Marsalis, Wynton

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Marsalis, Wynton

Marsalis, Wynton, trumpeter, leader, composer; b. New Orleans, Oct. 18, 1961. The most honored musician in jazz of the 1990s, Wynton (the Irish name was given in tribute to Wynton Kelly) has become a leader in the jazz field, and he wears this hat comfortably, proudly, boldly. His work is always technically astounding. He is also known for peerless performances of classical music. But his jazz trumpet style has changed dramatically over the years, as he has molded it, rather self-consciously, to reflect his changing philosophy. When he first recorded with Art Blakey in 1980 and then with Herbie Hancock, he was flashy and modern, darting in unexpected directions. Today, he pays tribute to such past masters as Louis Armstrong and Ellington’s mute specialist Cootie Williams in solos that sometimes sound like patchworks rather than coherent personal statements. Similarly his composing has gone from flexible modern jazz works such as The Bell Ringer (1982) to heavily scored Ellingtonian works with “old-time” church-oriented vocalizing, as on his Pulitzer prize-winning Blood on the Fields and his 1998 Big Train albums.

He has become increasingly rigid in his definition of jazz, which he and his mentor, the critic Stanley Crouch, recite often: To be considered jazz, music must have the blues, improvisation, swing feeling, and the Latin tinge. This would be his private business, but he has grown to have more and more influence in the jazz community. He is artistic director of jazz at Lincoln Center and sets the programming and hiring policies there, has hosted a radio and television series designed to introduce audiences to various aspects of jazz as he sees it. He is a regular guest on television shows, and he is routinely asked to put his imprimatur on a variety of jazz projects around the country. As a result, his rather old-fashioned and close-minded views on jazz have been attacked by a number of musicians and critics. On the other hand, a great number of young musicians say that it was Marsalis who inspired them to play.

Wynton’s father, Ellis Marsalis , insisted that his children receive professional training. Wynton got his first trumpet at the age of six from Al Hirt. He played trumpet in Danny Barker’s Fairview Baptist Church band when he was eight, playing parades, and songs such as “Over in the Glory Land,” “The Second Line,” “Little Liza Jane,” and “Didn’t He Ramble.” But he didn’t practice seriously until age 12. His first teacher was John Longo, a New Orleans native at Southern Univ. Longo had studied with George Janson, a transplanted New Yorker, who was his next teacher, during high school, and stressed the book Characteristic Studies. George Marks was his band director at Benjamin Franklin H.S. and also in the New Orleans Community Band. The late John Fernandez at Xavier Univ. was also an inspiration. William Fielder, who taught at Miss. Valley State, was good friends with Fernandez and helped Marsalis with breathing and showed him how to play piccolo trumpet. Norman Smith, who was playing in the New Orleans Philharmonic at that time, taught him about attack and orchestral style. He appeared as soloist in the Haydn Trumpet Concerto with the New Orleans Phil. when he was 14, and also performed with local groups in classical, jazz, and rock settings.

In 1974, the elder Marsalis founded the jazz program for the New Orleans Center for the Creative Arts, which nurtured important new talent. In his father’s classroom, there was a small group including Wynton, Branford, Donald Harrison, and Terence Blanchard. Bert Braud was Wynton’s theory teacher at the Center. He also met with Alvin Batiste and Kidd Jordan and would go over to Southern Univ. in New Orleans to play avant-garde music. He sat in with Sonny Stitt once when he was 15. He won the Harvey Shapiro Award as the most gifted brass player at the Berkshire Music Center at Tanglewood at age 17. He attended Juilliard in N.Y. for one year; there he studied with William Vaggiano, who had taught Janson. At Mikell’s around this time he met Stanley Crouch, who encouraged him to study Ellington recordings. He also picked up informal tips from Sweets Edison and Clark Terry. Roy Eldridge taught him how to growl on the trumpet, and Joe Wilder gave him lessons on how to play with the hat. Dave Berger helped with composition and the study of Ellington scores.

Wynton and Branford and Danny House played in Europe with Clark Terry’s youth band in 1980. He joined Art Blakey’s Jazz Messengers (1980–81), playing with them at the jazz festival at Montreux, Switzerland (1980); then recorded with Herbie Hancock (1981) and toured with him in a quartet with Ron Carter and Tony Williams (1982). Hancock introduced him to Columbia, which began a major marketing campaign for the young star.

He toured internationally with his own quintet, which included Branford, from 1982–85. In 1984 and 1985 he achieved unprecedented success when he won Grammy awards in both the jazz and classical categories. He is credited with leading a jazz revival which has brought forward many talented young musicians. On Oct. 30, 1990, Marsalis hosted a benefit concert for Graham-Windham (a private child-care agency), the Autism Soc. of America, and the Immunohematology Research Foundation at Alice Tully Hall in N.Y.; featured were Ellis, Jason (making his debut on drums), Branford, and Wynton; absent was Delfeayo. They were joined by the members of Wynton’s septet. Since 1987 he has been advisor to the summer concert series Classical Jazz at Lincoln Center. This expanded into a year long Jazz at Lincoln Center program, with Marsalis as artistic director. In 1996 the program became a full-fledged “consitutent” of Lincoln Center and in 1998 work began on constructing a new home for the jazz program in nearby Columbus Circle.

He was host and coauthor of the 26-part National Public Radio series Making the Music, and of the four-part PBS series Marsalis on Music (with accompanying book). He lectures at countless schools and educational conferences, tending to stress that jazz is “hard and serious,” and therefore of value, and of greater value than hip hop and other pop musics—a highly specious argument which nevertheless has been effective in raising support for his program and for jazz generally. In March 1995 at the People’s Music School in Chicago, he kicked off a partnership with Harman International (manufacturers of audio equipment), which sponsors his visits to inner-city schools. He coordinates the “Essentially Ellington” H.S. Jazz Band Competition through Lincoln Center, which expanded competition from three states in 1996 to 13 (and the District of Columbia) in 1997, and to all states in 1999. They also sent out clinicians to the schools to help the bands learn the music: Joe Temperley, Jon Faddis, Marcus Printup, Eric Reed, Michael Weiss, Bill Easley, Ronald Westray, Justin DiCioccio, and others. He was spokesperson for the 1997–98 NBA season, has written music for the Olympic Games, and has received several honorary degrees, including Rutgers Univ. at Newark in 1997. Starting in 1992 with In This House, On This Morning, he has written longer pieces, including “Jazz: Six Syncopated Movements” for the N.Y.C. Ballet (1993); the string quartet “At the Octoroon Balls” (1995); and “Sweet Release,” a jazz ballet for the Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater (1996). His evening- length composition, “Blood in the Fields,” became the first jazz work to win a Pulitzer Prize in 1997 (though premiered at Lincoln Center in 1994 and recorded in 1995). He performed the work in 15 U.S. cities in 1997 before embarking on a two-week European tour in March. He now performs almost exclusively with the Lincoln Center Jazz Orch., his sextet having disbanded. Previous members included Marcus Roberts (who left to pursue a solo career), Todd Williams, Reginald Veal, Herlin Riley, Wes Anderson, Wycliffe Gordon, and pianists Farid Barron, Eric Reed, and Eric Lewis. On April 28, 1997, his quartet performed for Presidents Clinton, Bush, Carter, and Ford when they visited Independence Hall Plaza during the Presidents’ Summit for America’s Future. His videos inlcude the four-video set Marsalis on Music (1995), Blues and Swing (1988), and Trumpet Kings, which includes historical clips of various artists, hosted by Marsalis.

Discography

Wynton Marsalis (1981); Fathers and Sons (1982); Think of One (1983); Hot House Flowers (1984); Black Codes (1985); J Mood (1985); Standard Time, Vol. 1 (1986); Live at Blues Alley (1986); Standard Time, Vol. 2: Intimacy (1987); Uptown Ruler: Soul Gestures in Southern Blue/Vol. III (1988); Levee Low Moan (1988); Thick in the South: Soul Gestures in Southern Blue (1988); Majesty of the Blues (1988); Blues & Swing (1988); Original Soundtrack from “Tune in Tomorrow” (1989); Crescent City Christmas Card (1989); Standard Time, Vol.3 (1990); Blue Interlude (1991); Citi Movement (1992); In This House, On This Morning (1993); Joe Cool’s Blues (1994); Blood on the Fields (1995); Blakey’s Messengers, Vol. 1, 2 (1995); Blakey’s Theme (1995); Live at Bubba’s (1996); In Gabriel’s Garden (1996); Jump Start and Jazz (1996); Standard Time, Vol. 5: The Midnight Blues (1998); One by One (1998); Lincoln Center Jazz Orchestra: Live in Swing City (1998); Standard Time, Vol. 4: Marsalis Plays Monk (1999); Fiddler’s Tale (1999); At the Octoroon Balls: String Quartet No. 1 (1999); Big Train (1999); Sweet Release and Ghost Story (1999); Standard Time, Vol. 6: Mr. Jelly Lord (1999); Reeltime (1999).