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Wynton Marsalis and JLCO to interpret the music of Duke Ellington at Barclay
For someone with sterling credentials — a Pulitzer Prize, nine Grammy Awards, two Emmy nominations, a National Medal of Arts, National Humanities Medal, Down Beat Hall of Fame, 7 million albums sold worldwide, a reputation for working tirelessly with young musicians in countless workshops and master classes — it is rather surprising that Wynton Marsalis only wanted to talk about one thing. Keep reading »
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The short and the long of the American conversation in Wynton Marsalis’ Concerto in D at the Bowl
Every election year is about competing visions of America and what it means to be an American. Political parties this summer are particularly divided between and among themselves. The Hollywood Bowl, however, has offered to help with the vision thing. Keep reading »
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The challenge Nicola Benedetti threw down to get Wynton Marsalis to write a ‘wild’ violin concerto
Scottish violinist Nicola Benedetti was 17 when she met American jazz legend Wynton Marsalis. A rising classical star, she was on her own in New York for the first time for a performance at Lincoln Center. Keep reading »
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Dr. Jazz has a soft side
As the seconds pass before Wynton Marsalis picks up the phone in his Portland, Ore., hotel room, the mind sends a decree to the body: Be on guard. Keep reading »
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Wynton Marsalis swings for the fences
The ambitious bandleader’s new piece, ‘Swing Symphony,’ is a musical manifesto not only on the melding of jazz and classical but on the cultural crosscurrents that he feels are at the heart of America’s greatness. Keep reading »
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Wynton Marsalis on jazz, and jazz criticism
Talking with Wynton Marsalis about jazz is a pleasure, as I discovered while interviewing him for a Sunday Arts & Books profile (you can read it here). He plays at Disney Hall on Feb. 12 and 13. Keep reading »
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Wynton Marsalis and the Lincoln Center Jazz Orchestra at the Hollywood Bowl
Wynton Marsalis describes the big jazz band as “the American orchestra.” It’s an intriguing and, in many ways, definitive identification of the instrumental collective that has been a foundation ensemble of American jazz and popular music for more than 80 years. Like the classical orchestra, it is an ensemble that has served as the expressive musical vehicle for a particular culture—in this case, American rather than European. The performance by Marsalis’ 15-piece Lincoln Center Jazz Orchestra at the Hollywood Bowl on Wednesday night was a dynamic, living color display of the multifaceted meaning of his description. Keep reading »
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A Self-Conscious Celebration of Life in ‘All Rise’
Anyone who hadn’t before appreciated the phenomenal resolve of New Yorkers does now, watching the city pull together with heroic spirit in the wake of its terrible tragedy. That ingrained New York confidence may also explain why the New York Philharmonic developed an extreme case of millennium fever. Keep reading »
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Affirming Life in the Midst of a Tragedy
Wynton Marsalis, like most of the nation, was riveted to the television Tuesday as the terrorist tragedy in Manhattan and Washington unfolded. Keep reading »
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United in Music
Is there really only one Wynton Marsalis? Look in one direction and there he is, leading the Lincoln Center Jazz Orchestra through a program of jazz classics. Look in another, and he’s in a studio recording a Haydn trumpet concerto. Keep reading »