Wynton Marsalis’ favorite New York jazz clubs
Wynton Marsalis was born in the Big Easy, but the Big Apple’s been his home since he was a Juilliard student. His Jazz at Lincoln Center Orchestra will give the music of Stevie Wonder, The Beatles and more the J@LC treatment with their ““Jazz in the Key of Life”:http://wyntonmarsalis.org/news/entry/jazz-in-the-key-of-life-at-jalc” concerts Friday and Jan. 16 at the Rose Theater; tickets at jazz.org. Here, the globe-trotting 54-year-old father of four tells Barbara Hoffman how he spends a rare weekend at home.
“I try to make the rounds of everything ever year at Lincoln Center. I just took my daughter to a concert at the New York Philharmonic. It was a Rachmaninoff program. She’s 7 and plays piano. I think she enjoyed it, but it’s important to bring kids to see things even if they don’t like it.
“One of my sons is an artist, so I love to take him to museums. I just went to the Whitney to see Archibald Motley’s work. MoMA is always packed — and for a good reason. The last show I saw there was the Matisse retrospective. It was fantastic!
“I go to a jazz festival in Spain every year, and have a great love of Basque food and the people. The restaurant I go to here, Txikito, is a sort of tapas place. Grilled octopus, squid — it doesn’t matter what you order, it’s all good. And it has a neighborhood vibe. When you walk into that restaurant, you get the feeling you’re in that region of Spain.
“Of course, I always want to hear jazz. The musicians hanging out at the Jazz Standard are fantastic. Just five blocks from me is the Village Vanguard, an iconic club. There’s also Mezzrow, a smaller place, and it’s swingin’! I just went to Subrosa to see the great master from Cuba, Pedrito Martinez. Wherever he plays, it’s worth going to check him out.
“One of the things I love most about the city is walking up and down. From my [Chelsea] apartment, I’ll walk to the 60s and 70s. It’s shocking how many people there are here, packing the avenues, [but] Sunday’s a good walking day. I love the difference between the West Village and the East Village, Harlem and Tribeca. Sometimes, I’ll just go to a neighborhood and walk around it.”
by Barbara Hoffman
Source: New York Post