on behalf of Edwin Cohen (founder of General Atlantic Partners). Mr. Scholl graduated from Harvard College magna cum laude in History and Science.

Mr. Scholl is also a blues, jazz and roots music aficionado; avid 78rpm record collector; guitar player and collector; and occasional record producer. In 2006, Mr. Scholl was nominated for a Grammy as Executive Producer (along with his colleague and partner, the legendary producer and songwriter Richard Gottehrer) for Dion’s “Bronx In Blue” and in 2009, Mr. Scholl produced and mastered the critically acclaimed release by The Peter Bernstein Trio, “Monk”. Mr. Scholl resides in New York City with his wife Chloe Breyer (who is the Executive Director of The Interfaith Center of New York) and their two children.

The Year of the Arts at Miami University has been designated by President David C. Hodge for 2011-2012 to signify the importance of the arts at Miami University in the core educational mission of the institution, while celebrating the arts through a diverse array of special presentations and signature events. With over 200 performances, exhibitions, lectures, and creative collaborations that take place annually, the “Year of the Arts” shines a spotlight on the regional, national, and global impact of the arts at Miami.

Spanning nearly 30 years, this eBook is a comprehensive study of the evolution of Wynton’s style as a soloist.
From his debut recording a leader through his latest quintet release, our intent was to capture Wynton’s improvisational skills against a myriad of different backdrops; fast and slow tempos, different grooves and time signatures and, of course, the blues. Once you have created an account and completed your purchase, you will be able to download your purchase securely, now and in the future. The download is in PDF format allowing you to print the music out at your leisure, or just view the eBook on your computer or mobile device (such as the iPad or Kindle).

Includes solos from: Later, Black Codes, Delfeayo’s Dilemma, The Majesty of the Blues, Levee Low Moan, Modern Vistas, Holy Ghost, You Don’t Hear No Drums, Fire in the Night, Union Pacific Big Boy, Loose Duck, Big Fat Hen, Free to Be, Doin’ (Y)our Thing, A Train, A Banjo and a Chicken Wing.

Phoenix native Lewis Nash has been named by Modern Drummer as the “Most Valuable Player” in jazz. He has toured and recorded with the Carnegie Hall Jazz Band and the Lincoln Center Orchestra. Lewis Nash has one of the most extensive discographies in jazz, having worked with a range of artists from Stan Getz, Dizzy Gillespie and Oscar Peterson to Natalie Cole and Diana Krall.
A highly esteemed jazz educator, Nash conducts popular clinics, lectures and workshops.

For information, contact Pam Hait or Martha Hunter, Strateg!es, 602-952-0040
Pam@strategies-az.com or Martha@strategies-az.com

The 2012-13 season also includes concerts honoring Toots Thielemans: Celebrating 90 Years, Joe Henderson’s 75th Birthday, and Eddie Palmieri – A Career Retrospective. Artistic Director Wynton Marsalis’ Pulitzer-winning Blood on the Fields will be performed in its entirety for the first time in New York since its premiere in 1994.

For the first time, Jazz at Lincoln Center will celebrate the New Year with Ring in the Swing: A New Year’s Eve Dance Party in The Allen Room.

“Twenty five years ago, the Jazz at Lincoln Center Orchestra was founded to perform the continuum of jazz at the highest level,” said Marsalis. “Since the orchestra and Jazz at Lincoln Center’s inception, we have strived to joyously perform and produce music, to educate, and to get people gathered around it. On our 25th anniversary season, we continue to be dedicated to the substance of our culture through our art.”

Highlights of the 2012-13 season include:

• OPENING NIGHT: Bobby McFerrin: My Audio Biography with the Jazz at Lincoln Center Orchestra with Wynton Marsalis.
• Jazz at Lincoln Center Orchestra featured in The Genius of Coltrane with Joshua Redman, Big Band Holidays with René Marie and Gregory Porter, The Best of Blue Note with Roy Hargrove and JD Allen and The Music of Gerry Mulligan and John Lewis, Blood on the Fields, and Celebrating Duke Ellington.
• Blood on the Fields, Wynton Marsalis’ epic jazz oratorio on slavery and freedom, performed by the JLCO, in Rose Theater.
• NEW: Ring in the Swing: A New Year’s Eve Dance Party featuring The Harlem Renaissance Orchestra in The Allen Room.
• John Coltrane Festival includes JLCO and Joshua Redman in Rose Theater; McCoy Tyner in The Allen Room; Coltrane Celebration featuring Azar Lawrence, Dave Liebman, Billy Hart, and more in Dizzy’s Club Coca-Cola; and Jazz For Young People® “Who is John Coltrane?”
• Duke Ellington Festival includes JLCO in Rose Theater, Michael Feinstein in The Allen Room, Small Band Ellington in Dizzy’s Club Coca-Cola, and the 18th annual Essentially Ellington High School Jazz Band Competition and Festival features six new Ellington charts.
• Chick Corea Festival features Corea with the JLCO in Rose Theater, and Friends of Chick Corea in The Allen Roomand in Dizzy’s Club Coca-Cola featuring artists handpicked by Corea to re-interpret his favorite tunes.
• Birth of the Cool Festival includes JLCO performing The Music of Gerry Mulligan & John Lewis with Jonathan Batiste in Rose Theater, Bill Charlap with Mary Stallings, Bucky Pizzarelli and morein The Allen Room and Music of John Lewis & The MJQ featuring Aaron Diehl, Warren Wolf, and more in Dizzy’s Club Coca-Cola.
• Dizzy & Bird Festival includes Jon Faddis in Rose Theater, Paquito D’Rivera in The Allen Room, and Bird, Bebop, and Beyond featuring Charles McPherson & Friends in Dizzy’s Club Coca-Cola.
• Dizzy’s Club Coca-Cola highlights include the Third Annual Generations in Jazz Festivalin Fall 2012. Special programming in the club compliments season festivals.
  Education programming continues and expands:
  NEW: Jazz at Lincoln Center Youth Orchestra. Audition details to be announced this Spring.
  Return of Middle School Jazz Academy with free showcase concerts on Saturday mornings (click here for more information)
  Jazz For Young People On Tour details to be announced.
  Swing University welcomes JLCO band member Vincent Gardner leading Jazz 101 for the first time, course instructors also include Ed Berger, Connie Crothers, Boo Frasier, Edwina Handy DeCosta, Vincent Pelote, Larry Ridley, Phil Schapp, Ben Young, and Terry Waldo.
  WeBop® classes for 8 month – 5 year olds and a caregiver continue at Frederick P. Rose Hall and at Head Start in Washington Heights in collaboration with Dr. Lori Custodero, Teachers College, Columbia University.

• The Best of Blue Note Festival includes JLCO with Roy Hargrove and JD Allen in Rose Theater, Joe Henderson’s 75th Birthday featuring Renee Rosnes with Bobby Hutcherson, Chris Potter, Michael Dease, Robert Hurst, Lewis Nash,and more in The Allen Room and Blue Note In the Groove nights in Dizzy’s Club Coca-Cola.
• Bad Plus and Bill Frisell collaborate for the first time in NYC and make JALC debut in The Allen Room.
• Marsalis’ Swing Symphony performed by the JLCO and the NY Philharmonic at Lincoln Center’s Avery Fisher Hall.
• Bill Charlap, Chick Corea, Jon Faddis, Victor Goines, Branford Marsalis,and Marcus Roberts lead concerts in Rose Theater.
• James Cotton “Superharp” Band, Paquito D’Rivera, Kurt Elling, Michael Feinstein, Joe Lovano, Brad Mehldau, Kim Nalley, Madeleine Peyroux, McCoy Tyner, Alvin Youngblood Hart lead concerts in The Allen Room.
• Concerts honor Toots Thielemans: Celebrating 90 Years in Rose Theater, Joe Henderson’s 75th Birthday and Eddie Palmieri: A Career Retrospective in The Allen Room.
• The Music of Nina Simone performed by Kim Nalley, and Kings of the Crescent City led byVictor Goines.
• Branford Marsalis and Ali Jackson share a double bill in Rose Theater.
• Jazz and Popular Song concerts continue in The Allen Room with new shows hosted by Michael Feinstein: Elegant Ellington, A Tribute to Bobby Short,and Swinging with the Big Bands.
• Jazz at Lincoln Center Orchestra tours U.S. and Europe including a performance at BT River of Music prior to the London 2012 Olympic Games Opening Ceremony.
• Jazz For Young People®family concerts: Who is John Coltrane? with the JLCO and What is Latin Jazz? hosted by Arturo O’Farrill.

Click here for complete JALC 2012-13 Concert Season Chronology

TICKET INFORMATION

Subscriptions
Beginning today, subscriptions will be available for renewal for all Rose Theater and The Allen Room packages (subscription packages offer a 10-15% discount on all single ticket prices). To ensure retention of their same seats, current subscribers may renew today through April 13. New subscriptions may be purchased beginning April 9.

Flex Fridays offers subscribers the flexibility and freedom to choose any Friday evening performance in Rose Theater or any Friday 9:30pm performance inThe Allen Room (Flex Fridays offer a 10% discount on single ticket prices in Rose Theater).

The Pick Four package subscribers choose four concerts from a select list at a 10% discount. Unlike Flex Fridays, choices are not limited to Friday night performances, and provide the subscriber an option for Thursday and Saturday evening performances as well as the flexibility to customize a package.

The Hang Set is a subscription series for under-40 social urbanites that offers a three-concert package at one great price. Featuring pre-concert parties with cocktails and hors d’oeuvres, and concert tickets, the Hang Set is an excellent opportunity for culturally-savvy young professionals to mingle and hear great music. For more details on how to become a Hang Set member, please visit jalc.org/hangset.

Becoming a Subscriber is the best way to lock in the best seats at the guaranteed best prices for the entire season, as single ticket prices may change at a later date due to increased demand.

To order a subscription beginning April 9 or to request information, please call the Subscription Services hotline at 212-258-9999, e-mail subscriptions@jalc.org, or visit jalc.org/subs jalc.org/subs

For more information on 2012-13 season subscriptions, go to jalc.org/subs

Membership Discount
Jazz at Lincoln CenterMembers (donors of $50 or more) get 50% off tickets to JALC produced shows in Rose Theater and The Allen Room on the day of the event at the JALC Box Office. Members must show their membership card to receive this discount. Limit two tickets for individual donors and four tickets for family members. Subject to availability.

Pricing
Ticket prices for Rose Theater are $10, $30, $50, $75, $95 or $120 dependent upon seating section, except where noted below: – Matinee ticket prices in Rose Theater are $30, $50, $70, $80, $95 – Jazz for Young People® tickets in Rose Theater are $12, $20, $28

- Ticket prices for The Allen Room are $65 for the 7:30pm sets and $10 or $55 for the 9:30pm sets. – Ticket prices for Jazz & Popular Song shows are $55, $75, $95.

Note: Hot Seats, $10 seats for each Rose Theater performance (excluding Jazz for Young People® concerts and other performances as specified) and select 9:30pm performances in The Allen Room (excluding Jazz & Popular Song concerts), are available for purchase to the general public on the Wednesday prior to each performance. Subject to availability. Available only for select Allen Room shows; please call 212-258-9800 for available Hot Seats performance dates.
Hot Seats are available only by walk up at the Box Office. Maximum of four tickets per person in Rose Theater; maximum of two tickets per person in The Allen Room.

*Please note that a $2.00 Jazz at Lincoln Center Facility Fee applies to ALL ticket purchases, with the exception of $10 Hot Seats. A $7 handling fee also applies when purchasing tickets from CenterCharge or a $6 handling fee applies when purchasing tickets via jalc.org.

-Swing University classes are $125 -$250.

-Essentially Ellington Final Concert tickets in Rose Theater are $20 and $25.

All single tickets for The Allen Room and Rose Theater can be purchased through jalc.org 24 hours a day or CenterCharge at 212-721-6500, open daily from 10am to 9pm. Tickets can also be purchased at the Jazz at Lincoln Center Box Office, located on Broadway at 60th Street, ground floor. Box Office hours: Monday-Saturday from 10am to 6pm (or 30 minutes past curtain) and Sunday from noon to 6pm (or 30 minutes past curtain).

Dizzy’s Club Coca-Cola, one of the three main performance venues located in Jazz at Lincoln Center’s home, Frederick P. Rose Hall, produces world-class jazz performances nightly and welcomes locals and visitors alike to enjoy the city’s best music, food and libations. The intimate 140-seat jazz club is set against a glittering backdrop with spectacular views of Central Park. There are student rates and special Monday Night Presentations. Tony Bennett calls Dizzy’s Club Coca-Cola “the best jazz room in the city.” Reservations: 212-258-9595 or 212-258-9795 and Dizzy’s Club Coca-Cola.
Single tickets go on sale July 30.

MasterCard cardholders receive special benefits throughout Jazz at Lincoln Center’s new season, including a pre-sale purchase opportunity of concert tickets from July 23-July 29, 2012; access to a prime MasterCard cardholder-only table at Dizzy’s Club Coca-Cola; and automatic upgrades of membership benefits when purchasing with a MasterCard card.

Jazz at Lincoln Center proudly acknowledges its major corporate partners: Brooks Brothers, Bloomberg, Centric, The Coca-Cola Company, Con Edison, HSBC, MasterCard, Related, SiriusXM.

MasterCard is the preferred card of Jazz at Lincoln Center.

Livestream has launched a brand new platform and we are excited to be a part of it – check it out and follow Wynton’s page to make sure you don’t miss any of his events: new.livestream.com/wyntonmarsalis

Webcast Details:

Savannah Music Festival Presents the JLCO with Wynton Marsalis Thursday March 1st @ 6:00PM EST: http://new.livestream.com/wyntonmarsalislive/savannahmusicfestival

The Atlanta Symphony Orchestra Presents the JLCO with Wynton Marsalis Saturday March 3rd @ 8:00PM EST: http://new.livestream.com/wyntonmarsalislive/atlantasymphonyorchestra

High School Jazz Band Competition & Festival in New York City, May 4-6, 2012

• Ballard High School, Seattle, WA
• Beloit Memorial High School, Beloit, WI
• Champaign Central High School, Champaign, IL
• DeKalb High School, DeKalb, IL
• Dillard Center for the Arts, Fort Lauderdale, FL
• Eau Claire North High School, Eau Claire, WI
• Esperanza High School, Anaheim, CA
• Genoa City Union High School, Lake Geneva, WI
• Lakota East High School, Liberty Township, OH
• Medfield High School, Medfield, MA
• Mountlake Terrace High School, Mountlake Terrace, WA
• New World School of the Arts, Miami, FL
• Newark Academy, Newark, NJ
• Rio Americano High School, Sacramento, CA
• Roosevelt High School, Seattle, WA

Winner of Community Band Category:
Tucson Jazz Institute, Tucson, AZ

Who/What:
Jazz at Lincoln Center announces the 15 finalist bands and one winning community band for its prestigious 17th Annual Essentially Ellington High School Jazz Band Competition & Festival. The bands will compete and participate in workshops, jam sessions, and more, during a three-day Competition & Festival in New York City. The three top-placing bands perform with Artistic Director of Jazz at Lincoln Center, Wynton Marsalis, as guest soloist, followed by a performance by the 15-piece Jazz at Lincoln Center Orchestra – whose members serve as mentors for the finalist bands throughout the weekend. The Festival’s finale is an awards ceremony honoring outstanding soloists, sections and the top three bands. The Competition & Festival is the culmination of the annual Essentially Ellington High School Jazz Band Program (EE), which also includes regional festivals, teaching resources, a summer Band Director Academy, monthly newsletters, and more.

Judges: WYNTON MARSALIS, DAVID BERGER, BILL DOBBINS, JEFFREY HAMILTON, SHERMAN IRBY.

In-School Clinicians: RONALD CARTER, VICTOR GOINES, SHERMAN IRBY, TED NASH, MARCUS PRINTUP, LOREN SCHOENBERG, REGINALD THOMAS, RODNEY WHITAKER

Mentors: members of the JAZZ AT LINCOLN CENTER ORCHESTRA

When/Where:
Competition & Festival: May 4-6 at Frederick P. Rose Hall, home of Jazz at Lincoln Center.

Final Concert: May 6 at Avery Fisher Hall at Lincoln Center, 7:30pm.

How:
Free tickets for each Competition Part will be available on a first-come, first-serve basis, one hour before the start of each concert on May 5 and May 6.

Tickets for the Concert and Awards Ceremony are $20 or $25 and available now at the Avery Fisher Hall Box Office, the Jazz at Lincoln Center Box Office, by calling CenterCharge at 212-721-6500 or at jalc.org

For more information including background, a schedule of events, photos, audio featuring SiriusXM’s programs on EE, and more, visit: jalc.org/essentiallyellington

Background/Statistics:
Throughout March and April, Jazz at Lincoln Center will send, free of charge, a professional musician to each of the 15 finalist and winning community band schools to lead an intensive day-long workshop of rehearsals, lessons, and master classes. The free clinics are part of the rich 16-year history of this unique music education program, which has reached more than 304,000 students in more than 4,000 high schools across all 50 U.S. states, Canada, Australia and American schools abroad. EE has produced and distributed more than 120,000 copies of 98 previously unavailable scores and 237 finalist bands have traveled to New York City to participate in the annual Competition & Festival.

• This year Jazz at Lincoln Center distributed more than 10,200 newly transcribed scores, reference recordings and additional educational materials.
• While the music of Duke Ellington continues to be central to Essentially Ellington, in 2008, Jazz at Lincoln Center expanded Essentially Ellington repertoire to include other seminal big band composers including Benny Carter and Mary Lou Williams. The 2011-12 Essentially Ellington season is the first time in the history of the program that repertoire composed by Dizzy Gillespie will be included in the program. Repertoire includes, Duke Ellington’s “Riding On a Blue Note,” “Sepia Panorama,” and from The Queen’s Suite, “Sunset and The Mocking Bird,” and Dizzy Gillespie’s, “Night in Tunisia,” “Oop Bop Sh’Bam,” and “Things To Come.”
• This year 1,715 high schools in the United States, Canada, and American schools in Argentina, Australia, Brazil, Germany, Japan, Luxembourg, Malaysia, New Zealand, People’s Republic of China, Republic of Trinidad and Tobago, South Africa, Spain, Sweden, United Kingdom, United Arab Emirates, and Zimbabwe received Essentially Ellington materials.
• 111 bands entered the competition by submitting a recorded performance of three compositions.
• The entries were evaluated in a blind screening by jazz education experts RONALD CARTER, STEVE FIDYK, SHERMAN IRBY, and LOREN SCHOENBERG.
• 15 finalists and one community band were selected.

Quotes:
“It is extremely gratifying to see the results of the seeds we sowed 16 years ago when we started Essentially Ellington. The improvement in the quality of the bands down through the years attests to the artistic substance of Duke Ellington’s music. The enthusiasm and dedication of students, families, band directors, judges, and alumni testify to the timeless American values that define this competition and festival. I’m looking forward to hearing this year’s finalists; it is my favorite time of year.”
Wynton Marsalis, Artistic Director, Jazz at Lincoln Center

“As a former high school band director I have witnessed firsthand the power of Ellington’s music; it changes how young people view themselves in relation to our culture, their communities and each other. From the band directors across the country who tirelessly teach this music, to the parents who hear the hours of practicing at home, we are thrilled to provide a resource that brings together multiple generations of participants. As the finalists prepare for the weekend in New York, as we say here, swing away!”
Todd Stoll, Director of Education, Jazz at Lincoln Center

Sponsorship:
Founding leadership support for Essentially Ellington is provided by The Jack and Susan Rudin Educational and Scholarship Fund. Major support is provided by The Con Edison Community Partnership Fund, The Irene Diamond Fund, Gail and Alfred Engelberg, The Ella Fitzgerald Foundation, The Dexter Gordon Foundation in honor of Samuel Browne, The William Randolph Hearst Foundation, The Heckscher Foundation for Children, The Charles Evans Hughes Memorial Foundation, Nathan P. Jacobs Foundation, The Mericos Foundation, National Endowment for the Arts, The Harold and Mimi Steinberg Charitable Trust, Surdna Foundation, and the United States Department of Education.

Wynton Marsalis recently gave the third of six epic lectures that he is slated to give at Harvard University. He promised that this one wasn’t going to be 4 and half hours long, as the last one was. When he got started, the result was part history lesson, part concert, part spoken-word poetry reading. Three hours into the show, his agenda became clear: He was telling a timeless story about love. For Charlie “Yardbird’’ Parker, inventor of bebop. For Bessie Smith, teller of the low-down nasty truth. For Woody Guthrie, who sang about running from the law. For all those who sang about being both broke and broken-hearted. For every artist who cared more about art than celebrity.
Like every great blues man, Marsalis was lamenting the loss of something he loves. Jazz and the blues are falling by the wayside. Young people don’t understand how crucial this music is to America’s integration as a people. Identifying a blues song should be part of any citizenship test, he says: “If you can’t do that, you are not ready to be here yet.’’

Tickets to this extraordinary lecture series have been free to members of the public who get to the box office in time. Marsalis has even spent time teaching Cambridge school children. Marsalis and Harvard should be commended for giving these lectures to future generations. They ought to go one step further and put them online for the world to enjoy.

Boston Globe Editorial

Check these articles about the Lecture on Harvard Gazette:

- The melding of American music

- Notes on music’s lessons

Check some pictures from rehearsals, sound check and lecture

Marsalis’ third lecture, “Meet Me at the Crossroad,” will begin at 7:30 p.m. and include musical illustrations by acclaimed musicians, including Doug Wamble (guitar and vocals), Herlin Riley (drums), Houston Person (tenor sax), Lucky Peterson (organ and piano), Reginald Veal (bass), and Brianna Thomas (vocals).

“The blues, American folk music, gospel, American popular song, hillbilly, bluegrass, country western, and jazz are root styles of our national music,” Marsalis said. “This lecture will identify the similarities and differences of those roots, and explain why they are musically compatible.”
In addition to his lecture-performance, Marsalis will spend the following day on the Harvard campus, appearing in a panel on “Educating for Moral Agency and Engaged Citizenship” held at the Harvard Graduate School of Education, and co-hosted by the W.E.B. Du Bois Institute for African and African American Research. Later that day he will participate in a discussion at Harvard’s new Innovation Lab to talk about the artist as entrepreneur.

Marsalis launched his lecture series last April before a sold-out house with “Music as Metaphor,” a two-hour journey through the history of American music, punctuated with performances by renowned bluegrass and jazz musicians. He returned to campus in September with a team of dancers for his second lecture, “The Double Crossing of a Pair of Heels: The Dynamics of Social Dance and American Popular Musics,” which traced the evolution of American social dance from the Charleston to the fox trot and the tango to the twist.

“Marsalis’ prior lectures have illustrated vividly the ways in which the arts have intertwined with the history and culture of our country,” Harvard President Drew Faust said. “Just as importantly, they have acted as catalysts for activity on our campus, prompting class discussions, inspiring study, and elevating the arts across campus. I look forward to hearing him again next month.”

In addition to his lectures, Marsalis has engaged in dialogue with students across the University and throughout the community, teaching a master class and holding a question-and-answer session with students from Harvard and local public high schools.
Marsalis’ lecture is one of several arts events taking place throughout the year as part of Harvard’s 375th anniversary celebration. The Marsalis lecture series highlights the University’s focus on the arts since a 2008 presidential task force called for increasing the presence of the arts on campus.

Tickets for Marsalis’ lecture at Sanders will be free. They will become available for the Harvard community Jan. 26 and for the public Jan. 27. For information on obtaining tickets.

From “Hellbound Highball” to “Happy Feet Blues,” this collection of works is the greatest retrospective of Wynton as a composer.

For the first time, Wynton Marsalis brings you this self-curated 2-CD set featuring ONLY his compositions.
Performed by a diverse group of artists including musicians from the Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center, the Los Angeles Philharmonic, the Orion String Quartet, Mark O’Connor, members of the Jazz at Lincoln Center Orchestra, and Danny Barker.
Preview the songs and buy the album

The gala will honor Lisa Schiff, Chairman of Jazz at Lincoln Center, for her brilliant leadership over the past decade and bestow upon her the organization’s Ed Bradley Award for Leadership in Jazz.

The concert will be comprised of songs from throughout Simon’s career, all arranged by Marsalis and members of the Jazz at Lincoln Center Orchestra. Simon and Marsalis have worked together twice before, but these concerts will mark their first time performing full concerts with one another. In addition to the Jazz at Lincoln Center Orchestra, Simon will bring with him his own band. The incomparable Aaron Neville will join the group as a featured guest on selected songs.

“Paul Simon is a great American songwriter of astonishing diversity and invention in the lineage of George Gershwin, Chuck Berry and Stephen Sondheim. We, the Jazz at Lincoln Center Orchestra, are in the lineage of Duke Ellington, Gil Evans and Thad Jones. Both of us share a common heritage with all of those titans, and we will do our best to further the highest of their aspirations for our national music,” said Marsalis. “We are excited that Paul accepted our invitation. It will be a night steeped in the sound of the blues, folk song, gospel and regional accents of America. We have every intention of speaking our mutual language through the art of improvisation and in the international sound of African inflected groove.”

“I’m looking forward to hearing how Wynton imagines his horn section framing and coloring my songs,” said Simon. “The integration of our two bands should provide a rare opportunity for unique and joyful collaboration. Anyway, it’ll be big.”

David Beahm, in his 10th year as the designer for the Jazz at Lincoln Center gala dinner décor, will generously donate his services in honor of Lisa Schiff. Dinner will be served by Great Performances, the exclusive in-house caterer for Jazz at Lincoln Center.

When:
Wednesday, April 18, 2012
Jazz at Lincoln Center Annual Gala and Concert
7pm concert in Rose Theater
9pm dinner in The Allen Room and Atrium

Thursday, April 19 and Friday, April 20, 2012
8pm concert in Rose Theater

Where:
Frederick P. Rose Hall, home of Jazz at Lincoln Center
Broadway at 60th Street, New York, New York.

Gala Tickets:
Gala tickets begin at $1,500 and tables begin at $20,000. Contact Stacie Middleton Crawford at scrawford@jalc.org.

Concert tickets for April 19 & 20:
Tickets for concerts on April 19 & 20 will be available to Jazz at Lincoln Center members and subscribers with a MasterCard starting January 30, 2012. Tickets will go on sale to the general public on February 3, 2012. All ticket sales will be handled through CenterCharge at 212-721-6500 or the Jazz at Lincoln Center Box Office at Broadway and 60th Street inside Time Warner Center.
MasterCard cardholders will also have access to purchase a quantity of the best seats in house located in the orchestra section through MasterCard’s Priceless NY website (www.pricelessny.com). Quantities are limited.

The Jazz at Lincoln Center Box Office is open Monday through Saturday, 10am-6pm, and Sundays, 12pm-6pm. There is a maximum of two tickets per household.

Press Inquiries:
Mary Fiance Fuss, Director, Public Relations
email: mfuss@jalc.org
phone: (212) 258-9829

Judee Cohen for Jazz at Lincoln Center
email: judithdeecohen@gmail.com
phone: (917) 721-0663

Unedited Version of the Essay

I grew up in segregated towns in Louisiana: Breaux Bridge, Little Farms, Kenner….the old south. My parents sat behind screens on buses well into adulthood. Our world was entirely black.

I was in the second grade when Martin Luther king Jr. was assassinated. We were sent home early that day. I had absolutely no sense of who he was at the time.

The next year my brothers and I went to the white school across the tracks. My momma said change wouldn’t come from complaining. King had sacrificed, so should we. And for us, integration came at a steep price. Just your nicknames alone, like Mr. Magoo or Blackie or Burnt Toast, or the fact that you would get a toy monkey every time kids exchanged gifts at Christmas. It was tough…but we had more in common with the white kids than segregation would have us believe. Simple things like…you all hated Friday fish squares but loved sloppy joes. Still, all the sloppy joes in the world weren’t going to extinguish the flames of injustice that singed anything brown.

As I grew into teenage-hood the integration experience left a bitter taste in my mouth. The street level feeling about Martin Luther King was that he was a dreamer and not enough of a revolutionary. That he was accomodationist and old school. To the youth, his image was not as alluring as the dashiki clad big- Afro black revolutionary. The suit, skinny tie and Negro preacher language was passé. We were BLACK anyway. And, his nuanced conception of a unified America (in which all was forgiven) was not as dramatic, appealing, or strident as the Black Power narrative. The proverbial ‘line drawn in the sand’ always enflames the passions of the disaffected. It was next to impossible to love and forgive. You wanted to hate and scream for revenge.

‘This was 350 years of oppression come crashing down on you,’ and King is asking you to whisper instead of holler. Man, you must be crazy! That’s why the poster over my bed in high school wasn’t King, it was Malcolm X. Anyway, Malcolm’s autobiography was better known than anything King ever wrote. My understanding of King would change dramatically one night in New York City.

When I was 17 and recently moved, I was arguing with a young white college student in a jazz club, Mikell’s, on 97th and Columbus. Provoked by his accurate observation that black people didn’t patronize jazz clubs, we began arguing about contemporary race relations. He went on and on about the greatness of King. I said, “Man, King was an Uncle Tom.” He looked at me as if I had lost my mind and asked if I had ever read Letter from Birmingham City Jail, had I read Why We Cant Wait, or Where Do We Go from Here: Chaos or Community? I tried to pretend I had. He then said, “Of course you haven’t because, YOU’RE BLACK AND YOU ALL NEVER KNOW ANYTHING ABOUT YOUR HISTORY OR CULTURE.”

At that moment, I was ashamed. Shamed to admit to myself that the truths of this great man, who had just recently improved the quality of my life as an American, WERE largely unknown to me.

I began reading Dr. King’s books and about him, and discovered a powerful revolutionary who transformed our way of living. He actualized the American dream in the truest sense of the word, entering Morehouse College at 15 to receive a classical education. He went on to sculpt a unique poetry. One that created a direct association between the Bible and the Constitution, and the way we treat one another. He created a bridge between the struggle of the Negro and the Judeo-Christian tradition (that most of America leadership ascribed to at that time). He flipped the script on our common religious themes, which were read to say that black people were on the bottom where they should be, and taught our country how to reassess a common spiritual heritage.

Honest religious intellectuals, like Abraham Joshua Heschel and Reinhold Niebuhr recognized the artistry and mastery of his insight, and welcomed his innovative methods of counter-stating a ‘segregated church’ narrative that was clearly indefensible.

With an irresistible lyricism, Dr. King galvanized an All-American army from all walks of life… believers, thirsty for change…citizens willing to sacrifice for the most essential national concern: freedom. Their achievements together, in the cause of justice, exposed racism as immoral. We now live a national reality shaped by their actions and deeds.

In spite of that fact, today, too many of us remember Dr. King as an idealistic dreamer who led a social movement exclusively for black folks. This does him and us a great disservice.

Fact is, Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. IS action. Under his generalship, civilian forces of labor, clergy, youth, and even politicians marched to a string of great victories: the Civil Rights Act of 1964 and the Voting Rights Act of 1965 amongst others. These laws made racism illegal, and made us all better Americans.

Those are FACTS even though we may FEEL that King led a movement exclusively for black people. We may FEEL that he was a passive dreamer, but who amongst us goes to the doctor to ask how she FEELS about our health? We accept that you can feel fine and be one step from death’s door. And just as knowledge of family medical history affects a doctor’s diagnosis, knowledge of national cultural history is of central importance to an accurate social prognosis.

We owe it to ourselves to embrace the FACTS about Dr. King’s work and seek the appropriate prescription for what ails us. We owe it to ourselves to embrace his beliefs, philosophies, and actions. We owe it to ourselves to read his works.

His writing and soaring rhetoric was poetry itself, glittered with cultural references. Just a cursory glance and we see references to Washington Irving, William Faulkner, T.S. Eliot, James Weldon Johnson, Langston Hughes, John Donne, Victor Hugo, Thoreau….on and on. He used artists and poets throughout history to provide a context for our struggles and a blueprint for reaching higher ground.

The legacy of Dr. King is all around us. It’s all up in us. The churches we attend, he attended. The songs we sing, he sang. The highways we drive, he drove. Even back then, he preached timeless human fundamentals that we all share. He once said, “Everybody has the blues. Everybody longs for meaning. Everybody needs to love and be loved.”

Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. paid the ultimate price to bring our nation together in the fight for freedom. The power of a unified national community is something that we have forgotten.

It’s up to us to revive and sustain it. Today and Always.

Wynton

*Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., Opening Address to the 1964 Berlin Jazz Festival.
WPFW News (Washington), [23 August 2002]*

God has wrought many things out of oppression. He has endowed his creatures with the capacity to create—and from this capacity has flowed the sweet songs of sorrow and joy that have allowed man to cope with his environment and many different situations.

Jazz speaks for life. The Blues tell the story of life’s difficulties, and if you think for a moment, you will realize that they take the hardest realities of life and put them into music, only to come out with some new hope or sense of triumph.

This is triumphant music.

Modern jazz has continued in this tradition, singing the songs of a more complicated urban existence. When life itself offers no order and meaning, the musician creates an order and meaning from the sounds of the earth which flow through his instrument.

It is no wonder that so much of the search for identity among American Negroes was championed by Jazz musicians. Long before the modern essayists and scholars wrote of racial identity as a problem for a multiracial world, musicians were returning to their roots to affirm that which was stirring within their souls.

Much of the power of our Freedom Movement in the United States has come from this music. It has strengthened us with its sweet rhythms when courage began to fail. It has calmed us with its rich harmonies when spirits were down.

And now, Jazz is exported to the world. For in the particular struggle of the Negro in America there is something akin to the universal struggle of modern man. Everybody has the Blues. Everybody longs for meaning. Everybody needs to love and be loved. Everybody needs to clap hands and be happy. Everybody longs for faith.

In music, especially this broad category called Jazz, there is a stepping stone towards all of these.

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Happy Holidays!
Love, Wynton.

“The world already knows Wynton as a virtuoso,” said Rhodes. “Less well known is his passion for education, for bringing together young and old, and for American culture in general: a passion he’s developed traveling across the country and the world over the course of his storied career.”

Few people have made as wide or deep a mark on contemporary culture as Wynton Marsalis. Celebrated for his contributions as a performer, composer, bandleader and educator, Marsalis has won nine Grammy Awards, and is the only artist in history to have received Grammy’s for five consecutive years and the only artist to have received a Grammy for both jazz and classical music in the same year (1983).

Marsalis has been Artistic Director of Jazz at Lincoln Center since 1987. Under his direction, the organization offers a full array of education, performance, and broadcast productions, including national and international touring by the Jazz at Lincoln Center Orchestra and others.

As a performer, he has toured 30 countries around the world and made more than 70 recordings—including three Gold Records. These recordings feature his trademark swinging style and inclusive approach to jazz. A passionate admirer of classical music, Marsalis has also recorded a number of classical works as a trumpet soloist and has performed with a variety of orchestras, including the New York Philharmonic, Los Angeles Philharmonic, Boston Pops, Toronto Symphony Orchestra and London’s Royal Philharmonic.

He has given generously of his time and talent to students of all ages, conducting master classes, music lessons for countless individuals, and lectures at a wide variety of institutions. He also wrote and hosted an educational series, “Marsalis on Music,” which debuted on PBS in 1995. That same year, National Public Radio began airing his 26-week radio program, “Making the Music.” For these two outstanding expositions of jazz music, Marsalis won a George Foster Peabody Award. In addition, he has authored or co-authored a number of books, including Sweet Swing Blues on the Road (1994), Jazz in the Bittersweet Blues of Life (2001), To a Young Musician: Letters from the Road (2004), Jazz ABZ: An A to Z Collection of Jazz Portraits (2005), and most recently, Moving to Higher Ground: How Jazz Can Change Your Life (2008). In the spring of 2010 Marsalis launched a multi-year lecture series at Harvard University to convey the importance of cultural literacy to America’s future leaders and to illuminate the relationship between American music and the American identity.

Marsalis began performing at the age of eight. At 14, he performed with the New Orleans Philharmonic, and during his high school years he was performing with the orchestras and jazz bands around his New Orleans. At the age of 17, he was the youngest musician ever admitted to Tanglewood’s Berkshire Music Center, where he received the Harvey Shapiro Award for outstanding brass student. The following year, he moved to New York City to attend the Juilliard School, and soon afterwards began performing at venues around the city. In 1980, he joined Art Blakey’s Jazz Messengers, and in 1981 he formed his own band, spending the next 15 years on the road, performing more than 120 concerts a year and working with jazz legends such as Dizzy Gillespie, Clark Terry, Sweets Edison, Sarah Vaughn, Herbie Hancock and Sonny Rollins.

Marsalis’ extraordinary contribution to the arts and education has earned him more than 25 honorary degrees from some of America’s most prestigious universities and colleges including Harvard, Princeton, Columbia, Howard and Yale. Other distinctions include The National Medal of Arts; The New York Urban League’s Frederick Douglass Medallion for distinguished leadership; the American Arts Council’s Arts Education Award. He has received accolades from the Netherlands, France, Spain, and Great Britain, and in 2001, United Nations Secretary-General Kofi Annan appointed him a UN Messenger of Peace.
Marsalis continues to tour the globe as a performer, conductor, and lecturer.

Press contact:  Sonya McNair  mcnairs@cbsnews.com  T: 212.9752888

And then there was this wish….

“Starting around Thanksgiving, visitors to the Time Warner Center were subjected to recorded music blasted at the exterior, as well as on the first floor. According to a spokesman for the developer, the Related Cos., the music was commissioned to go with the light show inside the atrium…..But the music was too loud, too electronic, too slow. Far from jolly, it sounded like a dirge composed on a shoddy keyboard. It made me not want to go to the Time Warner Center….In a city that is already painfully noisy, this is another assault on the senses. The Time Warner Center is certainly not alone in this nuisance, but the property also happens to be the home of Jazz at Lincoln Center, which collaborates regularly with Related. If we’re going to be forced to listen to holiday music, please—at the very least—why can’t it swing?”

Lo and behold, the collaboration I wished for has happened. Gone is the atonal, anti-Christmas soundscape of yore. It has been replaced with jazz renditions of holiday classics recorded by Wynton Marsalis and members of the Jazz at Lincoln Center Orchestra for the full-length album “Christmas Jazz Jam.”

There’s a New Orleans-style version of “O Christmas Tree” and a very Marsalis “Jingle Bells.” The music starts at 5 p.m.—and prior to that time, innocuous background music is played at inoffensive levels. When the jazzy Christmas tunes start, the 14-foot stars dangling from the atrium ceiling flash in time with the music for what’s billed as “Holiday Under the Stars.”

Of course, Culture City would never be so vulgar as to claim sole credit for what is clearly a brilliant—if completely obvious—collaboration. As it happens, the good folks at Related, the developer of the Time Warner Center, had this idea since the building opened in 2005. “I thought it was simple,” said the chairman and CEO of Related, Stephen M. Ross. “You want to create something special that people want to see. It takes time.”

Regardless of why it took six years (and one kvetching column, perhaps?) for this musical partnership to happen, I’m just happy that it did: It turns everyone walking through the Time Warner Center into a jazz listener. And that’s good for the music.

It also coincides with the Jazz at Lincoln Center Orchestra’s new holiday concert, “A New Holiday Revue” to be performed Dec. 15 to 17 with singer Kim Burrell. “People are always asking for more orchestra concerts,” said Mr. Marsalis, JALC artistic director. “We’re doing a Big Band concert with new arrangements.”

On tap are popular songs like “What Child Is This” and Leroy Anderson’s peppy “Sleigh Ride,” a favorite of the trumpet-playing Mr. Marsalis since he was in high school. “The trumpet makes the horse sound, and I always loved that,” he said.

As for contributing jazz to the Time Warner Center’s public spaces, Mr. Marsalis says it’s part of fostering a community feeling. “We want to be a part of it,” he said. “We’re always trying to figure out how to be better neighbors.”

Better living through jazz? That really does call for a toast.

Levine’s Impact
On a less happy note: The opera world heaved a collective groan Friday night when the Metropolitan Opera announced that music director James Levine will not conduct this spring nor in the 2012-13 season. Mr. Levine has been recuperating from three back surgeries and an injury, but he cannot commit to performance dates, even those far in advance.

Though he won’t be at the helm of the orchestra, what’s important to note is that the Levine era is not over. As he said in his statement, he will be fit enough to continue his other duties, such as artistic planning, coaching singers and working with the singers and pianists in the Lindemann Young Artist Development Program, which he founded in 1980.

That he will be able to continue to exert his musical influence is significant. Take it from soprano Deborah Voigt: “Maestro Levine has been one of the most important inspirations for me throughout my career, a collaborator, teacher and confidante,” she said in an email Friday night.

While the best-case scenario would be his full return, a behind-the-scenes return is not the worst case scenario.

- Pia Catton (The Wall Street Journal)

But that’s exactly what Providence St. Mel freshman Jessica Bailey got when Wynton Marsalis visited the West Garfield Park school on Tuesday.

Marsalis spoke to students during a morning assembly, peppering his speech with colorful anecdotes about life and music. “Practice, practice, practice” is what Bailey, an aspiring soprano singer, gleaned from his hour-long speech.

“If you are serious about your craft, if you are serious about your art; if you are serious about whatever you’re doing, you practice,” the 14-year-old said. “It kind of made the phrase ‘Practice makes perfect’ more real to me.”

Surprising advice from the Grammy award winner, who, at first, did not like the trumpet. Marsalis’ first trumpet came when he was six years old as a Christmas gift from a musician who performed with his father, jazz pianist Ellis Marsalis. But the younger Marsalis didn’t take a shine to it right way because he thought trumpet players had “ugly lips” – a turnoff for girls.

“I didn’t see not one trumpet player my whole life whose lips weren’t ugly, and I told my daddy I can’t practice this because they make your lips look ugly,” Marsalis quipped.

His father sternly told him he had no choice but to play the instrument, but his conversion came after he realized girls liked musicians.

“So I said OK. Their lips are ugly, but if the girls like them then I’m going to practice. That’s the truth. I am not lying,” Marsalis said to audience laughs and applause.

Marsalis, 50, has won countless awards during his career, including a Pulitzer Price for Music for Blood on the Fields (1995), an opera about slavery. He admitted his musical chops were not innate, but honed and developed through practice, a task he once considered arduous. And when teachers told him to practice, he thought they really didn’t know how to instruct.

“The teacher that I wanted to study with was going to show me how to get good without practicing,” he said to audience laughter.

But Marsalis soon realized that the more he practiced the better he got. Practicing then became fun.

“Once you’re serious, you’re serious,” he said. “It doesn’t make a difference if you are not doing it to win an award. You are not doing it for somebody to say that you are good. You are doing it just for the love and joy of doing it.”

For that reason Marsalis gave an impromptu demonstration on improvisational jazz, when students asked him how he knew what to play when improvising. Marsalis said improvising is like talking.

“When you’re improvising, you start with an idea and you expand on it just like you’re talking. You can play around with the ideas,” he said.

To illustrate Marsalis tooted the Happy Birthday song on his trumpet, first playing the harmony then speeding up the riffs. Then he slowed it down. Marsalis said the faster pace styling is called Bebop and the slower pace is called New Orleans style jazz.

“It is like when you are playing ball,” Marsalis, an avid basketball player, said. “You know how you take somebody one way and you go back the other way and they’re still over there and you are over here …. That is how it is when you’re playing. There are a lot of ways you can improvise.”

Several St. Mel students who talked with Marsalis described him as very personable. Marsalis often joked with the students during the discussion.

“You felt comfortable around him because of the manner that he carried himself,” said Adam Harris, a 16-year-old junior. “He made it seem like … you were his friend and his was yours.”

Mariah Byrd, 15, was impressed that Marsalis, as accomplished as he is, still wants to learn more. Marsalis talked to students about his wanting to get better on the trumpet and to play with greater clarity.

“By him saying that he wants to do more, learn different cultures and different music, gives me hope that I could be good at what I do…I still learn more,” the freshman said.

Marsalis offered one last piece of advice for the kids-that the world is in their hands.

“The country needs you,” he said. “We are in rough shape, and we need our young people. We need them to look way past us. You have to think up what you want [the world] to be like and you got to make it that way.”

As a member of Weather Report back in the late 1970s, drummer Peter Erskine was working in Los Angeles with Jaco Pastorius on his new album. Lo and behold, there was something going on around the corner. “During the mixing of Word Of Mouth, Jaco decided impulsively one night that we all had to go check out this new trumpet player and his brother [Branford Marsalis] who had just joined Art Blakey’s band,” Erskine recalled. “Jaco and me and my girlfriend plus two or three other folks all piled into a car and drove to some jazz club to hear Wynton. Excited by all that we heard the night before, I told [Joe] Zawinul about the gig that next morning. He told me, ‘Ellis Marsalis and I were very tight, very good friends. We would always hang out together when I would travel to New Orleans with Cannon’s band.’ Joe said, ‘I was the only white musician in an all-black band [with Cannonball Adderley], and Ellis was the only black musician in an all-white band [Al Hirt]. Ellis would always complain about how corny his band was, but how he had to keep doing the gig so he could feed his family. He had a lot of kids. Yeah, I remember Wynton. He was a little kid with glasses.’

“My two favorite things about Wynton,” Erskine continued, “are that, number one, he has a really cool family, and two, he played a huge part in getting the music of Duke Ellington into America’s schools.”

For Graham Haynes, the connection to Marsalis also includes classical music. “When I was at Queens College, I studied to be a jazz and classical trumpet player,” Haynes said. “Around mid-1979 I heard about a guy named Wynton Marsalis who was supposed to be a monster at jazz and classical. I met and heard him around the end of that year and I said to myself, ‘I’ll never be as great as this guy is at both.’ That was the end of my career as a classical trumpet player. I gave up the idea that I could do both. Soon after, we met and talked about several things that we were into, including classical trumpet. What amazed me in addition to his playing was that he sang to me all of the orchestral parts to, I believe, the Haydn Trumpet Concerto.

“Wynton and I didn’t agree on some things, like musical styles. We’ve gone in different directions, but I will always respect his mastery, knowledge and his love and dedication to music.”

Randall Kline, founder and executive artistic director of SFJAZZ, is a fellow music executive who, oddly enough, shares Marsalis’ birthday. Kline says upfront that Wynton’s unstinting support for SFJAZZ is a major reason why the organization is so successful. Like Erskine, his memories of Marsalis go back to the trumpeter’s early days playing with Art Blakey. Apart from his performances with both large and small ensembles at the SFJAZZ Festival, Kline cited another important role Marsalis has played. “I think of Wynton and his connections with young people,” Kline said. “What he’s done to encourage young musicians, he does it naturally. When he’s in San Francisco, there’s always some high school kid backstage who he’s giving a lesson to on the spot. High school all-star bands, middle school programs that exist at SFJAZZ, he’s just off and running with that stuff, teaching and playing with them.”

“My first encounter with Wynton was with him and Branford in New Orleans,” said veteran trumpeter Marcus Belgrave. “It was quite extraordinary because the two of them were able to perform quite well with only a drummer: no chord instrument or bass. I thought this was truly amazing because at the time they were only 14 and 16 years old. They were well-versed in tradition. I raved about them when I returned to Detroit. However, my comments fell on deaf ears with the local DJs until Wynton’s first record won him a Grammy—the rest is history. He has connected us from the 20th to the 21st century with his leadership in the traditions of jazz and the classical American music. His strong opinions and dedication have opened doors for many young people to express themselves and continue the legacy.”

“I’m very appreciative of all the great one-liners Wynton would whisper in my ear while playing on the bandstand with him in 1995–’96,” said bassist Reuben Rogers. “Things like ‘Sound!’ ‘Tone!’ Tempos!’ Makes me crack up just thinking about it. Ultimately, he was pointing out some of the key fundamental things I needed to develop as a young bassist. I can still hear him now.”

“Wynton’s superlative musicianship, leadership skills and unparalleled devotion to promoting the cause of jazz music and African American genius to a general audience needs no comment,” said pianist Aaron Goldberg. “He is prolific and a perfectionist according to his own musical and moral compass, expecting the most of himself and of others—from the musicians in his band all the way up to the federal government. Working with him is a joy and a challenge. Beyond the bandstand, it is an inspirational study in how to work hard, set goals and achieve them. Wynton’s gifts go beyond his uncanny ability to play the trumpet and his unique improvisational voice on his instrument. His greatest talent may be something that is not normally thought of as a talent—the ability to work hard, to apply himself fully, from the smallest details of technique to the largest problems of society. Apparently, without ever needing to sleep.”

Goldberg added, “One particularly underappreciated aspect of Wynton’s character is his psychological acumen, his nuanced ability to read the people around him. Touring with Wynton’s band means also trying to guard his lefty jump shot, hold your own in chess and joust over politics and esthetics, all great pleasures in their own right. I was nevertheless unprepared for one night in his hotel room when in the course of a conversation about Thomas Mann on democracy, Wynton offered insight into my own character that even a professional psychoanalyst would have found startlingly incisive. Wynton applies his formidable intelligence widely, including to the social realm, and he is far more sensitive and generous on a personal level than is commonly known.”

Perhaps speaking for the younger cats who have come up through the ranks and been touched by him over these past couple decades, vibraphonist Stefon Harris effused, “I want to thank you, Wynton, for believing in me and always being a shining example of what is possible when you have a confluence of vision, passion and determination. Your gifts are truly tremendous and plentiful. The most striking among them being your generosity and commitment to America’s greatest cultural contribution to the world. With love, respect and admiration—happy 50th, big brother!”

—John Ephland (Downbeat Magazine)

Share Our Strength

RESTAURANTS:

• Blue Smoke and Jazz Standard – Special: Chicken, Shrimp and Andouille Gumbo (lunch and dinner)
• Dizzy’s Club Coca-Cola – Special: Stuffed Mirlitons
• Manresa – Special: Fieldnotes Cocktail; Ketel One Vodka, Love Apple Sorrel, Lemongrass Infusion, Bitter Truth Celery Bitters and Lime
• Little Daddy’s Gumbo Bar – Special: BBQ Oysters served with blue cheese dressing and lemon
• Gumbo Bar – Special: BBQ Oysters served with blue cheese dressing and lemon
• Bayou Bakery – Special: Red Beans & Rice with Garlic Bread (dinner)

Fans in the New Orleans area invited to enjoy a special dish of Shrimp and Mirleton Risotto with Black Truffles created by John Besh at AUGUST to celebrate Wynton Marsalis and support the John Besh Foundation. Proceeds from the special will support Chefs Move!, an initiative that awards a scholarship to a minority student to train at the French Culinary Institute in New York City.

August
John Besh Foundation

Thank you to Our Partners

Radio Stations

We thank the following radio stations for their support of Wynton Marsalis over the years. Tune in to hear special programming featuring Wynton and his music and for opportunities to win the Swinging Into the 21st box set and 5 free songs.

WBGO
WWOZ
WSHA
KUVO
WPFW
TSF Jazz
Ronnie Scotts/JAZZ FM
Sirius XM

Wynton Marsalis turns 50 on October 18 and Live From Lincoln Center, which has featured Wynton and his music on a number of previous programs, will salute his milestone birthday with a special concert celebration, Wynton at 50. Joining him and the Jazz at Lincoln Center Orchestra on stage will be other luminaries from the world of music and dance, including tap dancer Jared Grimes, vocalist Gregory Porter, pianist Marcus Roberts, violinist Marc O’Connor, Yacub Addy and Odadaa!, and Damien Sneed and Chorale Le Chateau. During intermission, Wynton will be interviewed by actor Wendell Pierce.

Live From Lincoln Center, produced by Lincoln Center’s John Goberman, makes the world’s greatest artists accessible to home viewers in virtually every corner of the United States. It remains the only series of live broadcast performances on American television today. Approximately six major Lincoln Center performances are televised to a national audience of millions each year. In addition to its 13 Emmy Awards and 53 Emmy nominations, Live From Lincoln Center has won two George Foster Peabody Awards, two Grammy Awards, three Monitor Awards, a Television Critics Award and many others.

Live From Lincoln Center is produced by Lincoln Center for the Performing Arts, Inc., in cooperation with Thirteen/WNET in New York. Please visit http://www.lincolncenter.org/ for more information.

Visit Live From Lincoln Center at the PBS Video Portal to view clips, interviews and more from the program.

Marsalis’ second lecture, “The Double Crossing of a Pair of Heels: The Dynamics of Social Dance and American Popular Musics,“ will be accompanied by live performances by acclaimed dance professionals, including Jared Grimes, Nelida Tirado, Eddie Torres Jr., Heather Gehring, and Lou Brockman.

“In this lecture, I will address the dynamic relationship between American music and social dance in our culture,“ Marsalis said. “It will focus on what our dancing and music tells us about our traditions, our sense of community, and our rituals of courtship.“

Marsalis kicked off his lecture series in April before a sold-out house with “Music as Metaphor,“ a two-hour journey through the history of American music that included live musical interludes. Illustrating his gift for combining prose and music with wisdom and humor, Marsalis led the crowd through a narrative that explained the evolution of jazz and the blues, and revealed how American music was vital to the development of the nation’s collective history.

“Wynton Marsalis’ visit to Sanders Theatre last spring was an extraordinary synthesis of performance and spoken word, full of captivating musical moments, but, more than that, wonderfully incisive in exploring music as a metaphor for aspects of contemporary life,“ Harvard President Drew Faust said. “I greatly look forward to welcoming him back.“

Marsalis’ lecture is one of several arts events that will take place throughout the year as Harvard celebrates its 375th anniversary. The Marsalis lecture series highlights the University’s focus on the arts since a 2008 presidential task force called for an increased arts presence.

A native of New Orleans, Marsalis is one of the nation’s most highly decorated cultural figures. In addition to winning nine Grammy awards, he was the first jazz musician to receive the Pulitzer Prize for music. His international accolades include an honorary membership in Britain’s Royal Academy of Music, the highest decoration for a non-British citizen, and the insignia of chevalier of the Legion of Honor, France’s highest distinction. He has more than 70 albums to his credit, which have sold more than 7 million copies. Marsalis is also the first jazz artist to perform and compose across the full spectrum of jazz: from its New Orleans roots to bebop and modern jazz. By creating and performing an expansive range of new music for everything from quartets to big bands, chamber music ensembles to symphony orchestras, and tap dance to ballet, Marsalis has expanded the vocabulary of jazz and created a vital body of work that places him among the world’s finest musicians and composers. Harvard awarded him an honorary doctorate in music in 2009.

Tickets for Marsalis’ lecture at Sanders will be free. They will become available for the Harvard community on Sept. 6 and for the public on Sept. 8. Information on obtaining tickets can be found at http://ofa.fas.harvard.edu/boxoffice/

Featuring unique elements including behind-the-scenes rehearsal footage and special performances, Wynton Marsalis and Eric Clapton Play the Blues on Wednesday, September 7th at 7:30PM (local time) in select movie theaters nationwide is an event you won’t want to miss!
Learn more here: http://www.fathomevents.com/concerts/event/marsalis_clapton.aspx

Available September 13 On CD And CD/DVD

New York City’s premier jazz venue got the blues last April when Wynton Marsalis and Eric Clapton performed together in Rose Theater at Frederick P. Rose Hall, home of Jazz at Lincoln Center for two sold-out shows dedicated to vintage blues. The extraordinary collaboration, billed as Wynton Marsalis & Eric Clapton Play the Blues, paired these musical virtuosos with members of the Jazz at Lincoln Center Orchestra as they brought to life a repertoire of songs selected by Clapton and arranged by Marsalis.

Reprise Records captures the magic of these unprecedented shows from earlier this year on CD and as a CD/DVD combo that both feature selections taken from the two public concerts (April 8-9), as well a special performance for Jazz at Lincoln Center’s annual gala (April 7).
Wynton Marsalis & Eric Clapton PLAY THE BLUES – LIVE FROM JAZZ AT LINCOLN CENTER will be available September 13 at physical and digital retail outlets for suggested list prices of $18.98 (CD), $24.98 (CD/DVD) and $9.99 (digital ““ audio only).
The DVD will also feature a bonus performance of the classic “Stagger Lee“ from legendary bluesman Taj Mahal’s opening solo set for these special shows.

Marsalis, Artistic Director of Jazz at Lincoln Center and nine-time Grammy® Award winner, writes about his collaboration with Clapton, a 19-time Grammy recipient, in the album’s liner notes: “…we wanted these concerts to sound like people playing music they know and love, not like a project.“

To help them achieve that level of devotion, Marsalis and Clapton were joined on stage by Dan Nimmer (piano), Carlos Henriquez (bass), Ali Jackson (drums), Marcus Printup (trumpet), Victor Goines (clarinet), Chris Crenshaw (trombone, vocals), Don Vappie (banjo) and Clapton’s longtime keyboarist/sideman Chris Stainton. Marsalis says the group combined the sound of an early blues jump-band with the sound of New Orleans jazz to accommodate the integration of guitar/trumpet lead, a combination that gave the musicians the latitude to play different grooves, from the Delta to the Caribbean and beyond.

The band nimbly navigated a diverse set list that touched on different styles, from the four-on-the-floor swing of Louis Armstrong’s “Ice Cream“ and the southern slow-drag of W.C. Handy’s “Joe Turner’s Blues“ to the traveling blues of “Joliet Bound“ and the boogie-woogie jump of “Kidman Blues.“ After opening the shows with his solo set, Mahal returned to join the band on “Corrine, Corrina“ and the New Orleans funeral standard “Just A Closer Walk With Thee.“

The one song not selected by Clapton for the show was his own “Layla,“ which was requested by bassist Henriquez and arranged as a Crescent City dirge to tremendous results. On his review of the performance, David Fricke of Rolling Stone wrote: “In the [song’s] instrumental break, Clapton hit a series of stabbing licks lightly crusted with distortion, followed by Marsalis’ slow parade of clean hurting peals ““ a moving dialogue in lovesickness and blues routes.“

For more information about Wynton Marsalis & Eric Clapton PLAY THE BLUES – LIVE FROM JAZZ AT LINCOLN CENTER, please contact Jason Elzy in Rhino Entertainment’s Media Relations Department at (818) 238-6220 or jason.elzy@rhino.com or Kristen Foster at (212) 582-1111 or Kristen.Foster@pmkbnc.com

Wynton Marsalis & Eric Clapton PLAY THE BLUES ““ LIVE FROM JAZZ AT LINCOLN CENTER
CD and DVD Track Listing

- Ice Cream – Forty-Four
- Joe Turner’s Blues – The Last Time – Careless Love – Kidman Blues – Layla – Joliet Bound – Just A Closer Walk With Thee ““ feat. Taj Mahal – Corrine, Corrina ““ feat. Taj Majal

Bonus track on DVD only: “Stagger Lee“ by Taj Majal

Free download of the Jazz at Lincoln Center Orchestra with Wynton Marsalis performing Wynton’s composition “Sanctified Blues” from Congo Square during their Cuban tour, a sneak preview from the JLCO’s upcoming CD “Five Nights In Havana”, coming out in 2012.

60 Minutes – Wynton Marsalis with JLCO in Cuba (Part I)

The Jazz at Lincoln Center Orchestra (JLCO) is featured throughout both segments. In 1988 Wynton formed the JLCO by combining the members of his Septet with former members of the Duke Ellington Orchestra . Learn more about the current JLCO.

00:46 The JLCO is performing “Things to Come”, composed by Dizzy Gillespie arranged by Gil Fuller

02:46 Wynton is standing in Rose Hall at Jazz at Lincoln Center, Learn more about “The House of Swing“ – The Emmy winning “Spirit of New Orleans” was filmed with Wynton in this hall. Watch the video

03:26 Wynton Marsalis Quintet is rehearsing the “Razor Rim” in London. “Razor Rim” is from the album “He and She“

03:40 Ed Bradley Interview – Watch the full 60 minutes profile with Ed Bradley.

04:12 Wynton is playing his composition: Spring Yaounde Watch the full performance from Cuba – Wynton first recorded “Spring Yaounde” on his Septet album Citi Movement

05:10 Jazz at Lincoln Center Orchestra. check out the bios of all members.

06:02 “Louis” a silent film is mentioned. In August 2010, Wynton traveled around the US performing his music for a silent film by Dan Pritzker based on the childhood of Louis Armstrong. Learn more at the official website

06:22 Wynton has logged over 3,000,000 miles on the road in his career. Check out all of the cities he’s performed.

07:12 Eric Clapton. In April 2011 Eric Clapton joined Wynton at Jazz at Lincoln Center for three concerts focused on the blues. This collaboration was recorded and an album is scheduled to be released in the Fall of 2011 Lean more here

07:05 Barbican Residency. In June, 2010 Jazz at Lincoln Center had a performance and education residency at the Barbican. To learn more click here

08:00 The JLCO performs New Orleans Bump – Wynton first recorded Jelly Roll Morton’s piece on his album: Mr. Jelly Lord Standard Time Vol. 6

08:32 The JLCO is performing Benny Carter’s Symphony in Riffs. A few years ago Jazz at Lincoln Center’s Educational program Essentially Ellington provided 1,525 charts of “Symphony in Riffs“ to high schools around the country.

08:58 Duke piece. Duke Centennial at JALC.

09:40 The JLCO is performing Thelonious Monk’s “Round Midnight” arranged by Dizzy Gillespie

10:14 Wynton’s Swing Symphony is featured. Watch the world premiere of “Swing Symphony” with the Berlin Philharmonic through the Berliner Philharmoniker Digital Concert Hall

10:45 Wynton starts a discussion with Morley Safer about US Culture and Education – Watch his 2009 speech “Ballad of American Arts”

11:04 Essentially Ellington is featured. Learn about JALC’s educational initiatives

60 Minutes – Wynton Marsalis with JLCO in Cuba (Part II)

01:37 Second Line video of Congo Square in New Orleans

01:57 The song featured is: 2 3’s Adventure composed by JLCO bassist Carlos Henriquez

03:52 Chucho Valdes is featured. Read more about Chucho Valdes and JALC’s cultural exchange

04:30 Ted Nash is soloing on Shade of Jade by Joe Henderson arr. Carlos Henriquez

05:44 Wynton visits a school. Learn more about Wynton’s Education initiative

08:58 The JLCO is rehearsing Nueva Orleans composed by Chucho Valdes. Chucho wrote this song in honor of the Marsalis family. Check out his latest album

10:12 Wynton is playing “Embraceable You” With Chucho Valdes. – Watch Wynton and Chucho perform “Embraceable You” live in Havana. Wynton recorded “Embraceable You” a few times. Here’s one from “Live at the Village Vanguard”

11:48 “Music transcends, we create community.” Read more about Wynton’s thoughts on the relationship between jazz and everyday life in his book – Moving to Higher Ground, “How Jazz Can Change Your Life”. No prior jazz knowledge needed to read!

12:02 Second Line through Havana: in 2006 after Hurricane Katrina Wynton took the JLCO and Yacub Addy and Odadda! To New Orleans to perform his composition “Congo Square”. Check out this street video from when the band second lined throughout the neighborhoods of New Orleans.

Competition Webcast Available Monday, May 16

1st Place:
Dillard Center for the Arts, Fort Lauderdale, FL

2nd Place:
Roosevelt High School, Seattle, WA

3rd Place:
Mountlake Terrace High School, Seattle, WAHonorable Mention:New World School of the Arts, Miami, FL

Honorable Mention:
New World School of the Arts, Miami, FL

Three high school jazz bands took top honors tonight in Jazz at Lincoln Center’s 16th Annual Essentially Ellington High School Jazz Band Competition & Festival. Each band was chosen by a panel of judges composed of distinguished jazz musiciansand historians- Jazz at Lincoln Center’s Artistic Director WYNTON MARSALIS; composer, conductor, and Ellington authority DAVID BERGER; composer and arranger RICH DEROSA; trombonist, educator, and Jazz at Lincoln Center Orchestra member VINCENT GARDNER, and drummer and big band leader JEFF HAMILTON- from among the 15 finalist bands that came to the Competition & Festival in New York City. Competition performances of all the bands were streamed live and can be seen at jalc.org/essentiallyellington from Monday, May 16th through Saturday, May 21st.

Essentially Ellington culminated at tonight’s concert, where the top placing bands performed with Wynton Marsalis as a soloist followed by a performance by the 15-piece Jazz at Lincoln Center Orchestra with Wynton Marsalis (JLCO) -all of whom served as mentors for each of the finalist bands during this weekend’s festival. The JLCO’s performance included pieces by Duke Ellington plus music composed by Dizzy Gillespie which will be distributed by Jazz at Lincoln Center for the 2011-12 Essentially Ellington High School Jazz Band Program.

At the awards ceremony, Wynton Marsalis presented prizes and cash awards to each of the 15 finalist bands. Christopher Dorsey, Director of the Dillard Center for the Arts Jazz Ensemble, accepted the 1st place trophy and an award of $5,000. Scott Brown, Director of Roosevelt Jazz Bandaccepted the 2nd place trophy and an award of $2,500.Darin Faul, Director of Mountlake Terrace High School Jazz Ensemble I accepted the 3rd place trophy and an award of $1,000. New World School of the Arts Jazz Ensemble was named honorable mention band and received an award of $750. The remaining 11 finalist bands and winning community ensemble were awarded certificates of merit and cash awards of $500. All monetary awards go toward improving schools’ jazz programs. Awards for outstanding soloists and sections were also presented (see listing below).

Jazz at Lincoln Center’s 16th Annual Essentially Ellington High School Jazz Band Competition & Festival 2011 Awards

FIRST PLACE
Dillard Center for the Arts

SECOND PLACE
Roosevelt High School

THIRD PLACE
Mountlake Terrace High School

HONORABLE MENTION BAND
New World School of the Arts

WINNING COMMUNITY ENSEMBLE
American Music Program Pacific Crest Jazz Orchestra

OUTSTANDING SOLOISTS

On Clarinet
Honorable Mention Clarinet:
Matt Choi, Agoura High School

Outstanding Clarinet:
Adam Harris, Hall High School

On Alto Saxophone
Honorable Mention Alto Saxophone:
Kama Bell, American Music Program
Harvey Xia, Wellesley High School
Kristjan Joseph, River East Collegiate
Jorge Roldan, New World School of the Arts
Dara Karbasioon, Agoura High School
Julia Brummel, Sun Prairie High School

Outstanding Alto Saxophone:
Carlos Brown, East St. Louis High School
David Leon, New World School of the Arts
Ian Mengedoht, Roosevelt High School
Carlie Jansen, Agoura High School
Patrick Bartley, Dillard Center for the Arts

On Tenor Saxophone
Outstanding Tenor Saxophone:
Aaron Reihs, American Music Program
Xavier Del Castillo, Roosevelt High School
Adrian Noteboom, Roosevelt High School
Rane Roatta, New World School of the Arts
Forest Jackson, Mountlake Terrace High School
Anthony Burrel, Dillard Center for the Arts

Outstanding Doubler – on Tenor and Clarinet
Matt Kampe, Hall High School
Jared Giunta, Valley High School

Outstanding Tripler – on Tenor, Alto, and Clarinet
Brendan Thomas, Foxboro High School
Jack Walters, Mountlake Terrace High School

On Trumpet
Honorable Mention Trumpet:Frankie Hanson, Sun Prairie High School
Dan Weinreb, Hall High School

Outstanding Trumpet:
Colin Didier, St. Charles North High School
Clark Davis, Wellesley High School
Brady Lewis, East St. Louis High School
Nick Conkle, Roosevelt High School
Taylor Call, Mountlake Terrace High School
Skyler Floe, Mountlake Terrace High School
Max Boiko, Dillard Center for the Arts
Noah Conrad, American Music Program
Austin Casey, American Music Program
Benjamin Seacrest, American Music Program

On Trombone
Honorable Mention Trombone:
Reid Isaak, River East Collegiate
Kirby Fellis, Dillard Center for the Arts

Outstanding Trombone:
Alex Stenzel, Valley High School
Andrew Karboski, Roosevelt High School
Ashton Summers, American Music Program
Ian Garner, American Music Program
Paul Atwood, Temple High School
Thomas Dover, New World School of the Arts
Kendall Irby, Mountlake Terrace High School
Christopher Dorsey II, Dillard Center for the Arts
Brandon Russel, Agoura High School

On French Horn
Outstanding French Horn:
Stewart Nadurak, River East Collegiate

On Piano
Honorable Mention Piano:
Terrion Peete, East St. Louis High School
Sarah Nunes, Hall High School
Ian Williams, Downers Grove High School
Daryl Jones, Dillard Center for the Arts
Ajay Narayanan, Temple High School

Outstanding Piano:
Jon Nelson, Sun Prairie High School
Paul Buser, Wellesley High School
Kenneth Tham, River East Collegiate
Chris McCarthy, Roosevelt High School
Alex Olsen, Foxboro High School

On Bass
Honorable Mention Bass:
Cole Ridd, River East Collegiate
Andrada Pteanc, Downers Grove High School
Julia Woods, Downers Grove High School
Connor Schulz, Foxboro High School

Outstanding Bass:
Russell Hall, Dillard Center for the Arts

On Drums
Outstanding Drums:
Nick Kula, River East Collegiate

On Vibraphone
Outstanding Vibraphone:
Matt Dibiase, Wellesley High School

On Vocals
Honorable Mention Vocalist:
Eric Reiman, Roosevelt High School

Outstanding Vocalist:
Katherine Stuber, Roosevelt High School

On Guitar
Outstanding Guitar:
Harley Basadre, New World School of the Arts
Kevin Scollins, Foxboro High School

Outstanding Rhythm Guitar:
Armando Zamora, Dillard Center for the Arts

The Ella Fitzgerald Outstanding Soloist Award:
Tony Madruga, New World School of the Arts

OUTSTANDING SECTIONS

Reeds
Honorable Mention Reeds:
Agoura High School

Outstanding Reeds:
Roosevelt High School
Foxboro High School
Dillard Center for the Arts

Brass
Outstanding Brass:
Hall High School

Trombones
Outstanding Trombones:
American Music Program
Wellesley High School
Temple High School
Valley High School
Roosevelt High School
Mountlake Terrace High School

Trumpets
Outstanding Trumpets:
Sun Prairie High School
American Music Program
Roosevelt High School
Rhythm Section
Honorable Mention

Rhythm Section:
River East Collegiate

Outstanding Rhythm Section:
Roosevelt High School
Foxboro High School
New World School of the Arts
Dillard Center for the Arts
Mountlake Terrace High School
Roosevelt High School (two complete sections)

In addition, Jazz at Lincoln Center recognized the winner of the tenth Essentially Ellington Writing Contest. The contest invited students from all participating high schools to submit a nonfiction personal essay or fictional short story based on interpretations of the stories jazz musicians tell with their music. Jazz at Lincoln Center received over 60 submissions from which Jazz at Lincoln Center staff and Robert G. O’Meally, Ph.D., Founding Director of the Center for Jazz Studies and Zora Neale Hurston Professor for English and Comparative Literature at Columbia University, chose the winners. As a member of Foxboro High School’s band, Brendan Thomas was in attendance at the Competition & Festival. His outstanding work was recognized at the Final Concert and Awards Ceremony. In addition, Thomas’ winning essay, was printed in the Festival playbill and a seat in Rose Theater will be engraved in his honor.

For more information on the annual Essentially Ellington Student Writing Contest and to read the winning essay visit: jalc.org/essentiallyellington

After a three-day Competition & Festival, May 12, 13, & 14, 2011 at Frederick P. Rose Hall, home of Jazz at Lincoln Center, honors were announced during the Final Concert & Awards Ceremony that took place May 14 at Avery Fisher Hall.
How: A photo gallery of the entire Essentially Ellington Competition & Festival and recordings of the competition performances will be available in upcoming weeks on jalc.org/essentiallyellington.

Background/Statistics:
2011 COMPETITION & FESTIVAL WEEKEND

The three-day festival began on Thursday, May 12 when the finalist bands arrived at Frederick P. Rose Hall for a “One-On-One With Wynton Marsalis,” workshops, rehearsals, a banquet dinner, and jam sessions with members of the JLCO. On Friday, May 13, the winning community ensemble performed at 2:30pm followed by the first of three Competition parts, which were webcast live for the first time in the history of the program. The Competition, where each band’s performance of three Ellington and/or Basie works was judged by a panel of judges, continued on Saturday, May 14 at 10am and 1pm. At the May 14th, 7:30pm Concert and Awards Ceremony in Avery Fisher Hall, the three top-placing bands each performed pieces, one with Wynton Marsalis as a guest soloist, followed by a JLCO performance of Duke Ellington and Dizzy Gillespie repertoire.

The concert ended with the culminating awards ceremony honoring outstanding soloists and sections and the three top-placing bands. In addition to repertoire by Ellington, the 2011-12 Essentially Ellington season is the first time in the history of the program that repertoire composed by Dizzy Gillespie will be included in the program. Repertoire includes, Duke Ellington’s “Riding On a Blue Note,” “Sepia Panorama,” and from The Queen’s Suite, “Sunset and The Mocking Bird,” and Dizzy Gillespie’s, “Night in Tunisia,” “Oop Bop Sh’Bam,” and “Things To Come.”

PROGRAM OVERVIEW
Each year, Jazz at Lincoln Center selects and transcribes original transcriptions of Duke Ellington compositions and arrangements by other seminal big band arrangers and composers. The six selections for 2010-11 included music composed for the Count Basie Orchestra, “Every Day I Have the Blues,” “Swingin’ The Blues,” and “Tippin’ on the Q.T.” and by Duke Ellington, “Harlem Speaks,” “Portrait of Mahalia Jackson” from the New Orleans Suite plus “Prelude to a Kiss” composed by Ellington and arranged by Billy Strayhorn.

The music along with reference recordings and other resources were distributed to all high school jazz bands that joined the free program.

Throughout April, Jazz at Lincoln Center sent, free of charge, a professional musician to each of the 15 finalist schools and community ensemble winner to lead an intensive workshop of rehearsals, lessons, and master classes.

The free clinics are part of the rich 16-year history of this unique music education program, which has reached more than 300,000 students in more than 3,000 high schools across all 50 U.S. states, Canada, Australia and American schools abroad. EE has produced and distributed more than 96,000 copies of 92 previously unavailable scores and 222 finalist bands have traveled to New York City to participate in the annual Competition & Festival.

• This year Jazz at Lincoln Center distributed more than 9,200 newly transcribed scores, reference recordings and additional educational materials.
• 1,536 high schoolsin the United States, Canada, and American schools in Argentina, Australia, Bolivia, Brazil, France, Germany, Japan, Luxembourg, and Switzerland received Essentially Ellington materials.
• 110 bands enteredthe competition by submitting a recorded performance of three compositions.
• The entrieswere evaluated in a blind screening by jazz education experts RONALD CARTER, ANDREW HOMZY, LOREN SCHOENBERG, and TODD WILLIAMS.
• 15 finalists and one community ensemble were selected.
• The Competition was webcast live for the first time. All sixteen performances can be viewed from Monday, May 16th until Saturday, May 21st at jalc.org/essentiallyellington

The 15 finalists for Essentially Ellington 2011 were:

Agoura High School, Agoura Hills, CA
William H. Hall High School, West Hartford, CT
Dillard Center for the Arts, Fort Lauderdale, FL
New World School of the Arts, Miami, FL
Valley High School, West Des Moines, IA
Downers Grove South High School, Downers Grove, IL
East St. Louis High School, East St. Louis, IL
St. Charles North High School, St. Charles, IL
Foxboro High School, Foxboro, MA
Wellesley High School, Wellesley, MARiver East Collegiate, Winnipeg, MB
Temple High School, Temple, TX
Mountlake Terrace High School, Mountlake Terrace, WA
Roosevelt High School, Seattle, WA
Sun Prairie High School, Sun Prairie, WI
Winner of Community Band Category:
American Music Program Pacific Crest Jazz Orchestra, Portland, OR

Included in the winners was Wynton Marsalis’ “The Spirit of New Orleans“ for Super Bowl XLIV

Outstanding SHORT FEATURE

NFL on CBS “‘ Super Bowl XLIV – CBS
Wynton Marsalis “‘ ’43 Years’

Executive Producers
Harold Bryant, Sean McManus

Coordinating Producer
Stephen Karasik

Senior Producer
Eric Mann

Producers
Wynton Marsalis, Sarah Rinaldi

Associate Producers
Justin Martin, Fred McGraw, Jason Thompson

The full score, written in concert pitch, is also available independent of the parts for students of arranging

Pulitzer-prize winning jazzman Wynton Marsalis considers himself both student and teacher of music, which is why it comes as no surprise that his newest undertaking is a two-year lecture series at Harvard University.

Beginning on April 28, Marsalis will lecture and perform a class entitled “Music as Metaphor.“ The nine-time Grammy award winner currently serves as the artistic director for Jazz at Lincoln Center, a role he will keep throughout the lecture series. Speakeasy talked with Marsalis about the coming series, his love of last-minute pressures and the concept of improvisation.

Is every lecture in the series already planned?

It’s all planned. I haven’t written them but know what they are going to be. I generally work right up to when I have to do something ““ I’m always doing a lot. My schedule is always tight. But I like to have the pressure of having to finish doing something; it gives me an added edge. It’s like the difference between a studio recording and a live recording ““ there’s more pressure ““ more excitement and edge, which is very seldom, if ever, created in a studio environment.

How far along are you on your first lecture, which is ten days away?

I’ve got what music I’m going to play and all materials and all basic ideas. I write little parts of it as I go along. At this point I’m working on it all day. Generally when I wake up in the morning I set out a series of problems for myself and I write them down and when I’m sleeping my mind solves the problems. When I wake up in the morning I have more clarity on the issue.

The premise of your lecture is the relationship between American music and the American identity and geography. What does that entail?

The fundamentals of American music. I feel that for years of teaching in the country and reading criticism in books, I feel like the things most needed in our culture are the understanding of the meanings of our music. We haven’t done that good of job teaching our kids what our music means or how we developed our taste in music that reminds us and teaches us who we are. Most of my lectures will be on meaning in American music. What does it mean? What are the component parts of it and how does it tie in to our way of life?

Are you nervous?

It’s much harder to play a trumpet that to talk. An instrument poses a difficultly. Whatever that barrier is ““ it doesn’t exist with speaking. With an instrument you have to concentrate on execution on and through your instrument. But I talk all the time, the voice is what it is.

Will the students have to attend each lecture to understand the message or will each class stand on its own?

Each will stand on its own but they will all be together like a train. As a matter of fact that’s part of what I’m talking about. The chorus format form which is we use when we improvise. It’s called a chorus format. You play one chorus after another chorus after another chorus and the choruses allow you to play a variation upon the harmonic form. In that way it’s like a train. It could be two cars, could be engine and a caboose it can also be an engine, 25 cars and a caboose. Those 25 cars are their own cars, some are short some are long, some are tubular, some carry grain ““ and you can look at the different cars ““ each has a different function.

Earlier this month you played the blues with Eric Clapton. Now you are planning a series of lectures for Harvard. How do you juggle so many projects?

I don’t do projects; it’s all one thing to me. Things that Eric Clapton and I talk about are the same things talking about in these lectures. Blues, regional grooves, function rhythm guitar; it’s talking about things in our craft and dealing with our music and playing.

source: http://blogs.wsj.com/speakeasy/2011/04/18/wynton-marsalis-goes-to-harvard/

One of the world’s premier jazz celebrations located in the historic Basque region of northern Spain, the Vitoria-Gasteiz Jazz Festival is celebrating its 35th year…and we want to give you and a guest the chance to be there in person to see an incredible lineup of legendary musicians. Performers scheduled to appear at this year’s Festival include Herbie Hancock, Wayne Shorter & Marcus Miller; Jamie Cullum, Trombone Shorty, Ruben Blades, Nigel Kennedy and many more.

Inspired in part by the inter-cultural collaborations at the Vitoria-Gasteiz Jazz Festival, Wynton Marsalis, the Artistic Director of Jazz at Lincoln Center, recently composed the Vitoria Suite. This extended work uses the impulse of the blues as a foundation to jointly explore the music of two worlds and two cultures: the jazz and blues of North America and the indigenous music of the Basque region and flamenco of Spain. Performed by the Jazz at Lincoln Center Orchestra with Wynton Marsalis and special guests Chano Dominguez and legendary flamenco guitarist Paco de Lucia, Vitoria Suite was released on CD last year to wide acclaim and was recently performed in concert by Wynton and the JLCO. SiriusXM’s Real Jazz channel will present an encore broadcast of this memorable performance during its special Jazz Appreciation Month programming in April.

One lucky winner will receive round-trip airfare for two to Vitoria, Spain, ground transportation to and from the airport, hotel accommodations for seven nights (including breakfast), two VIP passes for the 2011 Vitoria-Gasteiz Jazz Festival, and a copy of the Vitoria Suite CD (two-disc set plus bonus “Making Of“ DVD) signed by Wynton Marsalis.

*Winner must be a US citizen at least 21 years of age and able to travel to Spain July 10-17, 2011.

Photo Credit: Frank Stewart

No Purchase Necessary To Enter or Win. A purchase will not increase your chances of winning.

Void where prohibited. U.S. Law Governs. Open only to legal residents of the contiguous United States, and the District of Columbia, 21 and older at time of entry.

ENTER online only from NOON EST 4/5/11 to 5PM EST 4/29/11. See Official Rules.

This was not the first time both musicians have performed the blues together. “It was the blues that brought us together because we had played a blues benefit (the Jazz at Lincoln Center gala at the Apollo Theatre) with Ray Charles and B.B. King. We both came up in the tradition, but we embraced the blues from different vantage points,“ said Marsalis. Marsalis also played on Clapton’s 2010 album, Clapton, a record largely devoted to vintage jazz and blues covers.

In his introductory remarks at the first show, Marsalis spoke of Clapton’s vast knowledge of music. Clapton, in turn, sang and soloed like a team player. In the opening number, “Ice Cream,” Clapton locked into a rapid-fire strum with banjo player Don Vappie. Clapton complemented Victor Goines’ crying-clarinet break in W.C. Handy’s slow march “Joe Turner’s Blues” with a chorus of deep long-sob notes. And in a version of Bessie Smith’s 1925 recording “Careless Love,” Clapton coursed through the brass and rhythm tumult with curt phrases in a dirty country-blues tone.

Marsalis told the audience that the show was a celebration of “the international power of the blues.” For Clapton, it was more like homecoming. At one point in the evening, he paused to reminisce: “I used to say to all the bluesmen I met, ‘I’m just doing this until I get a gig with a jazz band.’”

Sharing the stage with Marsalis and Clapton were: Marcus Printup (trumpet), Chris Crenshaw (trombone), Victor Goines (clarinet), Dan Nimmer (piano), Chris Stainton (keyboards), Carlos Henriquez (bass), Ali Jackson (drums) and Don Vappie (banjo). Taj Mahal was the special guest.

The gala performance on Thursday evening raised $3.6 million dollars for Jazz at Lincoln Center’s performance, education and broadcast events. The Thursday and Friday concerts were filmed for DVD.

Set List – Saturday, April 9th

Ice Cream (Howard Johnson / Robert King / Billy Moll)
Forty-Four (Chester Burnett)
Joe Turner’s Blues (W.C. Handy)
The Last Time (Bill Ewing / Sara Martin)
Careless Love (W.C. Handy / Martha E. Koenig / Spencer Williams)
Kidman Blues (Big Maceo Merriweather)
Layla (Eric Clapton / Jim Gordon)
Joliet Bound (Kansas Joe McCoy / Memphis Minnie McCoy)
Just A Closer Walk With Thee (Traditional)
Corrine Corrina (Bo Chatman / Mitchell Parish / J. Mayo Williams) – encore
All arrangements by Wynton Marsalis

Reviews
New York Times
EW
Chicago Tribune
Washington Post
Huffington Post
RollingStone

Harvard University announced today that Wynton Marsalis will launch a two-year performance and lecture series on April 28, with an appearance at Sanders Theater. Currently the Artistic Director of Jazz at Lincoln Center, Marsalis is an accomplished musician, composer, bandleader and educator who has made the promotion of jazz and cultural literacy his hallmark causes.

“Wynton Marsalis is both an internationally acclaimed musician and a leader in educating people about the importance of arts and culture,“ Harvard President Drew Faust said. “We are fortunate to have an artist and performer of his caliber on campus to enhance the University’s vibrant arts scene and engage our students, staff and faculty.“

Throughout the ages, artists have been truth tellers for civilization; they speak about the essence of their society in ways that others cannot or will not. Marsalis will visit campus several times, for two to three days at a time, over the next two years, lecturing on a variety of topics to illuminate the relationship between American music and the American identity. His talks will be punctuated with performances by dancers, Marsalis’ quintet and other ensembles, including a New Orleans parade band and the Jazz at Lincoln Center Orchestra.

His lecture performance on April 28 is entitled Music as Metaphor and will feature Ali Jackson (drums), Dan Nimmer (piano), Walter Blanding Jr. (tenor sax), Carlos Henriquez (bass), James Chirillo (guitar and banjo) and Mark O’Connor (violin). The following day, Marsalis will teach a master class to high school musicians at Cambridge Rindge and Latin High School.

Marsalis’ appointment is the latest example of the University’s closer embrace of the arts since a presidential task force called in 2008 for a concerted effort to increase the presence of the arts on campus.

“I am delighted that Harvard has recognized the need to make cultural literacy an integral part of its curriculum,“ Marsalis said. “I hope that other institutions will follow suit to foster a deeper appreciation among all Americans for the democratic victory of our cultural legacy.“

Since 2008, there has been a renewed focus on bringing prominent artists to campus who can engage students and the wider community in the kind of imaginative and innovative thinking that is central to the cognitive life of the University. For example, renowned large-scale artist Krzysztof Wodiczko now teaches at the Harvard Design School, while this semester Tony-nominated director Diane Paulus, Artistic Director for the Harvard University American Repertory Theater, is teaching “Porgy and Bess: Performance in Context“ at Harvard College. Last year, Harvard announced that the Silk Road Project, founded by renowned cellist Yo-Yo Ma, would move its headquarters to Harvard. And this fall, renowned choreographer Liz Lerman, MacArthur grant recipient and founder of the Liz Lerman Dance Exchange, will be a Visiting Lecturer in residence at Harvard.

A native of New Orleans, Marsalis is one of America’s most highly decorated cultural figures. In addition to nine Grammy awards, he was the first jazz musician awarded the Pulitzer Prize for Music. His numerous international accolades include: an Honorary Membership in Britain’s Royal Academy of Music, the highest decoration for a non-British citizen, and the insignia Chevalier of the Legion of Honor, France’s highest distinction. He has more than 70 albums to his credit, which have sold more than 7 million copies worldwide. Wynton Marsalis is also the world’s first jazz artist to perform and compose across the full spectrum of jazz: from its New Orleans roots to bebop and modern jazz. By creating and performing an expansive range of brilliant new music for quartets to big bands, chamber music ensembles to symphony orchestras, and tap dance to ballet, Marsalis has expanded the vocabulary of jazz and created a vital body of work that places him among the world’s finest musicians and composers. Harvard awarded him an honorary doctorate in music in 2009.

Tickets for Marsalis’ lecture performance at Sanders Theater will be free of charge, and will become available for the Harvard community on Tuesday, April 12, and to the general public on Thursday, April 14.
Information on obtaining tickets can be found at http://ofa.fas.harvard.edu/boxoffice/

On Monday, April 4, get first crack at the best seats by using promo code WYNTON to purchase tickets before they go on sale to the general public.
Tickets go on sale to the general public on Tuesday, April 5.
USE PROMO CODE: WYNTON
Pre-sale starts Monday, April 4 at 10:00am & ends Tuesday, April 5 at 9:00am.

“EARLY BIRD” DISCOUNTS FOR FORT ADAMS STATE PARK
$10 off general admission tickets by buying on-line with promo code WYNTON by Friday, April 9
Single-Day Tickets: $59* for either August 6 or 7 (regularly $69)
Two-Day Packages: $118* for August 6 & 7 (regularly $125) *Service charges apply.

USE PROMO CODE: WYNTON
Offer expires on Friday, April 15!

CLICK HERE TO PURCHASE TICKETS AND USE PROMO CODE: WYNTON

The first piece from the Wynton Marsalis Big Band collection is now available for purchase and instant download.

The Caboose is the final song from the larger work called Big Train. It’s a traditional big band instrumentation of 2 Alto Sax, 2 Tenor Sax, 1 Baritone Sax, 4 Trumpets, 3 Trombones, Piano, Bass and Drums. A 3/4 groove plays throughout the piece, while melodically the piece alternates from a variety of train sounds to rich sax solis. This is the music exactly as it is recorded on the CD. The full score, written in concert pitch, is also available independent of the parts for students of arranging.

We’ll be adding more big band pieces for sale in the near future. Check back frequently for new titles.

On Wednesday, March 23rd the Quintet will perform at EN Japanese Brasserie‘s fundraiser in support of the Japanese Society’s Earthquake Relief Fund & the Japanese Red Cross in New York City.

Please join us, 100% of the proceeds will be donated. For tickets please call 212.647.9196

New York City Deputy Police Commissioner John A. Leach, right, watching agents pour liquor into sewer following a raid, ca. 1921. Credit: Library of Congress, Prints & Photographs Division.

Prohibition & The Jazz Age
Ken Burns Introduces Excerpts From His Latest Film “Prohibition”
With Special Live Performance By The Jazz At Lincoln Center Orchestra With Wynton Marsalis And Guests Vince Giordano And Doug Wamble.
May 5, 6, 7

Wynton Marsalis and Ken Burns continue their long time artistic collaboration on “Prohibition,” a three-part documentary directed by Ken Burns and Lynn Novick. “Prohibition” tells the story of the rise, rule, and fall of the Eighteenth Amendment to the U.S. Constitution. The upcoming film series features original compositions and arrangements by Marsalis and others.

At this special Jazz at Lincoln Center concert event, Ken Burns will present video excerpts from “Prohibition” accompanied by the Jazz at Lincoln Center Orchestra with Wynton Marsalis and guests Vince Giordano and Doug Wamble performing music from the film and from the Prohibition era (also known as the “Jazz Age”). Through this multimedia experience, the audience will be transported to a time when America learned to swing to the sounds of Duke Ellington, Bix Beiderbecke, and Jelly Roll Morton – in the culture created by prohibition.

Burns’s and Marsalis’s collaborative efforts span over a decade. Marsalis was Senior Creative Consultant on Burns’ film “JAZZ” (2000) and Soundtrack Composer and Performer on “Unforgivable Blackness” (2005) and on “War,” (2007) directed by Burns and Novick.

The “Prohibition & The Jazz Age” concert is part of Jazz at Lincoln Center’s Jazz Age Celebration events. For more information, go to jalc.org.

“Prohibition” will air on PBS in Fall, 2011.

When: May 5-7, 2011 at 8pm

Where: Rose Theater at Frederick P. Rose Hall, home of Jazz at Lincoln Center, Broadway at 60th Street, New York, New York.

Ticket prices are $10, $30, $50, $75, $95 or $120 dependent upon seating section.

Note: Hot Seats, $10 orchestra seats for each Rose Theater performance (excluding Jazz For Young People concerts), are available for purchase to the general public on the Wednesday of each performance week. Subject to availability. Hot Seats are available only by walk up at the Box Office, maximum of four per person.

All tickets can be purchased through jalc.org or CenterCharge at 212-721-6500, open daily from 9am to 9pm. Tickets can also be purchased at the Jazz at Lincoln Center Box Office, located on Broadway at 60th Street, ground floor. Box Office hours: Monday-Saturday from 10am to 6pm (or 30 minutes past curtain) and Sunday from noon to 6pm (or 30 minutes past curtain).

Jazz at Lincoln Center proudly acknowledges its major corporate partners: Brooks Brothers, Centric, The Coca-Cola Company, Con Edison, Related, Entergy, Bloomberg, SiriusXM.

MasterCard is the preferred card of Jazz at Lincoln Center.

The Berliner Philharmoniker also just released the HD video of our June 2010 performance of “Swing Symphony.” It features a dance choreographed by Rhys Martin which was performed live by hundreds of Berlin school children. You can check it out for free in their digital concert hall.

Jazz at Lincoln Center and Artistic Director Wynton Marsalis announce the programming for the 2011-12 season – the organization’s 25th season and eighth in its home, Frederick P. Rose Hall. In this new season of concerts, education events, touring, and a diverse line-up of guest artists, Jazz at Lincoln Center celebrates milestones in jazz: the 50th anniversary of Impulse Records, birthdays of living legends Jimmy Heath, Jon Hendricks, Wynton Marsalis; and the music of Cachao, Nat King Cole, Jelly Roll Morton, Astor Piazzolla, and Frank Sinatra.

The 2011-12 season also ushers in the new Blues series in The Allen Room featuring Taj Mahal and guest artists.

“This season we’re looking forward to expanding the circle of feeling and the tradition of warmth, participation and the excitement that has come to define the House of Swing,” said Wynton Marsalis, Artistic Director at Jazz at Lincoln Center.

“It’s an honor to start the season with legendary jazz musicians like Jimmy Heath and Jon Hendricks, as well as Wayne Shorter, Cassandra Wilson, Dianne Reeves, Herbie Hancock and others joining us throughout the year, “ said Adrian Ellis, Executive Director of Jazz at Lincoln Center. “We continue to expand our offerings through the roots of jazz and are thrilled to have Taj Mahal curate a new blues series. As always our mission is to entertain and expand audiences for the art form of jazz – and this season definitely has something for everyone.”

Highlights of the 2011-12 season include:

• OPENING NIGHT: An Evening with Jimmy Heath and Jon Hendricks.
• Jazz at Lincoln Center Orchestra concerts include The Music of Cachao, Stan Kenton Centennial with guests Bill Holman and Lee Konitz, new arrangements of Big Band Hits and new works by JLCO members Chris Crenshaw, Sherman Irby, and Wynton Marsalis.
• New Blues Series in The Allen Room featuring Taj Mahal, Shemekia Copeland, John Hammond, John Mayall.
• Wynton Marsalis at 50 features the Jazz at Lincoln Center Orchestra performing a retrospective of big band music by Marsalis.
• Herbie Hancock, Dianne Reeves, Wayne Shorter Quartet lead concerts in Rose Theater.
• Catherine Russell, Luciana Souza, Nikki Yanofsky lead concerts in The Allen Room.
• Impulse Records at 50 anniversary concert features Eric Reed Ensemble, and Reggie Workman’s AALP performs selections from John Coltrane’s Africa Brass sessions.
• New Orleans Celebration includes Music of Jelly Roll Morton performed by Marcus Roberts and New Orleans Piano Kings featuring Jon Batiste, Henry Butler, Ellis Marsalis.
• Music of Astor Piazzolla performed by Paquito d’Rivera, Anthony Madruga and Pipi Piazzolla. Music of Frank Sinatra & Nat King Cole performed by Monty Alexander. Music of The Tenor Masters featuring Joe Lovano, Benny Golson and Bennie Maupin.
• Jazz Meets Flamenco with Doug Wamble and Nino Josele.
• New Holiday Revue features the Jazz at Lincoln Center Orchestra with Wynton Marsalis and vocalist Kim Burrell performing new arrangements of holiday classics.
• Jazz & Popular Song series, curated by Michael Feinstein, returns to The Allen Room.
• Season guest performers include Toshiko Akiyoshi, Monty Alexander, Pablo Aslan, Nailor “Proveta” Azevedo, Jon Batiste, Brian Blade, Kim Burrell, Henry Butler, Shemekia Copeland, Stanley Cowell, Paquito D’Rivera, James De Frances, Michael Feinstein, Vince Giordano’s Nighthawks, Benny Golson, John Hammond, Herbie Hancock, Allan Harris, Bill Holman, Nino Josele, Lee Konitz, Joe Lovano, Anthony Madruga, Gregoire Maret, Ellis Marsalis, Bennie Maupin, John Mayall, Cecile McLorin Salvant, John Patitucci, Danilo Perez, Pipi Piazzolla, Eric Reed, Dianne Reeves, Marcus Roberts, Catherine Russell, Marvin Sewell, Wayne Shorter Quartet, Luciana Souza, Charles Tolliver, Doug Wamble, Cassandra Wilson, Matt Wilson, Reggie Workman, Nikki Yanofsky.
• Jazz at Lincoln Center Orchestra tours U.S. with Wynton Marsalis at 50 repertoire and works drawing on the history of jazz.
• Jazz For Young People®concerts: What Is Improvisation? hosted by Matt Wilson, What Is New Orleans Jazz? hosted by Alvin Atkinson, Who Is Duke Ellington? hosted by Wynton Marsalis. JFYP concerts include expanded pre-concert activities for families.
• 17th annual Essentially Ellington High School Jazz Band Competition and Festival in May.
• Dizzy’s Club Coca-Cola features guest artists nightly, After Hours sets, discounted student rates, special Monday night programming and new festivals: Generations In Jazz Festival in September, Drums Across The World in January-February, Sing Into Spring Festival in April-May.
• Swing University classes led by Phil Schaap, Ed Berger, Connie Crothers, Bill Easley, Mercedes Ellington, Vincent Gardner, Larry Ridley, Terry Waldo, Ben Young.
• WeBop® classes for 8 month – 5 year olds and a caregiver continue at Frederick P. Rose Hall and at Head Start in Washington Heights in collaboration with Dr. Lori Custodero, Teachers College, Columbia University.
• For the 2011-12 season chronology, click here.

TICKET INFORMATION

Subscriptions
Beginning today, subscriptions will be available for renewal for all Rose Theater and The Allen Room packages (subscription packages offer a 10-15% discount on all single ticket prices). To ensure retention of their same seats, current subscribers may renew today through April 8. New subscriptions may be purchased beginning April 4.

Flex Fridays offers subscribers the flexibility and freedom to choose any Friday evening performance in Rose Theater or any Friday 9:30pm performance inThe Allen Room (Flex Fridays offer a 10% discount on single ticket prices in Rose Theater).

Pick Four package: Subscribers choose four concerts from a select list at a 10% discount. Unlike Flex Fridays, choices are not limited to Friday night performances, and provide the subscriber an option for Thursday and Saturday evening performances as well as the flexibility to customize a package. Go to jalc.org/subs for more information.
To order a subscription beginning April 4 or to request information, please call the Subscription Services hotline at 212-258-9999 or e-mail subscriptions@jalc.org, or visit jalc.org/subs.

The Hang Set is a subscription series for under-40 social urbanites that offers a three-concert package at one great price. Featuring pre-concert parties with cocktails and hors d’oeuvres, discounts to shops and restaurants, backstage events, artist meet-and-greets, and concert tickets, the Hang Set is an excellent opportunity for culturally-savvy young professionals to mingle and hear great music. For more details on how to become a Hang Set member, please visit jalc.org/hangset.

For more information on 11-12 season subscriptions, go to jalc.org/subs.

Membership Discount
Jazz at Lincoln CenterMembers (donors of $50 or more) get 50% off tickets to JALC produced shows in Rose Theater and The Allen Room if the tickets are purchased the day of the show at the JALC Box Office. Members must show their membership card to receive this discount. Limit two tickets for individual donors and four tickets for family members. Subject to availability.

Pricing
Ticket prices for Rose Theater are $10, $30, $50, $75, $95 or $120 dependent upon seating section.
Jazz for Young People® tickets in Rose Theater are $12, $20, $28.

Note: Hot Seats, $10 seats for each Rose Theater performance (excluding Jazz For Young People concerts), are available for purchase to the general public on the Wednesday of each performance week. Subject to availability. Hot Seats are available only by walk up at the Box Office, maximum of four per person.

Ticket prices for The Allen Room are $65 for the 7:30pm sets and $55 for the 9:30pm sets.
Ticket prices for Jazz & Popular Song shows are $75, $95, $120.

*Please note that a $2.00 Jazz at Lincoln Center Facility Fee applies to ALL ticket purchases, with the exception of $10 Hot Seats. A $6 handling fee also applies when purchasing tickets from CenterCharge or from jalc.org.

Swing University classes are $125 -$250.

Essentially Ellington Final Concert tickets in Avery Fisher Hall are $20 and $25.

All single tickets for The Allen Room, Irene Diamond Education Center and Rose Theater can be purchased through jalc.org or CenterCharge at 212-721-6500, open daily from 10am to 9pm. Tickets can also be purchased at the Jazz at Lincoln Center Box Office, located on Broadway at 60th Street, ground floor. Box Office hours: Monday-Saturday from 10am to 6pm (or 30 minutes past curtain) and Sunday from noon to 6pm (or 30 minutes past curtain).

Dizzy’s Club Coca-Cola, one of the three main performance venues located in Jazz at Lincoln Center’s home, Frederick P. Rose Hall, produces world-class jazz performances nig htly and welcomes locals and visitors alike to enjoy the city’s best music, food and libations. The intimate 140-seat jazz club is set against a glittering backdrop with spectacular views of Central Park. There are student rates and special Monday Night Presentations. Tony Bennett calls Dizzy’s Club Coca-Cola “the best jazz room in the city.” Reservations: 212-258-9595 and
Dizzy’s Club Coca-Cola.

Single tickets go on sale August 15.

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The last night of a tour is always bittersweet, but this gig was fun. The blues was on the menu and people were hungry. The tour was, as always, revelatory. New and old friends, all kinds of different stuff happening on the bandstand. We mainly played the Vitoria Suite and our arrangements of Chick Corea’s music.

Whenever I announce Chick’s music, someone yells,“Yeah!” above the general murmur of approval.
I pointed this out to our audience last night and said that I told Chick and that he was happy about that response.

The cats’ dedication is evidenced by the attention to detail they give to each song on every concert. On stage, I say we have an embarrassment of riches. And we do. Everywhere I turn, Ted, Vincent, Carlos, Marcus…….Ryan, Vic. Bam! A lot of ability writing, playing and teaching. A lot of soul and love of the music and experience. Ali.

I consistently receive a plethora of wonderful comments about how generous all the guys are when interfacing with students, audience members, and staff. Generally we speak to student groups after soundchecks and sometimes after gigs. I love when guys who are not scheduled to teach come in and share a few anecdotes with the youngsters.

Of course, everyone is bone tired now. We normally have a group toast in the intermission of the last gig of a tour. We missed it last night. The President of Moorehouse College, Dr. Robert Franklin celebrated his birthday at our concert which was presented by the Atlanta Symphony Orchestra. I love him and the orchestra also for doing their best to play my Blues Symphony (which I still need to do LOTS of work on). Normally we get out right after the gig.

Tonight, there are so many great musicians in Atlanta, I go with my boy Milkshake to Danny and Terry Harper’s jam session at Churchill Grounds and play till 2 in the morning with a room full of swinging trumpeters including their son Terence. It was a late-night affair with great warmth and the feeling of informal profundity that good jazz brings to a space.

John Robertson came in around 1 and played all kinds of piano. His son James, 12 and of sterling personality, was already there tearing up the place and is someone to watch out for on the alto sax. Now, at 7:30am we are on I-85 staring hard at 16hrs of driving. No soon as we finish lunch, Frank and Boss Bragg strong arm me into going to a rib restaurant. We circle Lexington, North Carolina for 1hr looking for Lexington One Barbecue. Frank and Lolis wrote THE book on BBQ- ‘Smokestack Lightning’, so you can’t tell him anything about it.

They get a couple of chopped shoulder sandwiches and I cajole them into stopping at North Carolina Central so’s I can see Branford and his students. Book (branford) gives us the directions and at 4pm we fall into a room full of students and talk about and play jazz music. We conclude by playing some modern counterpoint on Sweet Georgia Brown. It’s so much fun playing with him, I want to laugh. I remember how Gerry Mulligan used to smile like a mischievous kid when telling me,“Hey, let’s play that counterpoint.” Yeah me and Book riffed on it for a while to great mutual enjoyment. Even Frank admitted he liked it. Boss Bragg said the music was cool but he enjoyed the educational questions (about mouthpiece sizes and what not). Now we are back on that same road except it is 6:20pm.

Two hours just evaporated like that. The sky is giving way to headlights, and birds cut stark unpredictable rhythms against the fading horizon. Soon, trees are shadows and there is only asphalt, white lines, green and blue signs, and specks of intermittent yellow. In order to avoid finishing my arrangements for next weeks concerts, I put on a recording of William Warfield singing Aaron Copland’s arrangement of the American song, ‘The Golden Willow Tree’ with Mr. Copland himself conducting.

I knew Mr. Warfield, and I swear I can hear the feeling of how orchestra members who are not playing listen to him on this recording. Copland’s arrangement is spare and beautiful and imaginative and bubbling. Mr. Warfield’s voice is full of the sweet, anguished fire and intelligent pride I hear in Lester Young. The song is poignant and rich, but I confess I don’t quite understand the meaning of it. If anyone does, please let me know.
We’re out here. Still in the swing seat.
Early in the 21st.

Wynton

Jazz at Lincoln Center announces the 15 finalist bands and one winning community band for its prestigious 16th Annual Essentially Ellington High School Jazz Band Competition & Festival. The bands will compete and participate in workshops, jam sessions, and more, during a three-day Competition & Festival in New York City. The three top-placing bands perform with Artistic Director of Jazz at Lincoln Center, Wynton Marsalis, as guest soloist, followed by a performance by the 15-piece Jazz at Lincoln Center Orchestra – whose members serve as mentors for the finalist bands throughout the weekend. The Festival’s finale is an awards ceremony honoring outstanding soloists, sections and the top three bands. The Competition & Festival is the culmination of the annual Essentially Ellington High School Jazz Band Program (EE), which also includes regional festivals, teaching resources, a summer Band Director Academy, monthly newsletters, and more.

Finalists:

• Agoura High School, Agoura Hills, CA
• William H. Hall High School, West Hartford, CT
• Dillard Center for the Arts, Fort Lauderdale, FL
• New World School of the Arts, Miami, FL
• Valley High School, West Des Moines, IA
• Downers Grove South High School, Downers Grove, IL
• East St. Louis High School, East St. Louis, IL
• St. Charles North High School, St Charles, IL
• Foxboro High School, Foxboro, MA
• Wellesley High School, Wellesley, MA
• River East Collegiate, Winnipeg, MB
• Temple High School, Temple, TX
• Mountlake Terrace High School, Mountlake Terrace, WA
• Roosevelt High School, Seattle, WA
• Sun Prairie High School, Sun Prairie, WI

Winner of Community Band Category:
Pacific Crest Jazz Orchestra, Portland, OR

Judges:
WYNTON MARSALIS, RICH DEROSA, DAVID BERGER, VINCENT GARDNER, JOHNNY MANDEL

In-School Clinicians:
RONALD CARTER, WYCLIFFE GORDON, SHERMAN IRBY, TED NASH, LOREN SCHOENBERG, REGINALD THOMAS, RODNEY WHITAKER, TODD WILLIAMS

Mentors:
members of the JAZZ AT LINCOLN CENTER ORCHESTRA

When/Where:
Competition & Festival:May 12-14 at Frederick P. Rose Hall, home of Jazz at Lincoln Center.

Final Concert:
May 14 at Avery Fisher Hall, 7:30pm

How:
Free tickets for each Competition Part will be available on a first-come, first-serve basis, one hour before the start of each concert on May 13 and May 14.

Tickets for the Concert and Awards Ceremony are $20 or $25 and available now at the Avery Fisher Hall Box Office, the Jazz at Lincoln Center Box Office, by calling CenterCharge at 212-721-6500 or at jalc.org.

For more information or a schedule of events, visit: jalc.org/essentiallyellington.

Background/Statistics:
Throughout March and April, Jazz at Lincoln Center will send, free of charge, a professional musician to each of the 15 finalist and winning community band schools to lead an intensive day-long workshop of rehearsals, lessons, and master classes. The free clinics are part of the rich 16-year history of this unique music education program, which has reached more than 300,000 students in more than 3,000 high schools across all 50 U.S. states, Canada, Australia and American schools abroad. EE has produced and distributed more than 96,000 copies of 92 previously unavailable scores and 222 finalist bands have traveled to New York City to participate in the annual Competition & Festival.

This year Jazz at Lincoln Center distributed more than 9,200 newly transcribed scores, reference recordings and additional educational materials.

While the music of Duke Ellington continues to be central to Essentially Ellington, in 2008, Jazz at Lincoln Center expanded Essentially Ellington repertoire to include other seminal big band composers including Benny Carter and Mary Lou Williams. The 2010-11 Essentially Ellington season is the first time in the history of the program that repertoire composed for the Count Basie Orchestra will be included in the program. Repertoire includes, “Every Day (I Have the Blues),” “Swingin’ The Blues,” and “Tippin’ on the Q.T.” and by Duke Ellington, “Harlem Speaks,” “Portrait of Mahalia Jackson” from New Orleans Suite plus “Prelude to a Kiss” composed by Ellington and arranged by Billy Strayhorn.
This year 1,536 high schools in the United States, Canada, and American schools in Argentina, Australia, Bolivia, Brazil, France, Germany, Japan, Luxembourg, and Switzerland received Essentially Ellington materials.

110 bands entered the competition by submitting a recorded performance of three compositions.

The entrieswere evaluated in a blind screening by jazz education experts RONALD CARTER, ANDREW HOMZY, LOREN SCHOENBERG, and TODD WILLIAMS.

15 finalists and one community band were selected.

Quotes:
“It is extremely gratifying to see the results of the seeds we sowed 16 years ago when we started Essentially Ellington. The improvement in the quality of the bands down through the years attests to the artistic substance of Duke Ellington’s music. The enthusiasm and dedication of students, families, band directors, judges, and alumni testify to the timeless American values that define this competition and festival. I’m looking forward to hearing this year’s finalists; it is my favorite time of year.”
Wynton Marsalis, Artistic Director,
Jazz at Lincoln Center

“Through initiatives such as expanded community outreach, Essentially Ellington continues to cultivate interest and passion for our music throughout North America. Participation in all elements of the program has increased this year, with new directors and students, illustrating how building a strong jazz culture can carry a community through transition and maintain excellence in their programs. We look forward to coming together in May with new and familiar schools to celebrate the positive impact jazz can have.”
Erika Floreska, Director of Education,
Jazz at Lincoln Center

Sponsorship:
Founding leadership support for Essentially Ellington is provided by The Jack and Susan Rudin Educational and Scholarship Fund. Major support is provided by The Con Edison Community Partnership Fund, The Irene Diamond Fund, Alfred and Gail Engleberg, The Ella Fitzgerald Foundation, The Heckscher Foundation for Children, The Charles Evans Hughes Memorial Foundation, The Mericos Foundation, National Endowment for the Arts, The Harold and Mimi Steinberg Charitable Trust, Surdna Foundation, and the United States Department of Education.

For more information:
Bridget Wilson
Associate · Public Relations
Phone 212-258-9868
Email: bwilson@jalc.org

Many highlights. From Elliot’s thematically concise and acrobatic offering on ‘Straight Up and Down’ (plus he’s suffering from a serious stomach virus and shouldn’t even be on a bandstand) to Vincent’s singing on Joe Turner’s Blues (pure soul, imagination and Ooo-Ble-Yew). The rhythm section was loping all night long and Carlos had his hard hat on.

The saxophone section played with absolute dedication and synchronized nuance on the very last song of the night (Ted’s arrangement of ‘Old MacDonald’) on the second to last night of the tour. Before the gig Ali, Vincent, and Sherman all scrunched over their computers working on arrangements for next week’s concerts in the House of Swing with Ute Lemper.

My 7th grade teacher, Sr. Lee Ann, was there. She was such a great teacher.
I still show off letters with her lyrical and meticulous handwriting. After an hour or so of meeting with our audience and talking to young musicians, I had the opportunity to sit with her for a minute. We shared jokes and pleasantries and stories. She told me, “I have loved you for a very long time.” It felt like someone putting a blanket over you as you struggle to sleep through a cold night.

Well, now we are under steel gray skies passing southern, ranch-style homes, alongside some railroad tracks, past an occasional field of cotton, passing small businesses bearing people’s names—-Lula’s, Roy’s, Beryl’s and the winner of the contest this morning goes to a lounge, ‘Stagger Lee’s.’ Frank said that’s because of how people walk out of there. I grew up down the street from railroad tracks and always feel something when I hear a train or see some tracks— tales of journeys upon journeys from the Underground Railroad to ‘The City of New Orleans’ to the Glory Train.

On I-565 east passing the Davidson Center for Space Research, the shuttle and some earlier rockets announce themselves proudly against the sky. Their beautiful, streamlined architecture change the mood of the highway and cast a long shadow over a chain-gang with fluorescent yellow uniforms and orange trash bags.

Places like Stagger Lee’s, yeah, I was in those too. As a boy, I never liked the smell of stale beer in a lounge in the day time.
At night it was ok because everybody was looking for something. In the day you can already see.

Wynton

From way off you can smell cattle sloshing in their holding pens on the last leg of a bad journey. Water towers announce the presence of a main street, a high school, something to eat.
Here we go.

A strip mall. Civilization.
Damn

Wynton