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For Wynton Marsalis, forgetting the roots of jazz is forgetting the history of race in America
JALC is celebrating its 30th anniversary this year, and Marsalis is showing no signs of slowing down. He has never been one to shy away from speaking his mind on the record as well as on issues of race. He won the 1997 Pulitzer Prize for his jazz oratorio Blood on the Fields, which deals with slavery, and the content from his 2007 album From the Plantation to the Penitentiary is self-explanatory. Keep reading »
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Aspen Ideas Festival closes on a high note
The Greenwald Pavilion was nearly filled to capacity on Saturday as Aspen Ideas patrons watched Jon Batiste and Wynton Marsalis take the stage at the final discussion of the week-long festival. Keep reading »
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On Martin Luther King’s Legacy
On Monday January 16, 2012 Wynton appeared on CBS This Morning to premiere his remembrance piece on Martin Luther King Jr.
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Wynton Marsalis, From the Plantation to the Penitentiary (2008): Wynton in the 21st century
Only a few jazz musicians have actually changed the course of the music: Louis Armstrong, Duke Ellington, Charlie Parker and Dizzy Gillespie, Miles Davis (twice, maybe three times) and Ornette Coleman undeniably reset the compass—and Wynton Marsalis certainly did. Keep reading »
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Plantation Polemics: From Slavery to Supercapitalism
With his vexed views on the subject of “tradition” Wynton Marsalis, who graced Jazzwise’s first cover ten years ago, has become the epitome of the starchy jazz conservative that many would-be jazz liberals love to hate. Keep reading »
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Marsalis shoots straight from the lip
It’s only a few seconds, but silence is not what you expect from jazz’s outspoken and charismatic ambassador, better known for what he says than what he plays.
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Nor was it his typical mien during the Star’s brief afternoon backstage visit to the trumpeter-composer’s dressing room at Jazz at Lincoln Center’s Manhattan headquarters. -
Marsalis’ Sharp Social Critiques Come with Cool Riffs
Every decade or so, says jazz trumpeter Wynton Marsalis, he likes to set his social views to music. The last time around, it was Blood on the Fields, which won the 1997 Pulitzer Prize in music, a first for a jazz composition. Keep reading »
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Stop Nitpicking a Genius
IN THE OLD MASONIC HALL BEING USED AS A RECORDING STUDIO, WYNTON Marsalis tells the band to take a 10-minute break, steps down from the podium, comes over and gives me a hug. We sit down in the old theater seats. Keep reading »
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Wynton Marsalis and the Jazz Rage
Wynton Marsalis, the premier jazz figure of his time, leans against his black baby grand, lovingly explaining the life and legacy of Louis Armstrong to a Brazilian TV crew. The interview was supposed to have ended half an hour ago, but Marsalis waves off his publicist. He is hard into Teacher Wynton mode now, tracing Armstrong year by year from New Orleans to a Chicago ballroom. Keep reading »