Wynton’s Coming to Town
I decided to do some checking to see if any of my favorite jazz artists were planning on coming to town. One of my favorite current jazz performers is Wynton Marsalis. I have written about him before on this blog. If you haven’t spent any time listening to Wynton, I can’t recommend him enough. He is about as close as you are going to get to listening to some of those old-time jazz players I write about so often here… In my opinion, of course.
Wynton is a guy with a lot of talent. He not only plays the trumpet better than just about anyone right now in contemporary music, but he is an outstanding composer. He also composes and conducts classical music. Finally, he is the kind of guy who nurtures kids and young musicians and that is always cool.
Anyway, for those of you in Chicago, Wynton will be touring with his Jazz at the Lincoln Center Orchestra and appearing in the city in January.
January 18 and 19, Wynton and his orchestra will be at the Symphony Center which is located at 220 S. Michigan Avenue.
The one on the 18th is listed for all ages, but the one on the 19th has a little not beneath the date as “Jazz For Young People.”
Anyway, I suggest trying to get tickets and enjoying the show.
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Wynton has done some great things for the promotion of jazz and jazz education – which I experienced first hand. A few years back, he wrote a book, Jazz in the Bittersweet Blues, and went on a book signing tour. One stop was near the high school where I teach, so our big band was invited to play at the event. We were playing a version of Monk’s Well You Needn’t, and he stepped out from backstage with his trumpet. He then gave the kids the thrill of a lifetime, as he played quite an exciting solo. He hung out and talked the kids, it was a good event.
At the same time, Wynton has done a lot of damage to jazz as a whole through his high profile status. Once he became a mass cultural figure, he spent a lot of time telling the general public that modern jazz wasn’t relevant. He put jazz in a museum and made it something stagnant. Yes, he can play very well, but he has wasted his position as a spokesman for jazz by blowing off anything post 1950s.