Jazz at Lincoln Center Orchestra

February 10, 2008
at Jesse Auditorium

Co-presented with the University Concert Series

Show at 7 p.m.

With Assistance Provided by the MU College of Arts & Science




Wynton Marsalis, music director, trumpet Sean Jones, trumpet Ryan Kisor, trumpet Marcus Printup, trumpet Vincent Gardner, trombone Chris Crenshaw, trombone Sherman Irby, alto saxophone Ted Nash, alto and soprano saxophones, clarinet Walter Blanding, Jr., tenor and soprano saxophones, clarinet Victor Goines, tenor and soprano saxophones, Bb clarinet, bass clarinet Joe Temperley, baritone and soprano saxophones, bass clarinet Dan Nimmer, piano Carlos Henriquez, bass Ali Jackson, drums

A member of jazz's first family, trumpeter Wynton Marsalis is the genre's most recognizable face and name. A New Orleans native and the son of well-known pianist Ellis Marsalis, his siblings include saxophonist Branford Marsalis, trombonist-producer Delfeayo Marsalis and drummer Jason Marsalis. The artistic director of Jazz at Lincoln Center who oversees the world's most prestigious institution that is fully dedicated to the genre.

Considered equally adept in classical as well as jazz, Marsalis came to New York to study at Julliard. After only a year, still a teen-ager, he was brought to the attention of Art Blakey, the legendary drummer whose Jazz Messengers had served, since 1956, as the jumping off point for dozens of eventually seminal performers in jazz. Working in a band that included the late pianist James Williams and saxophonist Bobby Watson – both 10 years his elder – proved to be essential to Marsalis' beginnings as a bandleader.

After working with a host of elders from Herbie Hancock to Sarah Vaughan, Dizzy Gillespie, Clark Terry and Sonny Rollins, Marsalis formed his own band. 1983 he became the only person to simultaneously win separate Grammys in the jazz and classical fields. In 1997 he became the first jazz musician to win the Pulitzer Prize for his Blood on the Fields (Columbia) release.

The trumpeter has released close to 40 recordings as a leader and has appeared on countless others. He has collaborated with the world's top dance companies and their choreographers including Garth Fagan and Alvin Ailey as well as working with the most respected orchestras.

Marsalis, part tireless worker and administrator, goes on tour constantly performing with his quartet, quintet, septet and the 14-piece Jazz at Lincoln Center Jazz Orchestra. He has appeared five times in Columbia since first appearing at the previous site of the Blue Note in 1987 where he led a four-piece group that included the late pianist. Marsalis last appeared in Columbia in March 2005 fronting a septet. This is the first time the full Lincoln Center Jazz Orchestra has appeared.

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"One rarely hears this music played with such technical brilliance, stylistic authenticity and tonal sheen...Here were the throaty reeds, percussive trumpet blasts and visceral sense of swing that have made the JLCO the greatest large jazz ensemble working today." — Howard Reich, The Chicago Tribune