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Marsalis and Rituals of Jazz
According to the media buzz, Wynton Marsalis is one of jazz’s new traditionalists—you know, those nicely-dressed young men who disdain rock-and-roll and play the sort of jazz college kids in the ‘60s used to adore. In fact, the 29-year old trumpeter (who performs in Shriver Hall this evening) is widely credited with having singlehandedly sparked the movement. Keep reading »
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Horns of Plenty - TIME Magazine
Miles Davis is onstage, but the young man in the dark blue Versace jacket couldn’t care less. He is concentrating on the one thing other than a trumpet mouthpiece that is capable of riveting his attention to the point of near obsession: a basketball hoop. For some reason, there is a basket in the open backstage area of New York’s Jones Beach Theater, and Wynton Marsalis is pumping balls into the net from every angle. Suddenly, he dribbles out 30 ft. from the goal and announces, “I bet $100 I can sink one from here. Keep reading »
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Wynton: Prophet in standard time - Downbeat (September 1990)
A rainy afternoon in Arlington Heights, IL. – just a mile up the street from the Italian-American Sports Hall of Fame – the photographer and his assistant convert one corner of Wynton’s hotel suite into a studio while he fiddles with his trumpet. Somebody tripped over it a couple days before and one valve sticks. “Do you have a name for your trumpet?” the photographer asks. “Johnson” Wynton replies, chuckles, and adds, “No, not really.” Keep reading »
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A star too soon
BARELY 28 years old but already ten years into his professional career, the New Orleans born trumpeter Wynton Marsalis is regarded by many as a modern master. This is greatly premature; for as good as he appears to be, the adulation of Marsalis suggests a stature equal to the best trumpeters in jazz history, including Louis Armstrong, Dizzy Gillespie, and Miles Davis. Keep reading »
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Sexy Wynton Marsalis
Call it trumpeter Wynton Marsalis’ “blues period.” In his new album, A Crescent City Christmas Card, Marsalis continues the shift from cerebral to soulful that brought wide acclaim for last spring’s The Majesty of the Blues. Keep reading »
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Taking Back the Blues: A Conversation with Wynton Marsalis
In the packed-dirt courtyard behind Stanford University’s Frost Amphitheater, Wynton Marsalis entertains a crowd of hearty fans who have ventured backstage to meet him. The trumpeter, who an hour earlier led his band through a concert of grand and, at times, commanding music is polite and disarmingly quick-witted. Keep reading »
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Wynton looks at roots of Jazz
Growing up in New Orleans, jazz trumpet phenom Wynton Marsalis took the bubbling local music scene for granted. Now, 10 years into Marsalis’s high-profile career, the music he is playing serves as a reminder of the importance – and continued vibrancy – of the Crescent City’s storied jazz and blues tradition. Keep reading »
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Marsalis adds blues to his music
Dressed casually in a T-shirt and sweats, trumpeter Wynton Marsalis opened the door to his Seattle hotel room during a recent stop on a concert tour that brings him to Detroit’s Orchestra Hall tonight. Keep reading »
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Marsalis: Mastering Two Modes
Considering the impact trumpeter Wynton Marsalis had on the music scene when he was so young, it might be assumed that he started playing the instrument at about the age of, oh, 2 or 3 maybe. Keep reading »
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Dealing with Those Bluses
IN HIS CONCERT performances a few years back, Wynton Marsalis dispensed jazz music like it was cod liver oil. He would make the horn sound spitting mad, then offer miniature jazz-history lessons, lashing out at what he believed were lower forms of music. This is good for you, ignorant swine. Keep reading »