-
Wynton Marsalis to mentor, perform during Cornell visit March 22-28
Famed musician Wynton Marsalis comes to Cornell next week for his first visit as an Andrew Dickson White Professor-at-Large, to mentor and perform with student musicians, participate in classes and engage with the campus and Ithaca communities. Keep reading »
-
Behind the decision to remove a statue of Robert E. Lee
Last May, a crane removed a 16½ foot-tall bronze statue of Gen. Robert E. Lee from its perch 60 feet above New Orleans. The statue was one of four Confederate monuments the city’s mayor, Mitch Landrieu, had removed last year. “In a city that I represent that’s 67 percent African American, to have a young African-American girl pass by that statue and look at it every day, I ask myself, ‘Am I really preparing her for a really good future? Is she feeling like she’s getting lifted up by the government, or is she being put down?’” Landrieu tells Anderson Cooper this week on 60 Minutes. “I mean, I think the answer’s pretty clear.” Keep reading »
-
For Wynton Marsalis, forgetting the roots of jazz is forgetting the history of race in America
JALC is celebrating its 30th anniversary this year, and Marsalis is showing no signs of slowing down. He has never been one to shy away from speaking his mind on the record as well as on issues of race. He won the 1997 Pulitzer Prize for his jazz oratorio Blood on the Fields, which deals with slavery, and the content from his 2007 album From the Plantation to the Penitentiary is self-explanatory. Keep reading »
-
Wynton Marsalis’s Violin Concerto Really Sounds Like America
Born in 1961 in New Orleans, jazz and classical trumpet player, and composer, Wynton Marsalis grew up playing in churches, jazz bands, and orchestras. As WRTI’s Susan Lewis reports, his 2015 violin concerto reflects the varied musical landscape of America. Keep reading »
-
Building the cathedral
In the fall of 2016, Wynton Marsalis spoke at an event in Manhattan commemorating the centennial of Albert Murray, the jazz historian, cultural critic and novelist who died in 2013 at age 97. Murray had been a longtime mentor to the trumpeter and composer, ever since he was an 18-year-old Juilliard student. Keep reading »
-
The Marsalis brothers jazzed up a basketball conversation with Billy Donovan and Sam Presti
Oklahoma City Thunder assistant coach Mark Bryant was walking alongside the basketball court at the team’s practice facility when he passed a legendary face from the jazz world oddly hanging out. Bryant turned around on this September day to enthusiastically introduce himself to Branford Marsalis. The three-time Grammy Award-winning saxophonist was there to talk about the connection between jazz and basketball with Thunder general manager Sam Presti and head coach Billy Donovan. Keep reading »
-
Philadelphia Orchestra finds its groove in Wynton Marsalis concerto
Thursday night, in the middle of Nicola Benedetti’s playing a cadenza in a violin concerto with the Philadelphia Orchestra, a man walked through the ensemble to a spot just inches from the violinist and started playing drums. Keep reading »
-
Violin star Nicola Benedetti elated to do concerto by jazz great Wynton Marsalis
As one of the world’s most acclaimed young violinists, Nicola Benedetti has earned a stellar reputation for her ability to perform some of the most challenging works in classical music with flawless technical mastery and deep emotional conviction. Keep reading »
-
Wynton Marsalis makes a return engagement
Wynton Marsalis returns to campus Oct. 30 for an evening celebrating the video release of “Music as Metaphor,” the lecture and performance that launched his Harvard lecture series in 2011. The event, “A Conversation with Wynton Marsalis and Drew Faust,” will explore the importance of the arts and cultural literacy in education, jazz, and society. Keep reading »
-
Wynton Marsalis and Jazz at Lincoln Center celebrate 30 years of spreading the music
When Wynton Marsalis and the Jazz at Lincoln Center Orchestra swing into Chicago next week, they won’t just be kicking off a three-concert residency in Orchestra Hall. They’ll also be celebrating two landmark anniversaries: 25 years since the band made its Chicago debut on that same stage (in a far-reaching program celebrating the music of Duke Ellington) and 30 years since Jazz at Lincoln Center began to emerge as an institution. Keep reading »