| Wynton Marsalis |
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Information AboutWynton Marsalis |
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He is among the most prominent Jazz musicians of the modern era, and by far the best-known African-American instrumentalist in Classical Music . Marsalis has made his reputation with a combination of skill in jazz performance and composition; a sophisticated, yet earthy and Hip personal style; an impressive knowledge of jazz and jazz history; and a virtuosity in classical trumpet. As Of 2006 , he has made 16 classical and more than 30 jazz recordings, and has been awarded nine Grammys , spanning both genres. BIOGRAPHY Wynton was born in New Orleans , Louisiana on October 18, 1961 to Dolores and Ellis Marsalis . He was the second of six sons, one of whom is Autistic . Ellis, a music teacher, was a longtime fixture on the New Orleans jazz scene, and several of Wynton's brothers are also notable musicians; saxophonist Branford Marsalis is probably as well known as Wynton. At an early age Wynton exhibited seriousness about study, an aptitude for music and a desire to contribute to American culture. At age 8 he performed traditional New Orleans music in the Fairview Baptist Church band led by legendary banjoist, Danny Barker . At 14 he was invited to perform with the New Orleans Philharmonic. During high school Wynton was a member of the New Orleans Symphony Brass Quintet, New Orleans Community Concert Band, New Orleans Youth Orchestra, New Orleans Symphony and on weekends he performed in a jazz band as well as in the popular local Funk band, the Creators. At age 17, Marsalis became the youngest musician ever to be admitted to Tanglewood's Berkshire Music Center. Despite his youth, he was awarded the school's prestigious Harvey Shapiro Award for outstanding brass student. When Wynton moved to New York City to attend the Juilliard School Of Music in 1978 and began to pick up gigs around town, his talent garnered much attention. Two years later (in 1980) he joined the Jazz Messengers to study under master drummer and bandleader, , Dizzy Gillespie , Harry Edison , Clark Terry , Sonny Rollins , and many other jazz legends. Marsalis eventually assembled his own band and hit the road, performing over 120 concerts every year for ten consecutive years. His objective was to learn how to play, and to comprehend how best give to his audience. During these years, Marsalis's strong belief in jazz and his vision for the music helped revitalize the art form. Through an exhaustive series of performances, lectures, and music workshops, Marsalis rekindled widespread interest in an art form that had been largely abandoned and redefined out of what he saw as its artistic substance. Marsalis invested his creative energy in the art of jazz and would not be compromised by financial opportunity or critical pressure. Additionally, he garnered recognition for the older generation of jazz musicians and prompted the re-issuance of jazz catalog by record companies worldwide. A quick glance at the better known jazz musicians today reveals many students of Marsalis' workshops: James Carter , Christian McBride , Roy Hargrove , Harry Connick Jr. , Nicholas Payton , Eric Reed and Eric Lewis to name a few. Not content to focus solely on his musicianship, Marsalis devoted equal time to developing his Composition al skills. The Dance community quickly embraced his works, and he received commissions to create major compositions for Garth Fagan Dance, Peter Martins at the New York City Ballet , Twyla Tharp for the American Ballet Theatre , and for the Alvin Ailey American Dance Theatre. Marsalis collaborated with the Lincoln Center Chamber Music Society in 1995 to compose the string quartet, ''At The Octroon Balls, and again in 1998 to create a response to Stravinsky's '' A Soldier's Tale with his composition, ''A Fiddler's Tale''. In 1997 he became the first jazz musician to win the Pulitzer Prize in music, for his epic oratorio, '' Blood On The Fields '', on the subject of Slavery . MUSICAL ACOMPLISHMENTS As a composer and performer, Marsalis is also represented on a quartet of Sony Classical releases, ''At the Octoroon Balls: String Quartet No. 1'', ''A Fiddler's Tale'', ''Reel Time'' and ''Sweet Release and Ghost Story: Two More Ballets by Wynton Marsalis''. All are volumes of an eight-CD series, titled "Swinging Into The 21st", that is an unprecedented set of albums released in the past year featuring a remarkable scope of original compositions and standards, from jazz to classical to ballet, by composers from Jelly Roll Morton to Stravinsky to Monk, in addition to Marsalis. ''At the Octoroon Balls'' features the world-premiere recording of Marsalis' first string quartet, performed by the Orion Quartet. The work was commissioned by Lincoln Center, and its premiere by the Orion Quartet in 1995 was presented in conjunction with the Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center. ''A Fiddler's Tale'', also commissioned by the Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center for MARSALIS/STRAVINSKY, a joint project of the Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center and Jazz At Lincoln Center, is work with narration about a musician who sells her soul to a record producer. It was premiered on April 23, 1998, at Hill Auditorium in Ann Arbor, Michigan. A version without narration was included on the album ''At the Octoroon Balls: String Quartet No. 1''. ''Reeltime'' is Marsalis' score for the acclaimed John Singleton film Rosewood. This original music, featuring vocal performances by best-selling artists Cassandra Wilson and Shirley Caesar, was never used in the film and is available here for the first time. ''Sweet Release and Ghost Story'' offers another world premiere recording of two original ballet scores by Marsalis, written for and premiered by the Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater and the Zhong Mei Dance Company, both in New York City. As an exclusive classical artist for Sony Classical, Marsalis has won critical acclaim for the recording ''In Gabriel's Garden'' (SK/ST 66244), featuring Baroque music for trumpet and orchestra. It includes performances of Bach's Brandenburg Concerto no. 2 and Mouret's Rondeau, a video of which has been adopted as the new theme for PBS's Masterpiece Theatre. The San Francisco Examiner wrote, "Marsalis continues to define great musicmaking… pieces are all articulated with dazzling clarity and enthusiasm." The album features the English Chamber Orchestra, conducted by Anthony Newman, and was produced by Steven Epstein. CONTROVERSY Marsalis's strongly held views regarding the roots of jazz and its development have generated some negative appraisals from jazz critics and fellow musicians. Well-known critic argues that Marsalis's focus on a narrow portion of jazz's past is stifling the music's growth and preventing any further innovation. Pierre Sprey (president of jazz record company Mapleshade Records ) declares that "When Marsalis was 19 he was a fine jazz trumpeter ... But he was getting his ass kicked every night in Art Blakey's band. I don't think he could keep up. And finally he retreated to safe waters. He's a good classical trumpeter and thus he sees jazz as being a classical Music. He has no clue what's going on now." {Link without Title} promotion of Marsalis's music rather than his own, and this was a factor in Davis's departure from Columbia after several decades. '' Down Beat '' magazine's online website says of Marsalis: For many, Wynton Marsalis saved pure jazz from a morass of pop fusion and noise. Others contend that the trumpeter instilled a regressive notion of the jazz tradition. This debate, not to mention his instrumental proficiency and compositional ambition, has made him one of the most prominent and controversial jazz musicians of the '80s and '90s. {Link without Title} AWARDS AND RECOGNITIONS Marsalis is an Eagle Scout 1. He has been awarded the 2005 National Medal Of Arts of the United States , the Grand Prix Du Disque of the Charles Cros Academy and the Edison Award of the Netherlands , and was elected an honorary member of the Royal Academy Of Music in Britain . He has received honorary Doctorate degrees from Amherst College and Rutgers University in May 1997, in addition to various recognitions by Brandeis University , Brown University , Columbia University , Johns Hopkins University , the Manhattan School Of Music , Princeton University , the University Of Miami and Yale University . Marsalis has toured 30 countries on six continents, and nearly five million copies of his recordings have been sold worldwide. ; Pulitzer Prize For Music ,
; Grammy Award For Best Jazz Instrumental Album, Individual Or Group :
; Grammy Award For Best Instrumental Soloist(s) Performance (with Orchestra) :
; Grammy Award For Best Jazz Instrumental Solo :
; Grammy Award For Best Spoken Word Album For Children :
DISCOGRAPHY 2005 : ''Live at the House of Tribes'' 2004 : ''The Magic Hour'' - ''Unforgivable Blackness: The Rise and Fall of Jack Johnson'' 2003 : Mark O'Connor 's ''Hot Swing Trio: In Full Swing'' 2002 : ''All Rise'' - ''Trumpet Concertos'' - ''Classic Kathleen Battle : A Portrait'' 2001 : ''Classical Hits'' - ''Popular Songs: The Best Of Wynton Marsalis'' 2000 : ''The London Concert'' 1999 : ''Reeltime'' - ''Mr. Jelly Lord - Standard Time Vol. 6 '' - ''Listen to the Storyteller'' - ''Sweet Release and Ghost Story: Two More Ballets by Wynton Marsalis'' - ''At the Octoroon Balls - String Quartet No. 1; A Fiddler's Tale Suite'' - '' Franz Joseph Haydn '' - ''Los Elefantes (with Arturo Sandoval )'' - |
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