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Pearl Bailey’s Pop and the Blues of Wynton Marsalis
Seriousness and shtick shared the stage of Avery Fisher Hall on Wednesday night in one of those peculiar jazz festival double bills: the trumpeter Wynton Marsalis opening for the singer Pearl Bailey. Keep reading »
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Marsalis proves to be bigger hit before concert
We interrupt this review for a public service announcement: Wynton Marsalis isn’t such a stuffed shirt after all. He joshed playfully with a group of kids from the Boys and Girls Clubs of Chicago at a reception before they went to his concert Monday night at Orchestra Hall. Keep reading »
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Reviving the Sound and Feel Of Jelly Roll Morton’s Jazz
Jelly Roll Morton’s music from the 1920’s and 30’s sounded anything but antiquated at ‘‘Mr. Jelly Lord,’’ the classical jazz concert that re-created Morton’s music for solo piano, duos, trios and a seven-piece band on Monday night at Alice Tully Hall. Keep reading »
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Wynton Marsalis, His Sextet And Some Unorthodox Blues
Last night Wynton Marsalis played the blues. It wasn’t your down-home, garden variety. Marsalis, a jazzman who went to the Juilliard School of Music, brought to bear his massive classical chops on an eclectic set of material that ranged from Strayhorn to Schoenberg. Keep reading »
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Playboy Throws a Hot Party at the Bowl
The heat was on at the first day of the weekend’s 11th annual Playboy Jazz Festival. With Saturday’s temperatures climbing into the 80s under sunny skies, a sold-out crowd of 17,901 at the Hollywood Bowl warmed up to a varied program of jazz, fusion and ethnic music. All the usual accouterments—picnic baskets, beach balls and plenty of bottled beverages—made this the biggest party in town. Keep reading »
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Trumpeter hits high notes, with a little help from friend
Trumpeter Wynton Marsalis finally warmed to local audiences last night with a little help from one of Edmonton’s own. Offering two sets – jazz standards in the first half and some originals in the second – his sextet took a while to let loose and enjoy themselves, but when they did the appreciative crowd responded immediately. Keep reading »
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Passion, precision make Marsalis a winner
Nobody would argue that trumpeter Wynton Marsalis is the most talked about and exciting artist to make the jazz scene in the 1980s. His superior trumpet skills and revitalization of traditional (i.e. pre-fusion) jazz has reached a wide audience and earned him many prestigious awards. Keep reading »
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A lovely evening of jazz
What can a trumpet player who is considered by many to be the most important jazz musician of the ‘80s play? Anything he wants. Keep reading »
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Review/Jazz; The New Orleans in Wynton Marsalis
His first note of the evening was a plunger-muted growl, and throughout the concert’s two sets he used the smears and rasps of early jazz along with the pure-toned, agile melodic style he is known for. Mr. Marsalis, a scholar of jazz-trumpet styles, has clearly been reinvestigating the work of Bubber Miley, who growled bluesy solos for the Duke Ellington Orchestra in the 1920’s. Keep reading »
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A mature Marsalis opens up at Bailey Hall
Tucked away in the middle of a solo in a tune of the first set was the surest sign of trumpeter Wynton Marsalis’ true genius. Without calling attention to it, Marsalis let rip a blazing contrapuntal line that in one effortless motion, confirmed his status as both consummate technician and melody maker. Keep reading »