“New York City is the most fluid, pressure-packed, and cosmopolitan metropolis the modern world has ever seen,” says Wynton Marsalis. No wonder, then, that the city inspired what is perhaps the composer’s greatest work to date: The Jungle, his fourth symphony, which receives its first recorded release this May on Blue Engine Records.
Captured in 2019, this inspired performance of The Jungle was conducted by Nicholas Buc and features the Jazz at Lincoln Center Orchestra with Wynton Marsalis alongside the Melbourne Symphony Orchestra in Melbourne’s Hamer Hall. Marsalis’s masterwork highlights the paradoxes that define New York City, where wealth and poverty, grit and romance, and unlimited growth and stagnation all coexist. But it’s also a meditation on what being human means today—a widescale attempt to understand the maelstrom of modern life and remind listeners of what brings us together.
Ensemble | JLCO with Wynton Marsalis and Melbourne Symphony Orchestra |
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Release Date | May 26th, 2023 |
Recording Date | February 28-March 2, 2019 |
Record Label | Blue Engine Records |
Catalogue Number | BE0040 |
Formats | Digital Download |
Genre | Jazz at Lincoln Center Recordings, Jazz Recordings |
Digital Booklet | Download (pdf, 6 MB) |
Track | Length | Preview |
---|---|---|
Movement I: The Big Scream (Black Elk Speaks) | 11:23 | Play |
Movement II: The Big Show | 6:02 | Play |
Movement III: Lost in Sight (Post-Pastoral) | 16:07 | Play |
Movement IV: La Esquina | 7:53 | Play |
Movement V: Us | 7:43 | Play |
Movement VI: Struggle in the Digital Market | 15:31 | Play |
Bonus Track: Curtain Call (Knozz-Moe-King/C Jam Blues) | 8:36 | Play |
New York City is the most fluid, pressure-packed, and cosmopolitan metropolis the modern world has ever seen. The dense mosaic of all kinds of people everywhere doing all kinds of things encourages you to ‘stay in your lane,’ but the speed, freedom, and intensity of our relationships to each other – and to the city itself – forces us onto a collective superhighway unlike any other in our country.
The Big Scream (Black Elk Speaks) represents nervous energy, the primal soul of our city as maintained across time.
It reflects on our Native American roots and the many forms of strife we have endured in an attempt to negotiate this small space with and without each other.
The Big Show evokes the brash, brassy, razzle-dazzle of our city. It is the feeling of ragtime, of Broadway, and the European immigrant’s transition to New Yorker through the syncopated spirit of the early 20th-century dance, animal movements like the turkey trot and fox trot.
Lost in Sight (Post-Pastoral): Everywhere we turn we see the homeless, the dispossessed, the out of luck, and the love-lost. In the midst of staggering wealth, we house a large population who can’t survive. They are ubiquitous and invisible. Their presence connects us to the 19th century and our legacy of slavery.
La Esquina: Hispanic sounds and rhythms have pressed an indelible groove into the character of the city. Afro-Latin culture is a foundation of New York life and our city has inspired some of its greatest music.
Us: Although we are gritty and brusque by day, we can also be romance, elegance, and sophistication by night. ‘Us’ is what it means to be with, against, and up against another.
Struggle in the Digital Market: The city is driven ever forward by more and more profit and the myth of unlimited growth for the purpose of ownership and seclusion. Some form of advertisement occupies every available space. The struggle asks, ‘Will we seek and find more equitable long-term solutions… or perish?’
— Wynton Marsalis
All compositions by Wynton Marsalis (Skayne’s Music (ASCAP)).
TRACK LISTING:
Movement I: The Big Scream (Black Elk Speaks)
Movement II: The Big Show
Movement III: Lost in Sight (Post-Pastoral)
Movement IV: La Esquina
Movement V: Us
Movement VI: Struggle in the Digital Market
Bonus Track: Curtain Call (Knozz-Moe-King/C Jam Blues)
PERSONNEL:
Melbourne Symphony Orchestra
Jazz at Lincoln Center Orchestra with Wynton Marsalis
Wynton Marsalis
Music Director/ Trumpet
Nicholas Buc
Conductor
MELBOURNE SYMPHONY ORCHESTRA
FIRST VIOLINS
Sophie Rowell, Concertmaster
Kirsty Bremner
Sarah Curro
Peter Fellin
Deborah Goodall
Lorraine Hook
Kirstin Kenny
Eleanor Mancini
Mark Mogilevski
Kathryn Taylor
Madeleine Jevons
Michael Loftus-Hills
SECOND VIOLINS
Robert Macindoe, Associate Principal
Monica Curro, Assistant Principal
Aaron Barnden
Tiffany Cheng
Freya Franzen
Cong Gu
Isy Wasserman
Philippa West
Patrick Wong
Roger Young
VIOLAS
Christopher Moore, Principal
Fiona Sargeant, Associate Principal
Lauren Brigden
Katharine Brockman
Anthony Chataway
William Clark
Cindy Watkin
Trevor Jones
CELLOS
David Berlin, Principal
Rachael Tobin, Associate Principal
Rohan de Korte
Keith Johnson
Angela Sargeant
Josephine Vains
DOUBLE BASSES
Steve Reeves, Principal
Ben Hanlon
Stephen Newton
Siyuan Vivian Qu
FLUTES
Wendy Clarke, Associate Principal
Taryn Clarke
PICCOLO
Andrew Macleod, Principal
OBOES
Emmanuel Cassimatis, Guest Principal
Ann Blackburn
COR ANGLAIS
Michael Pisani, Principal
CLARINETS
Philip Arkinstall, Associate Principal
Craig Hill
BASS CLARINET
Jonathan Craven, Principal
BASSOONS
Jack Schiller, Principal
Natasha Thomas
CONTRABASSOON
Colin Forbes-Abrams, Guest Principal
HORNS
Nicolas Fleury, Principal
Saul Lewis, Principal Third
Rachel Shaw
Trinette McClimont
Rebecca Luton
TRUMPETS
Shane Hooton, Associate Principal
Tristan Rebien, Guest Associate Principal
Rosie Turner
TROMBONES
Brett Kelly, Principal
Richard Shirley
BASS TROMBONE
Mike Szabo, Principal
TUBA
Timothy Buzbee, Principal
TIMPANI
John Arcaro
PERCUSSION
Robert Clarke, Principal
Robert Cossom
Robert Allan
Matthew Brennan
Timothy Hook
THE JAZZ AT LINCOLN CENTER ORCHESTRA WITH WYNTON MARSALIS
REEDS
Sherman Irby – Alto & Soprano Saxophones, Piccolo, Clarinet
Ted Nash – Alto & Soprano Saxophones, Flute, Piccolo, Bb & Bass Clarinets
Victor Goines – Tenor & Soprano Saxophones, Eb, Bb & Bass Clarinets
Camille Thurman – Tenor & Soprano Saxophones, Clarinet
Paul Nedzela – Baritone & Soprano Saxophones, Bb & Bass Clarinets
TRUMPETS
Wynton Marsalis
Ryan Kisor
Kenny Rampton
Marcus Printup
TROMBONES
Vincent Gardner
Chris Crenshaw
Sam Chess (*)
RHYTHM SECTION
Dan Nimmer – Piano
Carlos Henriquez – Bass
Jason Marsalis – Drums
(*)Tour replacement for Elliot Mason
Jazz at Lincoln Center:
Executive Producer: Wynton Marsalis
Recording Engineer: Alex Stinson
Assistant: Jack Montgomery-Parkes
Producer: Duncan Yardley
Mixing Engineer: Todd Whitelock at Amplified Art and Sound
Mastered by Mark Wilder at Battery Studios, NYC 2023
Label Head and A&R: Gabrielle Armand
Label Manager: Jake Cohen
Product Manager: Benjamin Korman
Product & Marketing Associate: Alexa Ford
Director of Public Relations and External Communications: Zooey T. Jones
Assistant Director of Public Relations and External Communications: Madelyn Gardner
Legal: Suhaydee Tejeda
Music Supervisor and Copyist: Jonathan Kelly
Music Administration: Kay Wolff, Christianna English
Daniel Israel – Assistant Director, Touring
Raymond Murphy – Tour Manager
Kathleen Murray – Manager, Touring Operations
David Robinson – Production Manager / Sound Engineer
Art Direction: Brian Welesko
Design: William Mauro
Recorded on February 28 – March 2, 2019, at the Arts Centre Melbourne, Hamer Hall in Southbank, Australia
Leadership support for Blue Engine Records is provided by John and Jody Arnhold.
Leadership support for the inaugural Blue Engine emerging artist release is made possible by the Jay Pritzker Foundation.
Major support is provided by David T. and Lisa Schiff and Len Riggio.
The mission of Jazz at Lincoln Center is to entertain, enrich, and expand a global community for jazz through performance, education, and advocacy
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blueenginerecords.org
℗2023 Australian Broadcasting Corporation under exclusive license to Jazz at Lincoln Center, Inc.
©2023 Jazz at Lincoln Center, Inc.
Established in 1906, the Melbourne Symphony Orchestra is Australia’s pre-eminent orchestra and a cornerstone of Victoria’s rich, cultural heritage.
Each year, the MSO engages with more than 5 million people, presenting in excess of 180 public events across live performances, TV, radio and online broadcasts, and via its online concert hall, MSO.LIVE, with audiences in 56 countries.
With a reputation for excellence, versatility and innovation, the MSO works with culturally diverse and First Nations leaders to build community and deliver music to people across Melbourne, the state of Victoria and around the world.