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With Built-In Tension, Jazz Swings to the Past
Ralph Ellison, who was lured away from the trumpet to become a writer, once explained that in jazz there is a “cruel contradiction implicit in the art form.” It is a contradiction between the individual and the group, between solitary assertion and collective cooperation.
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A “true jazz moment,” Ellison said, “springs from a contest in which each artist challenges all the rest,” in which the very nature of the player’s identity is at stake. That is the drama of solo riffs, of call-and-response interchanges, of daring high-wire improvisations. -
Soaking Up the Spaces at a New Jazz Center
Some basic impressions of Jazz at Lincoln Center’s new space, which opened last night: It is a sophisticated, cosmopolitan, fairly expensive-feeling experience; it is flexible and alive.
Jazz has so many different connotations for different people. But at least some part of this three-theater complex, taking up the fifth and sixth floors of the Time Warner Center on Columbus Circle, could ring the bells of recognition of someone who had never been to a jazz performance before and only possessed the received wisdom of photographs and album covers: yes, this seems right; this is jazz. And it contains enough attention to detail to impress those who have spent the better part of their lives hearing it, too.
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Jazz at Lincoln Center Opening Gala
In a companion broadcast with PBS, NPR presents “One Family of Jazz” — the opening-night gala concerts at Lincoln Center’s Frederick P. Rose Hall, a new state-of-the art home for jazz in the Time Warner building on New York’s Columbus Circle. Keep reading »
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Pulitzer changes put the emphasis on American music
In American journalism, the Pulitzer Prize towers over all other honors. In literature and drama, it conveys palpable prestige and often spikes sales.And in music . . . well, to put it kindly, the award has a checkered past. Keep reading »
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Jazz at Lincoln Center Spring Gala 2004
For its third annual spring gala at the Apollo Theater, Jazz at Lincoln Center celebrated with a heady mix of traditional jazz and blues, heightened by the presence of a pair of pop-rock music icons, James Taylor and Bob Dylan. Dylan comfortably crossed over to a receptive and appreciative jazz community; Taylor’s understated, relaxed manner was refreshing and intimate. Keep reading »
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Marsalis captures a little of the ‘Magic’
Wynton Marsalis has been coming to Symphony Hall for 20 years, he told his audience there early on last night, and “it’s always a pleasure.” This time he arrived looking the elder statesman at 42, and touring with his quartet in support of their new Blue Note CD, “The Magic Hour,” an album more fun and accessible than those immediately preceding it. Keep reading »
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The Magic Hour reviewed on NPR.org
Wynton has released his first small ensemble jazz cd in 5 years. It’s called The Magic Hour.
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NPR Reviewer Jim Fusilli finds delight in the record, with clever performances. He also finds some of the jazz Wynton plays sometimes backward looking. -
Measured words from a master
Wynton Marsalis walked onto the stage at Moravian College’s Foy Hall Monday morning and saw a familiar sight: a packed house. Keep reading »
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NPR: Wynton Marsalis, ‘The Magic Hour’
Those final minutes of the day, when parents everywhere are trying to get restless kids to settle down and go to bed, are what Wynton Marsalis calls “the magic hour.” It’s also the title of the acclaimed trumpeter’s new CD, which he says celebrates the childishness in all of us. Keep reading »
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Wynton Marsalis Settles In for A Cozy Hour
“The Magic Hour,” the trumpeter’s new CD and his first for the Blue Note label, bears little resemblance to his previous offering. Released in 2002, “All Rise” was a sprawling, frequently stirring work that embraced big band, gospel choir and orchestral sounds. “The Magic Hour,” in sharp contrast, is a cozy and chummy affair, a nimble quartet session featuring vocal cameos by Dianne Reeves and Bobby McFerrin. Keep reading »