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Joyfull Jammings at The Blue House
At night’s end, the First Saxophonist contributed a cool solo to what could be a signature tune for a president—“Every Day I Have the Blues.” Luckily, it’s already the signature tune of jazz vocalist Joe Williams, and while a poll-conscious Bill Clinton clearly might empathize with lyrics like “nobody seems to love me,” his presence last night on a stage with several dozen jazz greats was not weary confession but jubilant confirmation of his regard for the form. Keep reading »
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Masters of Improvisation Marsalis, Mulligan Kick off Festival
Trumpeter-composer Wynton Marsalis set the tone for the evening with a version of “The Star Spangled Banner” that was steeped in New Orleans parade tradition. Keep reading »
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Jazz at the White House
To judge by the historic television program to be broadcast Sunday, America’s recently rekindled love affair with its own music, jazz, is going strong. Keep reading »
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Wynton Marsalis: Adding It All To Jazz
WHEN THE Wynton Marsalis Septet visited Wolf Trap last August, the 31-year-old bandleader was easy to spot even from the lawn in his dazzling all-white suit. His trumpet was also easy to pick out with its diamond-sharp statements of melodic themes. It soon became clear, however, that his less-famous bandmates were essential to the exhilarating group improvisations, as they traded phrases with Marsalis as equals. Keep reading »
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Don’t play Duke Ellington like Haydn Trumpet Concerto, says Wynton Marsalis
As the first musician ever to have been signed simultaneously to the jazz and classical divisions of Columbia Records, Wynton Marsalis is intimately familiar with the differences and similarities between the two worlds. We spoke to him over the phone, during a tour stop in Boston, and asked what he thought about treating jazz like classical music. Keep reading »
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Young man with a horn
A couple of months ago I got a phone call from a writer working on an article about Jazz at Lincoln Center. The program, announced in the spring of 1991, has gotten a lot of media attention. It’s undeniable that Lincoln Center’s giving jazz a regular home has “legitimized” it in the eyes of some cultural elites, including foundations and philanthropists, here in the land of its birth-one of the last places the music has won that respect. Keep reading »
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Marsalis’s Wit and Anger Evoke Visions of America
“Jazz (Six Syncopated Movements)” is, true to the New York City Ballet’s habit, a new work for the company that is named after its score. The music is by Wynton Marsalis, one of contemporary jazz’s most popular musicians, and it was written for Peter Martins, one of today’s most prominent neo-classical choreographers. Keep reading »
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Wynton’s Decade: Creating a Canon
Ten years ago, young players in crispy pressed suits were not yet being signed by major labels; Lincoln Center in New York was not yet presenting an 11-month jazz season; the Ravinia Festival near Chicago had not yet begun its ground-breaking Jazz. Keep reading »
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Wynton Marsalis Versus Elvis, Queen Latifah, and Madonna
Every twentieth-century generation has had a jazz trumpet player to call its own. The twenties had Louis Armstrong, the forties, Dizzy Gillespie, and the sixties, Miles Davis. For the 1980s and into the ‘90s, Wynton Marsalis occupies that position. Since blasting onto the scene at 18 years of age with Art Blakey’s acclaimed band, the Jazz Messengers, in the late 1970s, he has become emblematic of the young players who take jazz seriously. Keep reading »
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Lincoln Jazz: Ellington en Masse
As the artistic airector of the Lincoln Center Jazz Orchestra, Wynton Marsalis had the privilege of introducing the ensemble at Wolf Trap Sunday night. As fourth trumpet in the band, he was often heard from as well, adding plunger-tones to “Black and Tan Fantasy” and some of the more colorful orchestrations before uncorking a vivid, open-toned reading of “Portrait of Louis Armstrong.” Keep reading »
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