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A Veritable Feast of Music for Christmas
The holiday pattern is by now familiar. While the networks gorge themselves on Christmas movies, public television sings itself hoarse with music specials. Anything with Luciano Pavarotti, apparently, is considered fail-safe. Keep reading »
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A Heritage Is Affirmed In ‘Griot New York’
“Griot New York” is one of the happiest and most poetic dance premieres of the season. This first-time collaboration by the choreographer Garth Fagan, the composer and trumpeter Wynton Marsalis and the sculptor Martin Puryear is constantly blessed with a quality of surprise. Keep reading »
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Good News in Jazz, With a Big Caveat
As a model of how an institution should offer its wares to its city, Lincoln Center’s new jazz program could hardly be better. With the schedule announced this month, the ambitious yearlong program will include not only concerts but also films, educational series and lectures. Keep reading »
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Wynton Marsalis, Immersed in the Deep Blues
Some 100 years after its development, the blues and its distinctly American tonality still roll on. The impact has been astounding: a humble 12-bar, 3-chord repeating cycle, made popular by the repressed black minority, has given definition to some of the most important musical developments of the 20th century. Keep reading »
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Young Musicians Find A Future in the Past
The trumpeter Wynton Marsalis, who is 29 years old, was the seasoned elder at Avery Fisher Hall on Saturday’s double bill of Mr. Marsalis’s septet and Jazz Futures, an alliance of musicians in their 20’s. Keep reading »
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The Young Of Jazz: Not All Are Restless
JAZZ demographers, if there are any, will mark 1991 as a turning point for the annual JVC Jazz Festival in New York City. This year, the median age of headliners plummets by at least a decade. Keep reading »
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(Most of) The Marsalis Family in Concert
There’s no generation gap in the musical taste of the Marsalis family of New Orleans. From the 55-year-old patriarch and pianist, Ellis Marsalis, down to the 13-year-old drummer Jason, the hard-bop of the late 1950’s and 60’s is the pinnacle of jazz, and they have led a revival of the style among young musicians. Keep reading »
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Some Respect for Jackie McLean
A tribute to the alto saxophonist Jackie McLean on Saturday night at Alice Tully Hall really began two songs in, with the arrival of the trumpeter Wynton Marsalis. Keep reading »
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Pearl Bailey’s Pop and the Blues of Wynton Marsalis
Seriousness and shtick shared the stage of Avery Fisher Hall on Wednesday night in one of those peculiar jazz festival double bills: the trumpeter Wynton Marsalis opening for the singer Pearl Bailey. Keep reading »
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Reviving the Sound and Feel Of Jelly Roll Morton’s Jazz
Jelly Roll Morton’s music from the 1920’s and 30’s sounded anything but antiquated at ‘‘Mr. Jelly Lord,’’ the classical jazz concert that re-created Morton’s music for solo piano, duos, trios and a seven-piece band on Monday night at Alice Tully Hall. Keep reading »