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Wynton Marsalis on Preserving the Sanctity of Jazz
Scratch a jazz artist and underneath you’ll find solid musical training coupled with an innate sense of improvisation that combines to create the often explosive expression characterizing America’s authentic musical art form. Dig a little deeper and you’ll uncover the rich musical continuum stemming from the origins of jazz to modern day practitioners that keep the musical culture alive. Keep reading »
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At 30, What Does Jazz at Lincoln Center Mean?
When the curtain rises on Thursday on the opener of Jazz at Lincoln Center’s 30th season, its flagship orchestra will debut arrangements of Jelly Roll Morton’s compositions, some of which are a century old. That’s no surprise: The organization has never wavered from its commitment to jazz’s thickest roots. Keep reading »
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Jazz is Everything - The Artful Life of Wynton Marsalis
Wynton Marsalis was born in New Orleans, the same city that also birthed jazz. However, just as the music couldn’t be contained, neither could the people who made it. Keep reading »
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Marsalis’ ‘jazz of integrity’ charms Shanghai
Wynton Marsalis and the Jazz at Lincoln Center Orchestra (JLCO) had Shanghai audiences on their feet at the 2017 Music in the Summer Air (MISA) in early July with his “jazz of integrity.” Keep reading »
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Ten Minutes with Wynton Marsalis
Wynton Marsalis got his break as a teen on his trumpet at Tanglewood. The Grammy Award–winning artist returns to the area with his “Jazz at Lincoln Center Orchestra” for the Mahaiwe’s July 30 fundraising gala. Keep reading »
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Jazz Legend Wynton Marsalis Surprises Steve Massey at Foxborough HS Pops
By his own admission, there are very few moments when Foxborough High School Music Director Steve Massey is speechless. One of those moments took place Sunday afternoon when a jazz legend made a guest appearance at Massey’s final Pops concert before his retirement at the end of the school year. Keep reading »
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From one drummer to another, a celebration of Buddy Rich
Drummer Buddy Rich was one of the great virtuosos in jazz, on any instrument. But ask drummer Ali Jackson about Rich and it’s not the late musician’s blazing technique he focuses on. Rather, it’s Rich’s extraordinary range, as musician and showman. “He played in so many contexts, from vaudeville [as a child star with his family] to swing and the big band era, to bebop and everything else.” Keep reading »
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Abu Dhabi Festival 2017: trumpeter Wynton Marsalis on preserving jazz as ‘America’s classical music
Spoiler alert: Wynton Marsalis suffers for his art, too. On the surface, the American trumpeter appears the very epitome of composure and professionalism – a superhuman mix of slick self-confidence and no-nonsense determination. A man who still irons his suits and copies his own sheet music by hand. A musician whose lightning virtuosity you expect to be credited to nothing but hard work. Keep reading »
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Jon Batiste and Wynton Marsalis Prize John Lewis, and Each Other
By the time Jon Batiste arrived at Spotify’s studios near Union Square on a recent evening, the trumpeter Wynton Marsalis had commandeered his seat at the piano. Mr. Batiste, who had hustled across town after taping that day’s episode of “The Late Show,” where he is Stephen Colbert’s musical foil, went around the room dapping and high-fiving the other band members as they rehearsed a blues. Then he stationed himself beside Mr. Marsalis, watching as the elder musician plunked out a playful solo. Keep reading »
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Notes of Resistance: Wynton Marsalis on ‘All Rise’
The first performance of “All Rise,” Wynton Marsalis‘s epic and extraordinary jazz symphony, didn’t quite go as planned. “It sounded so bad that first night,” Marsalis sighs, recalling the December 1999 premiere at Lincoln Center. “It was like I was in the middle of a bunch of noise. I felt like I had inflicted a crime on about two hundred people in public.” Keep reading »