Marsalis reflects on role as educator as well as player

By JIM TRAGESER - Staff Writer | Wednesday, July 2, 2008 12:15 PM PDT ∞

Wynton Marsalis can flat-out play that horn of his. Of that, there's been no doubt, not since he came storming onto the jazz scene in 1980 as a teenage member of Art Blakey's Jazz Messengers.

But as a student at Juilliard before the school had a jazz curriculum, he also mastered classical music ---- and has won multiple Grammys in both disciplines.

So the man can play.

But in an e-mail interview with Marsalis ahead of a show July 8 with his Jazz at Lincoln Center Orchestra at Anthology in San Diego, what came through strongest was Marsalis' self-identity as an educator.

Asked why he thinks so few serious musicians and other artists are found on TV talk shows today compared with the 1960s and '70s (when one would frequently see a Beverly Sills, Leonard Bernstein, Duke Ellington or Rudolf Nureyev on the talk shows), Marsalis replied, "Well, different types of culture ---- popular culture, mainly ---- have become part of the American mythology, as opposed to the mythology of Louis Armstrong or Duke Ellington," before explaining how he's trying to use his role at Lincoln Center to again change that culture to one that values the serious arts.

"When I first came to live here (New York City) as a teenager, there were very few places in the city where people could go and really learn about our music. And even those few places were underfunded, underappreciated, and underutilized. When I first came to live in New York, there was no place in this whole jazz capital where young people could really learn about our music. I was at Juilliard, America's premier music conservatory, and there were no jazz courses.

"That's why I've been teaching master classes for almost 20 years. That's why, when we organized Jazz at Lincoln Center, we put education right at the front of our program. Our home in New York, Frederick P. Rose Hall, was built first and foremost as a place for education. It is a place that welcomes kids of all ages into the feeling and meaning of jazz. And we hope to do our part in changing the culture."

Also contributing to getting serious music back on our culture's radar is Marsalis' own July 10 appearance with Willie Nelson on "The Tonight Show With Jay Leno," two days after their new CD, "Two Men With the Blues," is released on Blue Note Records.

Marsalis said recording that CD with country music icon Nelson came about because of the fun the two men had had during a fundraiser a few years earlier.

"We first played together for a Jazz at Lincoln Center benefit concert in June 2003. There were several of us that night: Willie, me, Eric Clapton, Ray Charles. Willie and I had such a great time on that gig that we knew we had to do it again. It wasn't until 2007 that we did, and that show was recorded live in The Allen Room at Jazz at Lincoln Center.

"Willie can play. He's very unique in that he comes from that period where he can combine everything: roots, blues, rock 'n' roll. He's very relaxed, very laid back, a very profound individual."

The Jazz at Lincoln Center Orchestra with Wynton Marsalis

When: 7:30 and 9:30 p.m. July 8

Where: Anthology, 1337 India St., San Diego

Admission: $35-$150

Info: (619) 595-0300 or anthologysd.com

Web: jalc.org

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