Wynton Marsalis's Blog, page 37

Violin Concerto By Wynton Marsalis Blends Jazz And Classical Music

Wynton Marsalis’ rare musical versatility has long been a beacon in the worlds of jazz and classical music. Now the Grammy Award-winning trumpeter and Pulitzer Prize-winning composer brings those worlds together in two new works for violin written for one of today’s foremost violinists.

Violinist Nicola Benedetti features with the Philadelphia Orchestra and conductor Christian Macelaru in the world-premiere recording of Marsalis’ Violin Concerto, and goes solo in Marsalis’ Fiddle Dance Suite for solo violin.

Both works draw inspiration from beyond the world of classical music – the violin concerto borrowing uniquely from blues and jazz, the Fiddle Dance Suite delving into the reels, jigs, strathspeys and other traditional music of Benedetti’s native Scotland.

Classical 101’s Jennifer Hambrick interviews violinist Nicola Benedetti about the groundbreaking new violin concerto by Wynton Marsalis.

At every turn, Marsalis’ Violin Concerto digs into blue notes, croons endless melodies, bumps folk-like tunes with syncopations ripped from the raw edges of the jazz club.

Take, for instance, the virtually identical endings of the first and fourth movements, which groove a melody that, in lesser hands, could have been the straight-laced tune of a Scottish reel. Or the concerto’s third movement, where a blues wanders off into its own unexpected sound world. Or the final movement, which blows the roof off the concerto in a foot-stomping hootenanny.

Few musicians are equipped to meld such a convincing blend of musical styles and idioms.

I had a chance recently to chat with Benedetti about how her collaboration with Marsalis came about, and about the “diverse world of people” that Benedetti asked Marsalis to invite into the experience of both works.

Listen above to our conversation and enjoy excerpts from Marsalis’ groundbreaking violin concerto.

And hear Benedetti and Marsalis talk about Marsalis’ violin concerto in the video below.

Wynton Marsalis to be honored at NCAFP 45TH Anniversary Gala

The National Committee on American Foreign Policy is pleased to announce that its 45th Anniversary Gala Awards Dinner will be held on Wednesday, October 23, 2019 at the Metropolitan Club in New York City.

Wynton Marsalis will be honored with NCAFP Award for Excellence in Cultural Diplomacy and International Engagement.

During the evening, NCAFP is also honoring:

Ambassador William J. Burns

Former Deputy Secretary of State

President, Carnegie Endowment for International Peace

George F. Kennan Award for Distinguished Public Service

Larry Gagosian

Founder and Owner, Gagosian

Global Business Leadership Award

Wynton Marsalis on The Open Ear Project: On Time And Consciousness

On Tuesday, September 10th, WQXR and WNYC Studios launched The Open Ears Project, a podcast that invites listeners to experience a daily dose of classical music through the ears of another. Part mixtape, part sonic love-letter, each short episode spotlights a special guest sharing a personal story about a piece of classical music and how it changed their life.

What would happen if we open our ears and our hearts to a new musical experience? What if we made a daily habit of listening deeply to classical music and each other? Every day, for 30 days, The Open Ears Project will give listeners the opportunity to explore these questions through storytelling and a companion email newsletter which provides context about the music and the guest, as well as a way for listeners to share their own Open Ears stories.

On Episode 19: On Time And Consciousness, Trumpeter and composer Wynton Marsalis talks about how Beethoven’s String Quartet No. 16 helped him understand the role of music — and the musician — in connecting the past and the future.

Beyond his technical achievements, Marsalis relates with Beethoven’s ability to unflinchingly investigate and combine conflicting emotions and states of consciousness to create art that unfolds in time.

“There [are] so many emotions in the piece, and so many states of consciousness — there’s not one thing. There’s an intensity of relationships that unfold over time.”

Critically Acclaimed The Abyssinian Mass By Wynton Marsalis Returns To The House Of Swing

On November 21-23, at 8:00 p.m., Jazz at Lincoln Center, in collaboration with Lincoln Center’s White Light Festival, reprises The Abyssinian Mass by award-winning composer and trumpeter Wynton Marsalis, in Jazz at Lincoln Center’s Rose Theater.

Marsalis and the Jazz at Lincoln Center Orchestra will be joined by Damien L. Sneed and the 70-piece Chorale Le Chateau with Reverend Dr. Calvin O. Butts III, pastor of Harlem’s Abyssinian Baptist Church, for this encore performance of The Abyssinian Mass. The epic suite explores the African American experience through a swinging big band and gospel choir celebration. Bringing full-throated gospel together with a massive range of jazz styles, The Abyssinian Mass is a sweeping blend of big band bravado,impassioned solos, hand claps, tambourine slaps, and some of the mightiest voices you’ll hear outside of church.

Commissioned in 2008 to honor the bicentennial of Harlem’s famed Abyssinian Baptist Church, The Abyssinian Mass has since become a best-selling record and toured packed concert halls and churches around the country. The unique masterpiece now returns exclusively to its hometown for three nights in the House of Swing. Created and performed for audiences of all faiths and backgrounds, The Abyssinian Mass is a spirited and swinging affirmation of just how good it can feel to be human.

A free pre-concert discussion takes place at 7:00 p.m. each night at Jazz at Lincoln Center.

The Abyssinian Mass takes place in Rose Theater in Frederick P.Rose Hall, home of Jazz at Lincoln Center, located on Broadway at 60th Street in New York City. For additional information and to purchase tickets,visit jazz.org

The Abyssinian Mass is available to Livestream at jazz.org/live on November 21 at 8:00 p.m.

Celebrating its 10th Anniversary, Lincoln Center’s White Light Festival is a multidisciplinary fall festival focusing on music’s capacity to illuminate the many dimensions of our interior lives. Initiated in 2010, the Festival explores music’s spiritual power as revealed in different cultural traditions.

Announcing the release of Big Band Holidays II by The Jazz at Lincoln Center Orchestra with Wynton Marsalis featuring Aretha Franklin’s Previously Unreleased Performance of “O Tannenbaum”

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(The JLCO trumpet section during a Big Band Holidays concert)

Jazz at Lincoln Center’s Blue Engine Records celebrates the most wonderful time of the year with the release of Big Band Holidays II, a sequel to a beloved and festive album released in 2015 and performed live by the world-renowned Jazz at Lincoln Center Orchestra with Wynton Marsalis.

Big Band Holidays II includes an electric, never-before-released solo piano performance of “O Tannenbaum” by Aretha Franklin. The Queen of Soul sang the holiday classic in English and German, while accompanying herself on piano, at a surprise performance at Jazz at Lincoln Center’s 2015 Big Band Holiday’s concert. “O Tannenbaum” exclusively on Big Band Holidays II, is one of only a handful of tracks to be released since Franklin’s passing on August 16, 2018.

Additional guests on Big Band Holidays II include some of today’s commanding new voices in jazz: Catherine Russell, Veronica Swift, Denzal Sinclaire, and Audrey Shakir. This newest collection of holiday classics is now available for pre-order and will be available on all digital platforms on October 25, 2019, in stores as a CD on November 8, 2019, and available on 2xLP audiophile vinyl later in the holiday season.

The Big Band Holidays concerts have been a New York City holiday tradition among jazz lovers and families for more than a decade. Every December, the critically acclaimed Jazz at Lincoln Center Orchestra with Wynton Marsalis and an all-star roster of guest vocalists explore the canon of holiday standards and perform both new and traditional arrangements of Yuletide favorites. Blue Engine Records has assembled highlights from these historical performances to make them available on record for the first time.

Big Band Holidays II tracks include holiday favorites “Silver Bells,” “The Most Wonderful Time of the Year,” and “Silent Night” and feature the Jazz at Lincoln Center Orchestra’s signature sense of swing, New Orleans-flavored nuances, and deeply soulful and church-rooted grooves.

Jazz at Lincoln Center Orchestra bassist Carlos Henriquez says, “The orchestra members work hard to arrange classic holiday songs that we then collaborate on with great singers. The holiday season is about family and soulful music — it doesn’t get any better!”

To celebrate this special Blue Engine Records release, the Jazz at Lincoln Center Orchestra and guest vocalists Denzal Sinclaire and Alexis Morrast will embark on a 12-city Big Band Holidays U.S. Tour. Kicking off the holiday season with messages of peace and good cheer, the Big Band Holidays tour commences on November 30 in Toronto, Canada and ends with four performances December 18-22, including a special matinee at Jazz at Lincoln Center’s Rose Theater at Frederick P. Rose Hall, located at Broadway at 60th Street in New York, New York.

TRACK LISTING

1. It’s the Most Wonderful Time of the Year

Written by Edward Pola & George Wyle

Arranged by Wynton Marsalis

Soloists: Wynton Marsalis (trumpet), Victor Goines (clarinet), Chris Crenshaw (trombone), Dan Nimmer (piano), Ted Nash (flute)

2. Cool Yule (ft. Catherine Russell)

Written by Steve Allen

Arranged by Sherman Irby

Soloists: Walter Blanding (tenor saxophone), Sherman Irby (alto saxophone)

3. We Three Kings (ft. Denzal Sinclaire)

Written by John Henry Hopkins, Jr.

Arranged by Carlos Henriquez

Soloists: Dan Nimmer (piano), Paul Nedzela (baritone saxophone)

4. O Tannenbaum (ft.Aretha Franklin)

Written by Ernst Anschütz

5. Rise Up, Shepherd, and Follow

Arranged by Ted Nash

Soloist: Marcus Printup (trumpet)

6. (Everybody’s Waitin’ for) The Man with the Bag (ft. Veronica Swift)

Written by Harold Stanley, Irving Taylor & Dudley Brooks

Arranged by Walter Blanding

Soloists: Veronica Swift (vocals), Vincent Gardner (trombone)

7. What Will Santa Claus Say? (When He Finds Everybody Swingin’) (ft. Catherine Russell)

Written by Louis Prima

Arranged by Chris Crenshaw

Soloists: Paul Nedzela (baritone saxophone), Ali Jackson (drums)

8. Brazilian Sleigh Bells

Written by Percy Faith

Arranged by Carlos Henriquez

Soloists: Wynton Marsalis (trumpet), Bruce Harris (trumpet), Sherman Irby (alto saxophone)

9. Silver Bells (ft. Catherine Russell)

Written by Ray Evans & Jay Livingston

Arranged by Ali Jackson

Soloists: Vincent Gardner (trombone), Ted Nash (flute), Dan Nimmer (piano)

10. Snowfall

Written by Claude Thornhill

Arranged by Sherman Irby

Soloist: Wynton Marsalis (trumpet)

11. Silent Night (ft. Denzal Sinclaire)

Written by Franz Gruber & Joseph Mohr

Arranged by Victor Goines

Soloists: James Chirillo (guitar), Kenny Rampton (trumpet)

PERSONNEL:

THE JAZZ AT LINCOLN CENTER ORCHESTRA WITH WYNTON MARSALIS

REEDS

Sherman Irby – alto and soprano saxophones, clarinet, flute; music director (2015-2016)

Ted Nash – alto and soprano saxophones, clarinet, flute

Victor Goines – music director (2018); tenor and soprano saxophones, clarinet

Walter Blanding (2015 – 2017) – tenor saxophone, clarinet, shaker

Paul Nedzela – baritone and soprano saxophones, bass clarinet

*Camille Thurman (2018) – tenor and soprano saxophones

TRUMPETS

Marcus Printup

Kenny Rampton

Wynton Marsalis (music director, 2017/18)

*Ryan Kisor (2015, 2017-2018)

*Greg Gisbert (2016)

*Bruce Harris (2016)

*Tatum Greenblatt (2017)

TROMBONES

Vincent Gardner

Chris Crenshaw

Elliot Mason (2015-2016, 2018)

*Sam Chess (2017)

*Eric Miller (2018)

RHYTHM SECTION

Dan Nimmer – piano Carlos Henriquez – bass Ali Jackson (2015-2016) – drums

*Marion Felder (2017) – drums

*Charles Goold (2018) – drums

FEATURED GUESTS

Aretha Franklin – vocals and piano

Audrey Shakir – vocals

Denzal Sinclaire vocals

Catherine Russell – vocals

Veronica Swift – vocals

James Chirillo – guitar

* indicates substitute orchestra member

*About Blue Engine Records*Blue Engine Records, Jazz at Lincoln Center’s platform that makes its vast archive of recorded concerts available to jazz audiences everywhere, launched on June 30, 2015. Blue Engine Records releases new studio and live recordings as well as archival recordings from Jazz at Lincoln Center’s performance history that date back to 1987 and are part of the R. Theodore Ammon Archives and Music Library. Since the institution’s founding in 1987, each year’s programming is conceived and developed by Managing and Artistic Director Wynton Marsalis with a vision toward building a comprehensive library of iconic and wide-ranging compositions that, taken together, make up a canon of music. These archives include accurate, complete charts for the compositions – both old and new – performed each season. Coupled with consistently well-executed and recorded music performed by Marsalis and the Jazz at Lincoln Center Orchestra, this archive has grown to include thousands of songs from hundreds of concert dates. The launch of Blue Engine is aligned with Jazz at Lincoln Center’s efforts to cultivate existing jazz fans worldwide and turn new audiences on to jazz. For more information on Blue Engine Records, visit blueenginerecords.org

Announcing the release of Big Band Holidays II by The Jazz at Lincoln Center Orchestra with Wynton Marsalis featuring Aretha Franklin’s Previously Unreleased Performance Of “O Tannenbaum”

Jazz at Lincoln Center’s Blue Engine Records celebrates the most wonderful time of the year with the release of Big Band Holidays II, a sequel to a beloved and festive album released in 2015 and performed live by the world-renowned Jazz at Lincoln Center Orchestra with Wynton Marsalis.

Big Band Holidays II includes an electric, never-before-released solo piano performance of “O Tannenbaum” by Aretha Franklin. The Queen of Soul sang the holiday classic in English and German, while accompanying herself on piano, at a surprise performance at Jazz at Lincoln Center’s 2015 Big Band Holiday’s concert. “O Tannenbaum” exclusively on Big Band Holidays II, is one of only a handful of tracks to be released since Franklin’s passing on August 16, 2018.

Additional guests on Big Band Holidays II include some of today’s commanding new voices in jazz: Catherine Russell, Veronica Swift, Denzal Sinclaire, and Audrey Shakir.*This newest collection of holiday classics is now available for pre-order and will be *available on all digital platforms on October 25, 2019, in stores as a CD on November 8, 2019, and available on 2xLP audiophile vinyl later in the holiday season.

The Big Band Holidays concerts have been a New York City holiday tradition among jazz lovers and families for more than a decade. Every December, the critically acclaimed Jazz at Lincoln Center Orchestra with Wynton Marsalis and an all-star roster of guest vocalists explore the canon of holiday standards and perform both new and traditional arrangements of Yuletide favorites. Blue Engine Records has assembled highlights from these historical performances to make them available on record for the first time.

Big Band Holidays II tracks include holiday favorites “Silver Bells,” “The Most Wonderful Time of the Year,” and “Silent Night” and feature the Jazz at Lincoln Center Orchestra’s signature sense of swing, New Orleans-flavored nuances, and deeply soulful and church-rooted grooves.

Jazz at Lincoln Center Orchestra bassist Carlos Henriquez says, “The orchestra members work hard to arrange classic holiday songs that we then collaborate on with great singers. The holiday season is about family and soulful music — it doesn’t get any better!”

To celebrate this special Blue Engine Records release, the Jazz at Lincoln Center Orchestra and guest vocalists Denzal Sinclaire and Alexis Morrast will embark on a 12-city Big Band Holidays U.S. Tour. Kicking off the holiday season with messages of peace and good cheer, the Big Band Holidays tour commences on November 30 in Toronto, Canada and ends with four performances December 18-22, including a special matinee at Jazz at Lincoln Center’s Rose Theater at Frederick P. Rose Hall, located at Broadway at 60th Street in New York, New York.

TRACK LISTING

1. It’s the Most Wonderful Time of the Year

Written by Edward Pola & George Wyle

Arranged by Wynton Marsalis

Soloists: Wynton Marsalis (trumpet), Victor Goines (clarinet), Chris Crenshaw (trombone), Dan Nimmer (piano), Ted Nash (flute)

2. Cool Yule (ft. Catherine Russell)

Written by Steve Allen

Arranged by Sherman Irby

Soloists: Walter Blanding (tenor saxophone), Sherman Irby (alto saxophone)

3. We Three Kings (ft. Denzal Sinclaire)

Written by John Henry Hopkins, Jr.

Arranged by Carlos Henriquez

Soloists: Dan Nimmer (piano), Paul Nedzela (baritone saxophone)

4. O Tannenbaum (ft.Aretha Franklin)

Written by Ernst Anschütz

5. Rise Up, Shepherd, and Follow

Arranged by Ted Nash

Soloist: Marcus Printup (trumpet)

6. (Everybody’s Waitin’ for) The Man with the Bag (ft. Veronica Swift)

Written by Harold Stanley, Irving Taylor & Dudley Brooks

Arranged by Walter Blanding

Soloists: Veronica Swift (vocals), Vincent Gardner (trombone)

7. What Will Santa Claus Say? (When He Finds Everybody Swingin’) (ft. Catherine Russell)

Written by Louis Prima

Arranged by Chris Crenshaw

Soloists: Paul Nedzela (baritone saxophone), Ali Jackson (drums)

8. Brazilian Sleigh Bells

Written by Percy Faith

Arranged by Carlos Henriquez

Soloists: Wynton Marsalis (trumpet), Bruce Harris (trumpet), Sherman Irby (alto saxophone)

9. Silver Bells (ft. Catherine Russell)

Written by Ray Evans & Jay Livingston

Arranged by Ali Jackson

Soloists: Vincent Gardner (trombone), Ted Nash (flute), Dan Nimmer (piano)

10. Snowfall

Written by Claude Thornhill

Arranged by Sherman Irby

Soloist: Wynton Marsalis (trumpet)

11. Silent Night (ft. Denzal Sinclaire)

Written by Franz Gruber & Joseph Mohr

Arranged by Victor Goines

Soloists: James Chirillo (guitar), Kenny Rampton (trumpet)

PERSONNEL:

THE JAZZ AT LINCOLN CENTER ORCHESTRA WITH WYNTON MARSALIS

REEDS

Sherman Irby – alto and soprano saxophones, clarinet, flute; music director (2015-2016)

Ted Nash – alto and soprano saxophones, clarinet, flute

Victor Goines – music director (2018); tenor and soprano saxophones, clarinet

Walter Blanding (2015 – 2017) – tenor saxophone, clarinet, shaker

Paul Nedzela – baritone and soprano saxophones, bass clarinet

*Camille Thurman (2018) – tenor and soprano saxophones

TRUMPETS

Marcus Printup

Kenny Rampton

Wynton Marsalis (music director, 2017/18)

*Ryan Kisor (2015, 2017-2018)

*Greg Gisbert (2016)

*Bruce Harris (2016)

*Tatum Greenblatt (2017)

TROMBONES

Vincent Gardner

Chris Crenshaw

Elliot Mason (2015-2016, 2018)

*Sam Chess (2017)

*Eric Miller (2018)

RHYTHM SECTION

Dan Nimmer – piano Carlos Henriquez – bass Ali Jackson (2015-2016) – drums

*Marion Felder (2017) – drums

*Charles Goold (2018) – drums

FEATURED GUESTS

Aretha Franklin – vocals and piano

Audrey Shakir – vocals

Denzal Sinclaire vocals

Catherine Russell – vocals

Veronica Swift – vocals

James Chirillo – guitar

* indicates substitute orchestra member

*About Blue Engine Records*Blue Engine Records, Jazz at Lincoln Center’s platform that makes its vast archive of recorded concerts available to jazz audiences everywhere, launched on June 30, 2015. Blue Engine Records releases new studio and live recordings as well as archival recordings from Jazz at Lincoln Center’s performance history that date back to 1987 and are part of the R. Theodore Ammon Archives and Music Library. Since the institution’s founding in 1987, each year’s programming is conceived and developed by Managing and Artistic Director Wynton Marsalis with a vision toward building a comprehensive library of iconic and wide-ranging compositions that, taken together, make up a canon of music. These archives include accurate, complete charts for the compositions – both old and new – performed each season. Coupled with consistently well-executed and recorded music performed by Marsalis and the Jazz at Lincoln Center Orchestra, this archive has grown to include thousands of songs from hundreds of concert dates. The launch of Blue Engine is aligned with Jazz at Lincoln Center’s efforts to cultivate existing jazz fans worldwide and turn new audiences on to jazz. For more information on Blue Engine Records, visit blueenginerecords.org

Announcing The Release Of Big Band Holidays II By The Jazz at Lincoln Center Orchestra with Wynton Marsalis Featuring Aretha Franklin’s Previously Unreleased Performance Of “O Tannenbaum”

New York, NY (September 23, 2019) – ***Jazz at Lincoln** *Center’s Blue Engine Records celebrates the most wonderful time of the year with the release of Big Band Holidays II, a sequel to a beloved and festive album released in 2015 and performed live by the world-renowned Jazz at Lincoln Center Orchestra with Wynton Marsalis.

Big Band Holidays II includes an electric, never-before-released solo piano performance of "O Tannenbaum" by Aretha Franklin. The Queen of Soul sang the holiday classic in English and German, while accompanying herself on piano*,*at a surprise performance at Jazz at Lincoln Center’s 2015 _Big Band Holiday_s concert. "O Tannenbaum," exclusively on _Big Band Holidays II,_is one of only a handful of tracks to be released since Franklin’s passing on August 16, 2018.

Additional guests on Big Band Holidays II include some of today’s commanding new voices in jazz: Catherine Russell, Veronica Swift, Denzal Sinclaire, and Audrey Shakir.*This newest collection of holiday classics is now available for pre-order and will be *available on all digital platforms on October 25, 2019, in stores as a CD on November 8, 2019, and available on 2xLP audiophile vinyl later in the holiday season.

The Big Band Holidays concerts have been a New York City holiday tradition among jazz lovers and families for more than a decade. Every December, the critically acclaimed Jazz at Lincoln Center Orchestra with Wynton Marsalis and an all-star roster of guest vocalists explore the canon of holiday standards and perform both new and traditional arrangements of Yuletide favorites. Blue Engine Records has assembled highlights from these historical performances to make them available on record for the first time.

Big Band Holidays II tracks include holiday favorites “Silver Bells,” “The Most Wonderful Time of the Year,” and “Silent Night” and feature the Jazz at Lincoln Center Orchestra’s signature sense of swing, New Orleans-flavored nuances, and deeply soulful and church-rooted grooves.

Jazz at Lincoln Center Orchestra bassist Carlos Henriquez says, “The orchestra members work hard to arrange classic holiday songs that we then collaborate on with great singers. The holiday season is about family and soulful music — it doesn’t get any better!”

To celebrate this special Blue Engine Records release, the Jazz at Lincoln Center Orchestra and guest vocalists Denzal Sinclaire and Alexis Morrast will embark on a 12-city Big Band Holidays U.S. Tour. Kicking off the holiday season with messages of peace and good cheer, the Big Band Holidays tour commences on November 30 in Toronto, Canada and ends with four performances December 18-22, including a special matinee at Jazz at Lincoln Center’s Rose Theater at Frederick P. Rose Hall, located at Broadway at 60th Street in New York, New York.

TRACK LISTING

\1. It’s the Most Wonderful Time of the Year

Written by Edward Pola & George Wyle

Arranged by Wynton Marsalis

Soloists: Wynton Marsalis (trumpet), Victor Goines (clarinet), Chris Crenshaw (trombone), Dan Nimmer (piano), Ted Nash (flute)

\2. Cool Yule (ft. Catherine Russell)

Written by Steve Allen

Arranged by Sherman Irby

Soloists: Walter Blanding (tenor saxophone), Sherman Irby (alto saxophone)

\3. We Three Kings (ft. Denzal Sinclaire)

Written by John Henry Hopkins, Jr.

Arranged by Carlos Henriquez

Soloists: Dan Nimmer (piano), Paul Nedzela (baritone saxophone)

\4. O Tannenbaum (ft.Aretha Franklin)

Written by Ernst Anschütz

\5. Rise Up, Shepherd, and Follow

Arranged by Ted Nash

Soloist: Marcus Printup (trumpet)

\6. (Everybody’s Waitin’ for) The Man with the Bag (ft. Veronica Swift)

Written by Harold Stanley, Irving Taylor & Dudley Brooks

Arranged by Walter Blanding

Soloists: Veronica Swift (vocals), Vincent Gardner (trombone)

\7. What Will Santa Claus Say? (When He Finds Everybody Swingin’) (ft. Catherine Russell)

Written by Louis Prima

Arranged by Chris Crenshaw

Soloists: Paul Nedzela (baritone saxophone), Ali Jackson (drums)

\8. Brazilian Sleigh Bells

Written by Percy Faith

Arranged by Carlos Henriquez

Soloists: Wynton Marsalis (trumpet), Bruce Harris (trumpet), Sherman Irby (alto saxophone)

\9. Silver Bells (ft. Catherine Russell)

Written by Ray Evans & Jay Livingston

Arranged by Ali Jackson

Soloists: Vincent Gardner (trombone), Ted Nash (flute), Dan Nimmer (piano)

\10. Snowfall

Written by Claude Thornhill

Arranged by Sherman Irby

Soloist: Wynton Marsalis (trumpet)

\11. Silent Night (ft. Denzal Sinclaire)

Written by Franz Gruber & Joseph Mohr

Arranged by Victor Goines

Soloists: James Chirillo (guitar), Kenny Rampton (trumpet)

PERSONNEL:

THE JAZZ AT LINCOLN CENTER ORCHESTRA WITH WYNTON MARSALIS

REEDS

Sherman Irby – alto and soprano saxophones, clarinet, flute; music director (2015-2016)

Ted Nash – alto and soprano saxophones, clarinet, flute

Victor Goines – music director (2018); tenor and soprano saxophones, clarinet

Walter Blanding (2015 – 2017) – tenor saxophone, clarinet, shaker

Paul Nedzela – baritone and soprano saxophones, bass clarinet

*Camille Thurman (2018) – tenor and soprano saxophones

TRUMPETS

Marcus Printup

Kenny Rampton

Wynton Marsalis (music director, 2017/18)

*Ryan Kisor (2015, 2017-2018)

*Greg Gisbert (2016)

*Bruce Harris (2016)

*Tatum Greenblatt (2017)

TROMBONES

Vincent Gardner

Chris Crenshaw

Elliot Mason (2015-2016, 2018)

*Sam Chess (2017)

*Eric Miller (2018)

RHYTHM SECTION

Dan Nimmer – piano Carlos Henriquez – bass Ali Jackson (2015-2016) – drums

*Marion Felder (2017) – drums

*Charles Goold (2018) – drums

FEATURED GUESTS

Aretha Franklin – vocals and piano

Audrey Shakir – vocals

Denzal Sinclaire vocals

Catherine Russell – vocals

Veronica Swift – vocals

James Chirillo – guitar

* indicates substitute orchestra member

*About Blue Engine Records*Blue Engine Records, Jazz at Lincoln Center’s platform that makes its vast archive of recorded concerts available to jazz audiences everywhere, launched on June 30, 2015. Blue Engine Records releases new studio and live recordings as well as archival recordings from Jazz at Lincoln Center’s performance history that date back to 1987 and are part of the R. Theodore Ammon Archives and Music Library. Since the institution’s founding in 1987, each year’s programming is conceived and developed by Managing and Artistic Director Wynton Marsalis with a vision toward building a comprehensive library of iconic and wide-ranging compositions that, taken together, make up a canon of music. These archives include accurate, complete charts for the compositions – both old and new – performed each season. Coupled with consistently well-executed and recorded music performed by Marsalis and the Jazz at Lincoln Center Orchestra, this archive has grown to include thousands of songs from hundreds of concert dates. The launch of Blue Engine is aligned with Jazz at Lincoln Center’s efforts to cultivate existing jazz fans worldwide and turn new audiences on to jazz. For more information on Blue Engine Records, visit blueenginerecords.org

Wynton Marsalis and More Celebrate the Sounds of Post-Apartheid South African Jazz in New York

The story of South African jazz has been told in venues across New York City since the ’60s, when the likes of Hugh Masekela and Miriam Makeba came to the town as exiles from Johannesburg. The part of the story that came after the country found democracy hasn’t had as much stage time as fans of the genre would say it deserves. It’s this part of the story that Jazz at Lincoln Center’s new series of concerts, the South African Songbook, chose to spotlight to kick off its 2019-2020 season.

On Friday night (Sept. 13), the second night of the series, Wynton Marsalis and his 15-piece big band paid homage to some of the artists who make up South Africa’s post-liberation jazz scene, and at the venue where the late Masekela celebrated his 75th birthday in 2014.

“The story of South African jazz did not end in 1994, but rather, it became even richer and more nuanced,” writes Seton Hawkins, Director of Public Programs and Education Resources at Jazz at Lincoln Center, in the program notes. Indeed, the first democratic elections, where the late Nelson Mandela became the country’s first black president, became a point of inflection in many jazz artists’ careers. The resulting political and socio-economic challenges the country has had and continues to face have left their mark on jazz, creating a canon of work that has wrestled with themes of identity, freedom and what-comes-next.

In the years following Mandela’s election, jazz musicians have worked to reinforce local traditions while still being open to the influences of the world around them. The genre has moved from being a prolific tool of resistance to a blueprint of hope and reconciliation.

Saxophonist McCoy Mrubata played his 2002 South African Music Award-winning track “Face the Music,” which captures the rich tenor saxophone tradition he has drawn on to explore new paths of expression within jazz. A leading figure in contemporary South African jazz, Mrubata has worked with musicians across all genres to reinterpret tunes from the African and Afrikaans communities, bringing familiar melodies from the Xhosa and Zulu cultures together with Afrikaans folk music to bridge the gaps that once existed.

Mrubtata and the big band played “Qula Kwedini,” from Mrubata’s fellow saxophonist, the late Zim Ngqawana, who poured his own Xhosa traditions into his music in the ‘90s and 2000s. Through him, Ngqawana’s version of the traditional song, affiliated with the rite of passage into manhood that Xhosa men undergo, became a model jazz masterpiece.

Like Ngqawana, the self-taught multi-instrumentalist and composer Bheki Mseleku is no longer alive, having died a decade ago following a long struggle with diabetes. Heralded for his classic rhythm structures, Mseleku created “Mbizo,” arranged for Friday evening’s performance by Ted Nash and performed by Nduduzo Makhathini. Inspired by both Mseleku and Ngqawana, the younger Makhathini wears the influences of both artists proudly, using them as springboard for his own meditations on home and spirituality. Seeing his work as offerings or rituals, Makhathini, a practicing sangoma, gave to the evening’s performance his composition of hope, titled “Ithemba.”

Makhathini embodies the new coming of South African jazz in a way that the late Moses Taiwa Molelekwa had begun to, before he cut his life short when he committed suicide at the age of 27 in 2001. Molelekwa, who was considered the brightest hope for a renaissance of South Africa’s jazz culture, synthesized African and western idioms, both traditional and contemporary, and looked to infuse jazz with global music trends. “Rapela,” off Molelekwa’s award-winning album Genes and Spirits, arranged by Carlos Henriquez, showed how the infectious rhythms of Cameroon, West Africa influenced the pianist.

Other highlights of the evening included Thandi Ntuli, who hails from the capital of South Africa, Pretoria, playing “Abyssinia,” a tune she composed on the piano that reflects her cross-cultural mix of America and African traditional music, and vocalist Melanie Scholtz, who grew up in Cape Town, drawing on poet James Matthews for “Weave Me A Fantasy, Child,” which speaks to the possibilities for the country’s future.

Youngers vocalists like Nonhlanhla Kheswa, a former member of The Lion King cast, and Vuyo Sotashe, who came to the U.S. on a Fulbright Scholarship, are part of a new generation that pick up the diverse strands of South African jazz and take it in new directions.

But, as the compositions selected for the event show, within the variations and styles that South African jazz has come to incorporate, it continues to be a genre of transformation. The evening’s final song, Masekela’s “Send Me (Thuma mina),” was performed by the entire ensemble and captured this. With its popular traditional church chorus highlighting themes of self-sacrifice and individual responsibility, the tune is so evocative and was used by current president Cyril Ramaphosa in his inauguration speech last year as a call to action for all South Africans, jazz musicians and non.

Marsalis and his 15-piece Jazz at Lincoln Center Orchestra will open this year’s Standard Bank Joy of Jazz in Sandton, Johannesburg later this month, on Sept. 26.

by Nadia Neophytou

Source: Billboard

Wynton Marsalis, Allan Harris to Honor Two Legends on Sept. 6

Wynton Marsalis, Allan Harris, and Antoinette Montague will pay tribute to two jazz icons at a special concert set for Friday, September 6 at 6 p.m. in Jersey City, New Jersey.

The 7th Annual New Jersey City University Alumni Jazz Big Band Concert is being held in celebration of the 100th birthdays of Nat King Cole and Art Blakey. The free concert will take place at the J. Owen Grundy Pier, Exchange Place, Jersey City. Seating is on a first-come, first served basis. In the event of rain, the concert will be held in the Harborside Atrium, Harborside 2 and 3 at 34 Exchange Place.

Marsalis has a personal connection to Blakey; in 1980 he joined the drummer/bandleader’s long-running combo the Jazz Messengers, a proving ground for up-and-coming musicians. Since his Jazz Messengers stint Marsalis has won nine Grammy Awards, a Pulitzer Prize, the National Medal of the Arts, and the National Humanities Medal, among many other awards and accolades.

Allan Harris will salute Nat King Cole—appropriately, as Harris’ vocal style has been compared to Cole’s, as well as those of other greats such as Tony Bennett and Frank Sinatra. Harris will be joined on stage for several duets with New Jersey-based Antoinette Montague.

The Alumni Jazz Big Band will include New Jersey City University alums who studied at the school as far back as the 1960s, when its jazz program was first created.

The band members are drummer Rich DeRosa; sax players Mark Friedman, Bob Magnusson, Dave Noland, Dustyn Richardson, and John DiSanto; trumpeters Alex Norris, Nate Eklund, and Vinnie Cutro; trombonists Rob Edwards, Mike Modero, and Conrad Zulauf; and faculty member Garry Dial on piano. The band will also feature three students: bassist John Benitez, trombonist Juanga Lakunza, and trumpeter Alejandro Pizarro-Leon.

Jazz at Lincoln Center joins Sesame Street’s Milestone 50th Anniversary with First-Ever Performance featuring the JLCO with Wynton Marsalis and Iconic Sesame Street Characters

This fall, Jazz at Lincoln Center will welcome beloved Sesame Street characters Elmo, Abby, Big Bird, Grover, Oscar the Grouch, Rosita, Bert& Ernie, The Count, and Hoots the Owl to sing classic Sesame Street songs such as “Sing,” “People in Your Neighborhood,” “Rubber Duckie,” and “Sunny Days” alongside the world-renowned Jazz at Lincoln Center Orchestra with Wynton Marsalis in Rose Theater. This exclusive world premiere, A Swingin’ Sesame Street Celebration: 50 Years and Counting – music directed by Wynton Marsalis with director Kenneth Diego and scriptwriter Andrew Moriarty—takes place on October 25 at 7:00 p.m. and October 26 at 2:00 p.m. and 7:00 p.m. in Rose Theater. The concert is one of Sesame Street’s landmark 50th anniversary events.

Many of the jazz greats have visited Sesame Street over the past 50 years. It’s where countless children were introduced to legends like Dizzy Gillespie, Herbie Hancock, and Mary Lou Williams. Even Jazz at Lincoln Center’s Wynton Marsalis visited Sesame Street a few times, where he played “Take the A Train”with the Duck Ellington Orchestra and joined Hoots the Owl on “No Matter What Your Language (Our Music Can Be The Same).”

A Swingin’ Sesame Street Celebration: 50 Years and Counting is proudly presented in collaboration with Sesame Workshop, the nonprofit organization behind the beloved show. All performances take place at Frederick P. Rose Hall, home of Jazz at Lincoln Center, on Broadway at 60th Street in New York City. Additional information about the performance is available online: jazz.org

Box Office hours:

Monday-Saturday: 10:00 a.m. to 6:00 p.m. (or 30 minutes past curtain)

Sunday: 12:00 p.m. noon to 6:00 p.m. (or 30 minutes past curtain).

Additional information may be found at jazz.org |

Facebook: facebook.com/jazzatlincolncenter |

Twitter: @jazzdotorg | Instagram: @jazzdotorg |

YouTube: youtube.com/jalc | Livestream: jazz.org/live