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Review: Jazz At Lincoln Center Orchestra Septet With Wynton Marsalis: The Democracy! Suite
There is an interesting generational divide in perception when it comes to the music of . While many hail his work at Lincoln Center as elevating jazz to its rightful place among the fine arts, others lament the separation from his iconic quartet and quintet work in the 1980’s as some sort of jazz treason. Keep reading »
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Wynton Marsalis Quintet at The Palace Theater
There are expectations baked into a live performance from the caliber of a Wynton Marsalis. An artist who has won a Pulitzer Prize for Music, nine GRAMMY awards, serves as the Director of Jazz studies at Juilliard and is actively involved in a number of humanitarian activities, Marsalis is as much a brand name as any musician in modern history. Keep reading »
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Lewis Nash All-Stars With Wynton Marsalis in Phoenix
An evening of bebop, swing, Latin and blues celebrated acclaimed drummer Lewis Nash and raised funds for youth programs of Jazz in Arizona. The 35-year-old nonprofit jazz-support organization recently opened The Nash, a performance and youth education center established in Phoenix to honor the musician in his hometown. Keep reading »
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Five City “LOUIS” Tour Reviewed
From August 25th through August 31st Wynton, Cecile Licad and a 10-piece jazz ensemble premiered Louis, a silent film directed by Dan Pritzker. The sold out tour reached five cities and was reviewed by press from around the world.
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Ahmad Jamal Strikes up the Orchestra
Can this really be the fifth season of Jazz at Lincoln Center at Rose Hall? Already there are young people filling seats at the Rose Theater who probably feel that JaLC has been around forever, and even take it for granted. They’d probably be amazed to hear that listeners in the 1940s thought it was a big deal whenever jazz made it to one of the major concert halls, like Carnegie or Town Hall, and probably couldn’t imagine a world in which American music was accorded the same respect as symphonies and chamber works. (It had only been a few generations since ragtime was condemned by the pope and jazz itself was officially denounced by the city of New Orleans, where it was created.) So if young fans want to act as though Rose Hall — the only jazz-specific multiplex in the country, if not the world — is no big deal, then that’s a good thing, an illustration of how far we’ve come. Keep reading »
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JALC Orchestra with Wynton Marsalis: The Songs We Love
One of the most intriguing jazz concerts in memory occurred at Jazz at Lincoln Center this past weekend. The Jazz at Lincoln Center Orchestra, at this point the most versatile group of big band musicians anywhere, tackled a repertoire of songs which are just as notable for the arrangements made of them as their compositional excellence. Because the selections came from different eras, styles and traditions, only a band with uncanny versatility could deliver truly authentic performances of each one. The JALC orchestra achieved this and, in doing so, set a new standard for big band jazz. Keep reading »
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Review: Wynton Marsalis And Louis Armstrong’s Hot Fives, Jazz At Lincoln Center
Arguably the most influential recordings in the history of jazz, Louis Armstrong’s Hot Fives and Hot Sevens were the occasion for three Jazz at Lincoln Center concerts in the Rose Theater, Sept. 28-30, featuring Wynton Marsalis and eight other musicians. As my first visit to New York in several years and my first chance to see the new digs of Jazz at Lincoln Center, I made a point of catching the Saturday night performance which, like the other two, bore the title: “Wynton and Louis Armstrong’s Hot Fives.”
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“Marsalis on Music” reviewed on All About Jazz
Marsalis on Music, trumpeter Wynton Marsalis’ groundbreaking audio/visual music education project from 1995, was produced by Sony Classical Film & Video, debuted in the US on PBS, and subsequently translated and shown around the world. The Peabody Award-winning program provides an excellent introduction to classical and jazz music, all in a fun and identifiable way. The video version is available in libraries, schools and rental clubs everywhere.
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Los Angeles: Central Avenue Breakdown
A few years ago I was talking to veteran L.A. tenormen Teddy Edwards and Harold Land while preparing to host a “Jazz Talk” show at Lincoln Center. Teddy, the elder statesman, was referencing old time musicians who worked in the clubs along L.A.‘s Central Avenue and Harold mentioned that he had never heard of them. I chimed in that, of course, if Harold had not heard of these players than I certainly hadn’t. Teddy looked at us and smiled. “There’s no mystery here,” he said. “The reason why you haven’t heard about these musicians is because in the old days in the Central Avenue clubs there simply were no jazz writers.” Keep reading »
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All About Jazz reviews LCJO Chicago’s concert
The endless debate about Wynton Marsalis shows no sign of ever abating. Whether the Lincoln Center musical director/trumpeter is the greatest heir to the jazz tradition or a curmudgeonly and didactic reactionary who’s declared himself the final authority and what jazz is and, especially, isn’t, probably depends on your point of view. One thing, though, is certain: he and the 15-piece Lincoln Center Jazz Orchestra put on a consistently good show.
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The band’s performance at Chicago’s Symphony Center was pretty typical of what they do: impeccably played, large-ensemble arrangements of the jazz-composer canon; smaller-group performances of the same; beautiful, crystal-clear horn voicings; a great drummer (currently Ali Jackson); a host of very good soloists, including Marsalis; and, yes, lots of spoken explanation from the musical director about the composers, the history of jazz, and why what the group is playing is good.
Marsalis is wordy, and in his teaching mode, he can be annoying. But he’s usually pretty affable and often droll; certainly he shows no sign on the bandstand of being any sort of martinet, despite the band’s whip-tight playing.