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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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JALC Gala Traverses the History of Jazz
Jazz at Lincoln Center felt more like jazz at Preservation Hall during the April 17 JALC concert and gala dinner. Keep reading »
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Marsalis, Guests Explore the Blues
The blues is the lingua franca on United We Swing: Best Of The Jazz At Lincoln Center Galas (Blue Engine), a new compilation featuring the Wynton Marsalis Septet. The album features memorable performances by a parade of stars from the worlds of pop music, gospel and blues: Bob Dylan, Ray Charles (in one of his final performances), Eric Clapton, Willie Nelson, James Taylor, The Blind Boys of Alabama, Jimmy Buffett, Lenny Kravitz, John Legend, Lyle Lovett, John Mayer, Audra McDonald, Natalie Merchant, Carrie Smith, Susan Tedeschi and Derek Trucks, all backed by the trumpeter’s septet. As Marsalis put it in an interview with DownBeat, “All of them came to play.” Keep reading »
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Building the cathedral
In the fall of 2016, Wynton Marsalis spoke at an event in Manhattan commemorating the centennial of Albert Murray, the jazz historian, cultural critic and novelist who died in 2013 at age 97. Murray had been a longtime mentor to the trumpeter and composer, ever since he was an 18-year-old Juilliard student. Keep reading »
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Marsalis, Krall, Corea Among DownBeat Readers Poll Winners
DownBeat is proud to announce the results of its 82nd Annual Readers Poll. Wynton Marsalis topped the Trumpet category, and readers elected him into the DownBeat Hall of Fame. Keep reading »
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In Season Opener, Marsalis & JLCO Pay Tribute to Jelly Roll Morton
“The Fantastic Mr. Jelly Lord,” the all-Jelly Roll Morton concert that opened the 2017 season of the Jazz at Lincoln Center Orchestra, revealed the continued relevance of the great New Orleans maestro and was as good a case as any for Wynton Marsalis’ credo that “all jazz is modern.” Keep reading »
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Jazz at Lincoln Center, Sony Launch Blue Engine Label
Jazz at Lincoln Center has teamed up with Sony to create a new label, Blue Engine Records. Managing and Artistic Director Wynton Marsalis made the announcement at JALC’s performance complex in New York City during a July 1 launch party. Keep reading »
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Marsalis & JLCO Dance Among the Gravestones
Jazz at Lincoln Center traffics in ghost stories as a matter of course, fashioning living memorials to long-gone masters of America’s indigenous art form. So it was no great shock that the Jazz at Lincoln Center Orchestra with Wynton Marsalis seemed at home on June 11 playing amid the gravestones of Woodlawn Cemetery in the Bronx. Keep reading »
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Downbeat Celebrates Wynton’s 50th
With a Lincoln Center special airing on PBS, all eyes have turned to a special birthday taking place in the jazz community: Wynton Marsalis turned 50 on Oct. 18. In celebration of Marsalis’ birthday, a number of people in the music shared their thoughts on Wynton and his professional and/or personal impact.
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A 2006 DownBeat Feature on Wynton Marsalis, Who Turned 50 Yesterday
I couldn’t attend Wynton Marsalis’s four 50th birthday concerts in which he presented repertoire from his 30+ years in the music business. All accounts state — no doubt accurately — that to witness them was an extraordinary experience. Keep reading »