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Video: Nancy Hanks Lecture at Kennedy Center
On March 30, 2009, Wynton Marsalis dazzled and inspired his audience with a moving lecture mixed with performance titled The Ballad of the American Arts. The 22nd Annual Nancy Hanks Lecture on Arts & Public Policy was presented to a capacity crowd at the Kennedy Center on the eve of Arts Advocacy Day. Wynton’s lecture addressed the essential value of culture in the recalibration of American identity. After two standing ovations Marsalis wrapped up the evening with a lively performance with members of the Jazz at Lincoln Center Orchestra (Chris Crenshaw, trombone; Victor Goines, saxophone; Carlos Henriquez, bass; Ali Jackson, drums; and Dan Nimmer, piano).
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Wynton Marsalis Goes to Washington
Even a day later, Wynton Marsalis couldn’t explain why he was crying so hard during the speech he gave last Monday night at the Kennedy Center in Washington, D.C. “Man, I don’t know,” he told me. “I’m not really a person that’s effusive. I’m a quiet type of person. Dick Vermeil”—the notoriously teary ex-NFL coach—“that’s not me.” Keep reading »