Articles

Daily articles carefully curated by the All About Jazz staff. Read our popular and future articles.

ALBUM REVIEW February 8, 2021

Jazz at Lincoln Center Orchestra Septet with Wynton Marsalis: The Democracy! Suite

Read "The Democracy! Suite" reviewed by Paul Rauch

There is an interesting generational divide in perception when it comes to the music of Wynton Marsalis. While many hail his work at Lincoln Center as elevating jazz to its rightful place among the fine arts, others lament the separation from his iconic quartet and quintet work in the 1980's as some sort of jazz treason. What is unquestionable is his virtuosity and eloquence, expressing each note with beauty as the clear priority in his playing as a ...

ALBUM REVIEW May 22, 2020

Jazz at Lincoln Center Orchestra with Wynton Marsalis: The Music of Wayne Shorter

By Chris M. Slawecki

As a saxophonist, founding member of Weather Report and member of Miles Davis' second great acoustic quintet, it won't be hard to find Wayne Shorter's name in the pages of modern jazz history. But the massive The Music of Wayne Shorter highlights a sometimes-overlooked element of Shorter's musicianship: His ability to compose, which has contributed “Footprints," “Nefertiti," “Speak No Evil" and other standards to the jazz canon. As bassist Christian McBride, a former member of Shorter's quartet, writes in the ...

ALBUM REVIEW February 15, 2020

Jazz at Lincoln Center Orchestra with Wynton Marsalis: Big Band Holidays II

By Chris M. Slawecki

Jazz at Lincoln Center Big Band Holiday concerts, featuring the JALC Orchestra with Managing and Artistic Director Wynton Marsalis and guests, are a welcome addition to New York City holiday jazz traditions. Big Band Holidays II presents the second set of live recordings from these concerts beginning from 2015, the year that the JALC Orchestra released their first Big Band Holidays set on their own Blue Engine Records label. “Christmas brings the best and worst out of people," ...

LIVE REVIEW April 12, 2018

Jazz at Lincoln Center Orchestra with Wynton Marsalis and Chick Corea at the Kimmel Center

By Victor L. Schermer

Jazz at Lincoln Center Orchestra with Wynton Marsalis and Chick Corea The Music of Thelonious Monk Kimmel Center for the Performing Arts Academy of Music Philadelphia, PA April 8, 2018 In the words of Robin Kelley, Thelonious Monk's definitive biographer, Monk was “An American Original," meaning that he was both one of a kind and contributor to an evolving tradition. This impossible-to-resolve paradox of Monk affects any ...

IN PICTURES November 10, 2017

Jazz At Lincoln Center Orchestra With Wynton Marsalis at Mechanics Hall

By James McCabe

Taken in October during the first three songs of their set at Worcester MA's Mechanics Hall, these black and white selections are my attempt to capture jazz mastery. Tim O'Keefe, the writer I worked with on this project, described it best: “In a memorable performance... 15 soloists and ensemble players comprising the Jazz at Lincoln Center Orchestra connected today's audience with historic composers from the jazz idiom--safeguarding the sounds of jazz, and keeping the music alive for another generation of ...

LIVE REVIEW October 10, 2017

Jazz at Lincoln Center Orchestra with Wynton Marsalis at Mechanics Hall

By Timothy J. O'Keefe

Jazz at Lincoln Center Orchestra with Wynton Marsalis Mechanics Hall Worcester, MA October 4, 2017 “One, two, one, two, three, and..." with the stomp of a foot, the buttery sounds of Wynton Marsalis' trumpet rolled through a 160 year old concert hall, filling the rectangular room with warm, lush tones. He thrusted the horn upward, ramming the music higher, then maneuvered the bell of his instrument toward the floor, the sounds becoming subdued and evasive. ...

LIVE REVIEW October 20, 2015

Jazz at Lincoln Center Orchestra with Wynton Marsalis at the Mesa Arts Center

By Patricia Myers

Jazz at Lincoln Center Orchestra with Wynton Marsalis Mesa Arts Center Mesa, Arizona September 25, 2015 A sophisticated and engaging performance by the Jazz at Lincoln Center Orchestra with Wynton Marsalis was a meld of the trumpeter-leader's ongoing homage to jazz history plus the spark of original compositions from his current colleagues. Dizzy Gillespie's “Things to Come" from 1946 was the opening chart, Marsalis delivering an extended solo at super-speed that exhibited his ...