The Wynton Marsalis Orchestra at the North Shore Center for the
Performing Arts
By Maja Rios
July 10th,
2015
This concert was my first time hearing the Wynton Marsalis
Lincoln Center Jazz Orchestra live. The
North Score Center for the performing Arts was a perfect size room for the
orchestra; not too big or too small, yet intimate.
They opened with a New Orleans “Dixieland- style” blues. Next they played a James Weldon Johnson piece
“God’s Trombones””. It featured trumpet
and trombone solos and reflected a bygone era of “pre-swing jazz. Next the orchestra did a Benny Carter tune
(1933) “Symphony in Riffs” that went
from 2/4 time to 4/4 and reflected music that was popular, from that era.
Next my favorite tune of the set was the ”Be-Bop” composition
“Moody’s Mood for Love” written by saxophonist James Mood and first recorded
back in the 1940s. Two trombonists sang Eddie Jefferson’s lyric and did a great job.
Next modern jazz was represented by the Ted Nash piece
called “Presidential Suite” and “Theme
of Freedom” written for Nelson Mandela.
These pieces were influenced by East Indian philosophy (Nehru) and
included a Middle Eastern mode. “ Avant Garde style jazz was reflected in this
piece as well.
Next Wynton took a solo on “Tiger Rag” based on a Duke
Ellington piece.
Latin flavored bassists Carlos Enriquez was featured on his
original piece, “Afro-Bolsa”, a rhumba, which had a great Afro-Latin groove and
evoked a New York City nightclub scene, where he grew up. As the horns harmonized you could picture skyscrapers,
dancehalls and night life in New York City.
Next Victor Goines , professor of music at Northwestern
University, Evanston, who was originally from New Orleans, played his
composition “Crescent City”, which was dedicated to Mari Gras Indians of New
Orleans. It was a Crecio rhythm of
Carnival, with a rousing soprano sax solo which brought us full circle to early
New Orleans music.
All in all Wynton gave a “history lesson” of eras and styles
of the great American jazz pie.
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