-
The School of Hard Bop
He was young, only 17, and though there was bravado in his stride as he took the stage, the professional musicians said nothing to him. Watching him seat himself at the piano, they smiled at one another. They knew he had set a trap for himself, and now he would have to pay. They had done this themselves once. Long ago. Keep reading »
-
Marsalis Brilliant but Predictable in Orange County Center
The most amazing thing about Wynton Marsalis’ appearance at the Orange County Performing Art Center on Sunday night was the fact that the brilliant young trumpeter—the most visible new jazz musician of the ‘80s—played virtually nothing that could have startled anyone. Keep reading »
-
Marsalis: Playing as Much as Possible
In a powerful indication of how far he has advanced since his first cautious steps as a leader only six years ago, Wynton Marsalis will lead his quintet for two full weeks, starting tonight, at the Westwood Playhouse. There will be no other artists on the bill. Keep reading »
-
Marsalis displays his warm side at jam session
A piece of Montreux-Detroit Jazz Festival history went down in the wee hours of Sunday morning when trumpeter Wynton Marsalis and his band showed up to play at the New Rapa House Jam sessions in the Hotel Pont-chartriin. The moment revealed a rarely seen side of Marsalis and confirmed his dedication to these disintegrating proving grounds of traditional jazz. Keep reading »
-
Wynton Marsalis Shows His Ability As Innovator
ACCLAIMED trumpet player Wynton Marsalis displayed his incredible instrumental technique and talent for improvisation in a most appropriate setting Tuesday evening – a nightclub filled with appreciative jazz fans. Keep reading »
-
Marsalis at Symphony Hall: A show of authoritative lyricism
Wynton Marsalis has always seemed confident - he has, after all, received the adulation usually reserved for more startlingly original artists. Keep reading »
-
Jazz: Wynton Marsalis
The trumpeter Wynton Marsalis insists on understatement. In the quintet he’s leading through Sunday at the Joyce Theater, 175 Eighth Avenue, at 19th Street, every phrase is neatly tucked in, every arrangement carefully planned, every note burnished. Keep reading »
-
Wynton Marsalis Quintet has good, bad moment
The great alto saxophonist Cannonball Adderley once said, “Never trust a man in a clean trench coat.” I doubt if he was thinking of Wynton Marsalis, whose quintet played Sunday night at the Civic Center, since Marsalis was probably still running around New Orleans in knee pants when Adderley’s horn was silenced. Keep reading »
-
A Gentlemen With a Mean Horn
Wynton Marsalis fingers a cornet. America’s wunderkind from New Orleans is a modest, mellow and articulate fellow, and he’ll be 25 next month. What’s more, his fifth CBS jazz record, “J Mood,” is in the stores, and he’s in the mood to chat. Keep reading »
-
Review: Black Codes (From the Underground)
When Wynton Marsalis first emerged as a 19-year-old prodigy in Art Blakey’s Jazz Messengers, the trumpeter’s ardent defense of acoustic jazz was heartening. Here was a musician with enough technique to win classical Grammys and enough charisma to land on magazine covers, and he was devoting himself to a tradition whose rewards were more esthetic than financial. Keep reading »