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Marsalis: blazing modern jazz
How is a truly great jazz combo created? You begin with a group of musicians out of the common run, who are guided by some dominant principle or personality and the resultant sound will be truly unique pleasing to the ear because it is musical to the soul because it is integral. Keep reading »
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Shows Why He’s Up For Grammys
Wynton Marsalis, the only musician to be nominated for awards in the areas of both jazz and classical in the history of the Grammys, proved to a standing-room-only crowd at the Sheldon Memorial Auditorium on Saturday, evening that his jazz nominations were richly deserved. Keep reading »
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Young trumpet sensation sharpens rough edges
It’s Grammy Awards Time - when the music industry recognizes “deserving” artists. Or in other words, when it pays glowing tributes to artists who attract the largest audience and pull in the biggest bucks. Keep reading »
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MARSALIS: Jazz meets classics
LINCOLN Centre, New York City, June, 1983. Wynton Marsalis, a 21-year-old trumpet player was sharing the bill with Miles Davis, a man whom Marsalis had admired at one time, but whose own playing has deteriorated over the years. Davis came out to the cheers of the converted. His band droned through an hour of mushy jazz-rock rhythms while he filled the air with trumpet notes, most of them unmemorable. Keep reading »
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Plenty on the horn
“I’m gonna be who I am regardless of who I listen to,” says Wynton Marsalis, the young trumpeter who has been setting both the jazz and classical music worlds on their ears with his apparently boundless talent and technique. Keep reading »
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Jazz’s monster
In sports, they call guys like Wynton Marsalis a phee-nom. In musician’s jargon, he’s known as a monster. One look at him, and you might wonder what all the noise is about. Keep reading »
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Family Affair: The Marsalis Magic At Blues Alley
Watching the two Marsalis brothers play with their father at Blues Alley last night, one could almost imagine a similar scene seven years ago at their New Orleans home when the father was tutoring the two high schoolers in the basics of bop. Keep reading »
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At 22, Marsalis Gives Jazz Much-Needed Boost
Not since the emergence of the young Clifford Brown has the jazz trumpet commanded the renewed interest which currently swirls about 22-year-old Wynton Marsalis, who is equally at home in the classical and jazz milieu. Keep reading »
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Kathleen Battle Sings Bach
Kathleen Battle’s concert at Alice Tully Hall last night seemed almost a conscious rejection of the song recital format. There were no French or Italian songs, no lieder, no operatic extracts, but in their place, Bach, spirituals and jazz. Keep reading »
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Wynton Marsalis emerges full-blown
At 17, Wynton Marsalis of New Orleans was a year shy of the required age to play classical music at Tanglewood. Having performed the Haydn Trumpet Concerto with the New Orleans Philharmonic at 14 was impressive enough, but it took more than that to beat the rules and get into the prestigious festival. Keep reading »