Combined, they have well over a century of experience playing jazz. Its members have collaborated with artists as diverse as Matchbox Twenty, Rosemary Clooney and A Tribe Called Quest. They have traveled all over the world, playing a distinctly American style of music to audiences on faraway continents.
They are arguably the greatest assembly of jazz musicians of our time. They are the Lincoln Center Jazz Orchestra, and they are playing a sold out, one night engagement in Spaulding Auditorium at 8 p.m. tonight.
Based in New York City, the group is constantly touring and has performed widely within America and internationally as well. In the last two years, they have helped compose and premiere compositions with several of the world's top symphony orchestras, including the New York Philharmonic and the Boston and London Symphony Orchestras.
Most notably, in February 2001, the LCJO completed their "Swingin' in the Kingdom" tour, their first full-length tour of England.
The group has also broken down language barriers, writing and performing in many non-English speaking countries, bringing their music to a truly global audience.
Over that same two-year period, the group collaborated with the Russian National Orchestra and the Berlin Philharmonic Orchestra, even traveling as far away as Brazil to work with the Orchestra Esperimentale in So Paolo. Additionally, they have put on educational programs in France, Italy, the Czech Republic and Switzerland.
Leading the 15-member group as its director is legendary trumpet player Wynton Marsalis. Easily the most recognizable musician of his genre today, Marsalis began his recording career in 1982, and has gone on to make 30 albums, win nine Grammy awards and become the first jazz artist to win the Pulitzer Prize for Music for his 1997 composition "Blood on the Fields."
Apart from his jazz background, Marsalis has also done a lot of work in classical music. He has scored three ballets ("Sweet Release" in 1996, "Big Train" in 1998 and "Them Twos" in 1999) and written numerous other extended classical pieces including "At the Octoroon Balls," a 1995 work performed with the Orion String Quartet and the Chamber Music Society of the Lincoln Center.
His latest classical composition is entitled "All Rise," an extended 12-part work which he debuted with the New York Philharmonic and the Morgan State University Choir in December 1999.
As a consummate student of music, much of the focus of his career has been on educating people of all ages about the art form he loves. In the '90s he was featured in the radio series "Making the Music" and the PBS video series "Marsalis on Music," both of which taught even the most unfamiliar listeners and viewers not only about jazz, but about music theory as a whole.
He now regularly hosts the "Jazz for Young People" concerts at the Lincoln Center, performing with the Lincoln Center Jazz Orchestra. It's clear it's not only his passion for music, but also his passion for teaching that has led him to his post as the LCJO's director.
That said, tonight's concert promises to be as much of a history lesson as it is entertainment. Marsalis and the other 14 members of the band play music from all eras of jazz. The group's repertoire includes music from the early stages of jazz like that of Duke Ellington and Louis Armstrong, through the innovators of swing like Benny Goodman, through the pioneers of be-bop like Dizzy Gillespie, through more recent artists like John Coltrane and Thelonious Monk, and much more.
In addition, the Lincoln Center has commissioned several original pieces by such renowned composers as Benny Carter, Joe Henderson, Christian McBride, Wayne Shorter, the LCJO's own Wycliffe Gordon, Ted Nash, Ron Westeray and, of course, Marsalis himself.
Those who know jazz well should appreciate the wide range of styles spanning several decades. Those who don't listen to so much jazz should get a good sampling from its different periods. So for both the avid jazz scholar and the curious listener alike, tonight's performance looks to be a treat for all in attendance.
