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Five stars for Wynton Marsalis’s dazzlingTrumpet Concerto with the London Symphony Orchestra
With Simon Rattle having departed and plans for a new concert hall in the City of London long shelved, the London Symphony Orchestra could be forgiven for feeling down in the dumps. Instead, the announcement of its 2024-25 season showed all the signs of an organisation powering forwards. Keep reading »
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Jazz at Lincoln Center Orchestra with Wynton Marsalis, Barbican — a century of jazz history
The Jazz at Lincoln Center Orchestra signalled its balance of orchestral jazz spectacle and nightclub intimacy from the start. A fanfare of trumpets was answered by a sheen of reeds before a froth of swapped phrases unfolded over springy walking-bass swing. Keep reading »
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Wynton Marsalis: Symphony No 4, ‘The Jungle’ album review — irrepressible energy
There is no holding back Wynton Marsalis. As well as being a virtuoso trumpeter and leading jazz musician, he has thrown himself into composing major new works in the classical tradition, including an ambitious range of concertos and symphonies. Keep reading »
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Jazz at Lincoln Center Orchestra Septet: The Democracy! Suite — an activist musical metaphor
Wynton Marsalis’s previous project, the orchestral The Ever Fonky Lowdown, examined distortions in American democratic processes through a detailed spoken-word narrative delivered by actor Wendell Pierce. Keep reading »
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Wynton Marsalis: how music makes a difference
There is, unsurprisingly, no hint of lockdown sloppiness as the image of Wynton Marsalis appears on the screen of my laptop. The jazz maestro is noted for the sharpness of his appearance as well as his playing, and here he is wearing a suit and tie for our early evening conversation, sitting purposefully next to a piano. Keep reading »
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Wynton Marsalis’s Abyssinian Mass brings joy to the Lincoln Center, New York
It was odd to hear the apocalyptic terror of Verdi’s Requiem one night before the sunny exuberance of Wynton Marsalis’s Abyssinian Mass. While the Marsalis, shaped like a black church service, is bracingly diverse in its evocation of jazz and gospel styles, its underlying spirit is New Orleans joy — New Orleans being where the Marsalis clan comes from. Keep reading »
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JLCO with Wynton Marsalis in London - Bernstein’s compassionate generosity
Leonard Bernstein’s optimistic modernism united showtune, symphony and jazz into a single, outward-looking musical vision. This concert, part of the Barbican’s celebration of Bernstein’s centennial year, captured the compassionate generosity of Bernstein’s work through the opulent reeds, luxurious brass and rhythmic spring of the Jazz at Lincoln Center Orchestra (JLCO). Keep reading »
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Wynton Marsalis’s Spaces, Jazz at Lincoln Center, New York — ‘Lil Buck moved on a pillow of air’
With Spaces, Wynton Marsalis has created a jazz Carnival of the Animals. The trumpeter-composer conjures a snake from the slide of trombone, the shimmer of cymbal and the snare drum’s dry tick. Four trumpets, three trombones and five saxes render the clucking cacophony of barnyard chickens as well as their jerky gait. Frogs croak in and out of phase, like Steve Reich. Keep reading »
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Jazz at Lincoln Center Orchestra with Wynton Marsalis, Barbican, London — ‘Flamboyant’
Wynton Marsalis promised that the final evening of JLCO’s three-night Barbican residency would “capture the impact of George Gershwin’s music on the jazz tradition”. This was accomplished in flamboyant style. The trumpeter’s introductions were as concisely eloquent as his few short solos, while JLCO’s ability to conjure earlier jazz styles remains unrivalled. Over the evening they referenced late ragtime, cool-school modernism and most points in between. Keep reading »
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Marsalis Concerto in D, Barbican, London — ‘Vivid, restless’
Contrary to some preconceptions, classical music has always opened its arms to outside influences. In the US, jazz and classical have enjoyed a particularly fruitful courtship. If there ever were boundaries that mattered, they disappeared long ago. Gershwin, Copland and Bernstein have all been there, so Wynton Marsalis is in good company. Keep reading »