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Middle East Meets West by Way of Jazz
If you don’t know what an oud is, you will by the end of the show, Wynton Marsalis said to a young audience member at the start of the performance. Oud virtuoso Naseer Shamma fronted the Jazz at Lincoln Center Orchestra with Wynton Marsalis on Thursday night at the Marcus Performing Arts Center for a program titled “Middle East Meditations.” Keep reading »
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Wynton’s Shanghai Suite Proves a Glorious Premiere
Several years ago, Wynton Marsalis, during an interview on CNN, was asked about the components of jazz. He said, “The main three components are blues, improvisation… and swing.” Keep reading »
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Wynton Marsalis’ “All Rise” stirred souls at Hill Auditorium - and his trumpet fired up The Big House crowd
More than 200 musicians are shown rehearsing Wynton Marsalis’ “All Rise” on stage at Hill Auditorium. Photo courtesy UMS. For nearly two decades, I’ve attended Jazz at Lincoln Center Orchestra with Wynton Marsalis concerts hosted by the University Music Society (UMS). Keep reading »
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Wynton Marsalis’s All Rise Takes on New Meaning at the Hollywood Bowl
You’ve heard of the I “everything but the kitchen sink”? That pretty much describes Wynton Marsalis’s sprawling, 112-minute orchestral/choral/big band/small-group extravaganza All Rise. Keep reading »
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Wynton Marsalis & Georgian American Friendship Makes Hamptons Swing
On a recent Saturday night, Wynton Marsalis and the Jazz at Lincoln Center Orchestra performed at the Southampton Arts Center as part of the Hamptons Jazz Fest to celebrate 30 years of Independence for the Republic of Georgia and to honor thirty years of Georgian-American friendship; and, like all things Georgian and all things Wynton, it exceeded all expectations. Keep reading »
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Concert review: Marsalis and Lincoln Center big band jazz up Jefferson Center crowd
Jazz trumpeter, composer and band leader Wynton Marsalis is a guru to some, a gadfly to others. He insists on defining the genre from its traditions, rather than (as he sees it) the latest stylistic fads, which often water down the form. Keep reading »
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A night of thrilling jazz at The Granada
The audience laughed throughout the Santa Barbara concert as the friendly trumpeter blended humor with history in his introductions to incredible classics written by everyone from Sonny Rollins to the awesome Chick Corea. Keep reading »
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A Conference of Ambassadors: Igor Butman and Wynton Marsalis Celebrate Their 60th-Birthday in Moscow
The history of jazz in Russia does not begin with the fabled U.S. State Department-sponsored traveling shows of the so-called Jazz Ambassadors, which brought a number of American jazz greats to Eastern European countries and beyond during the years of the Cold War. It is, in fact, an almost 100-year-old history waiting to be rediscovered. Keep reading »
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Philadelphia Orchestra premieres Wynton Marsalis’s newest — a tuba concerto
Four words that were never likely to be found together are these: Wynton Marsalis Tuba Concerto. But there they are on the Philadelphia Orchestra’s weekend subscription concerts, a world-premiere co-commission for an unusual soloist by the great jazz trumpeter/composer Keep reading »
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Jazz at Lincoln Center Orchestra and Wynton Marsalis bring festivity and swing to Athens
A group of men coolly and calmly walk out in black suits and red striped ties onto a stage decked out with Christmas trees, red ribbon and bright lights. Then, with a quick greeting from renowned jazz musician Wynton Marsalis, the concert begins. Keep reading »