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Master of jazz cool
Way back in 1999 Wynton Marsalis pulled in the biggest crowd for a jazz evening at the Perth Concert Hall. The choir stalls were filled to bursting, there was not a seat to be had even in the upper galleries and chairs were put on the stage next to the musicians, with audience members literally in their faces. Keep reading »
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Wynton Marsalis’s Favorite Things
“ONE OF MY MENTORS was Yacub Addy, a master Ghanaian drummer. He made the drum in front. When he gave it to me, he said that the sound of a drum is the soul of the drum, something I always remember. The blue book on the table, Autobiography of a Yogi, is one that my father gave me when I left home at 17. We had never talked about yoga or Eastern religion—I was just a country boy. But I read the book while I was on the bus and enjoyed it. My youngest son is a painter. That’s his work propped up on the book. His images have so much feeling in them. Keep reading »
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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” 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. Keep reading »
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Jingle Bells and jazz
Wynton Marsalis, one of the most important American musicians of the past 50 years, is on the phone from his home in New York City. We’re talking about “Jingle Bells.” The conversation started rather awkwardly, on my part, anyway. I mean, this is a guy who has dedicated much of the past four decades ensuring that jazz is recognized as a true American art form, perhaps the American art form … and I’m asking him if he and his extraordinary Jazz at Lincoln Center Orchestra play “Jingle Bells.” Keep reading »
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Nicola Benedetti: the violin virtuoso teams up with jazz titan Wynton Marsalis
It’s a gorgeous, breezy day in mid-August in the little lakeside community of Chautauqua in the north-western corner of New York state. Inside the modest concert hall there’s music emanating from the large orchestra on the platform, which is intriguingly hard to place. The trombones are giving vent to a throaty moan but they are surrounded by sophisticated harmonies, in strings and woodwinds, from a later era. And soaring above it all is the silvery sound of a solo violin, played by a young woman of glowing Italianate good looks, with a cascade of unruly hair spilling over bare shoulders. She looks ready for a day on the beach, except that she plays with a concentrated frown. Keep reading »
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10 Questions for Nicola Benedetti and Wynton Marsalis
He’s an American jazz giant; she’s a Scottish doyenne of the classical violin. Anyone familiar with one more than the other – and that’s more or less everyone – would do a double take to see their names on the same bill. But this week at Barbican Hall, a new concerto by Wynton Marsalis will be premiered by Nicola Benedetti and the London Symphony Orchestra. Keep reading »
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The leading man of jazz
In 1994, when Wynton Marsalis was only six years into his tenure as artistic director of the Jazz at Lincoln Center Orchestra, Ed Bradley did a 60 Minutes profile on the New Orleans jazz man. “Not long ago, people were saying jazz was dead and nobody wanted to hear it anymore,” Bradley said, “but then Marsalis and his trumpet came along and breathed new life into the music.” Keep reading »
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10 Questions to Wynton Marsalis by Sinfini Music
Wynton Marsalis is the Grammy Award and Pulitzer Prize-winning trumpeter-composer behind some of the 21st century’s greatest jazz works. A seasoned classical performer and composer, too, he will next week oversee the world premiere of his new violin concerto, written for Nicola Benedetti. So what makes him tick? Keep reading »
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Wynton Marsalis and Nicola Benedetti on creation of a new concerto
On Friday 6 November, the LSO and Nicola Benedetti perform the world premiere of a new Violin Concerto by Wynton Marsalis, the result of a collaboration between the violinist and composer that has spanned over eleven years. We spoke to Nicola and Wynton to find out how they ended up working together, the inspirations behind this new piece, and what to expect from the concert in November. Keep reading »
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For Wynton Marsalis’ 54th birthday an Essay-Interview Written on the Occasion of Blood on the Fields
For Wynton Marsalis’ 54th birthday, I’ll reclaim a piece that’s been on the internet since 2001 via the Jazz Journalist Association website. I put it together in 2005 at the instigation of Steve Cannon and Gathering of Tribes on the occasion of the premiere performance of Blood On The Fields. It contains an essay-review, followed by a long composite interview. Keep reading »