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Wynton Interviewed by Poet Gene Myers
Wynton Marsalis grew up in a family that is considered to be New Orleans royalty (Pianist Ellis Marsalis is his father; sax player Branford Marsalis is his brother.). He has recorded over 40 albums; made trumpeting cool again, revived acoustic jazz and is one of the loudest advocates for traditional jazz.
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Lunchtime keynote address by Wynton Marsalis at Barbican Centre
Wynton Marsalis looked on, slightly bemused. The man with thirty-one honorary degrees from American universities including Columbia, Harvard, Princeton, Howard and Yale, nine Grammy awards, a Pulitzer prize, an honorary membership of the Royal Academy of Music, the National Medal of Arts, a statue in bronze in Marciac, the title of Chevalier of the Legion of Honour Keep reading »
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Winners of 15th Annual Essentially Ellington High School Jazz Band Competition
Wynton Marsalis Septet
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Wynton on Downbeat: Jazz is life music
In the past thirty years, I have had the good fortune to teach thousands of bands and an incalculable number of students in diverse settings. Though each situation is unique, students share many of the same concerns in pursuit of a more profound relationship with music and with life through music. Every style of music presents distinct challenges which demand the development of different skills. Jazz requires creativity, communication and community.
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Wynton Marsalis’s Enduring Opus
Toddlers filled a classroom one recent Saturday morning inside Frederick P. Rose Hall. Most sat in a circle brandishing toy shakers, some wandered off in the stagger of the newly walking. Welcome to WeBop!, Jazz at Lincoln Center’s program for children 8 months to 5 years old, at which singer Patrice Turner cleverly fit the words to the children’s book “Goodnight, Moon” into John Coltrane’s “Central Park West.”
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At the White House, a Blend of Jazz Greats and Hopefuls
It was not the full-force, let-a-thousand-saxophones-bloom, this-is-our-music festival that some might have wished from a White House where the language of jazz seems to have a place, at least in the president’s iPod. But it was a good start. On Monday afternoon, Michelle Obama invited about 150 high school jazz students to the White House for a program called Jazz Studio. There was a student clinic including five members of the Marsalis family and the clarinetist Paquito D’Rivera, and then a short concert introduced by the first lady. Keep reading »
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Video: Nancy Hanks Lecture at Kennedy Center
On March 30, 2009, Wynton Marsalis dazzled and inspired his audience with a moving lecture mixed with performance titled The Ballad of the American Arts. The 22nd Annual Nancy Hanks Lecture on Arts & Public Policy was presented to a capacity crowd at the Kennedy Center on the eve of Arts Advocacy Day. Wynton’s lecture addressed the essential value of culture in the recalibration of American identity. After two standing ovations Marsalis wrapped up the evening with a lively performance with members of the Jazz at Lincoln Center Orchestra (Chris Crenshaw, trombone; Victor Goines, saxophone; Carlos Henriquez, bass; Ali Jackson, drums; and Dan Nimmer, piano).
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Wynton speaks before a Congressional Committee
On March 31, 2009, Arts Advocacy Day, Americans for the Arts gathered a panel of acclaimed artists and experts to call on Congress for continuing and additional support and funding for the arts and arts education in America. This hearing, entitled “The Arts = Jobs,” focused on congressional support of strong public policies for the arts, appropriating increased public funding for the arts and supporting arts workers. Josh Groban and Wynton Marsalis were among the artists who testified before a Congressional Committee to champion the benefits of arts and arts education.
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Finalists Announced for 14th Annual Essentially Ellington
Jazz at Lincoln Center announces the 15 finalist bands for its prestigious 14th Annual Essentially Ellington High School Jazz Band Competition & Festival (May 2009). The bands will compete and participate in workshops, jam sessions and more, during the three-day competition and festival in New York City. The top-placing bands perform with Wynton Marsalis, as guest soloist, followed by a performance by the 15-piece Jazz at Lincoln Center Orchestra - all of whom serve as mentors for the finalist bands throughout the weekend.
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Wynton playing for Timothy Dwight College
n February 5, Wynton was at Yale University for a musical “Q&A” at the United Church on the Green.
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