‘Pied Piper of Jazz’ Wynton Marsalis and his ensemble to give new life to Duke Ellington compositions at Hancher

If anyone deserves the sobriquet of Pied Piper of Jazz, it would be Wynton Marsalis.

As the current artistic director of Jazz at Lincoln Center and leader of the Jazz at Lincoln Center Orchestra (JLCO), Marsalis has spent the past few decades promoting classical and jazz music to the masses, often focusing on young people. He’s always had laudable intentions, but his critics have often targeted what they deem his artistic conservatism and issues he has with rap and hip-hop (When asked about it, Marsalis once said in a 2018 podcast with Jonathan Capehart of the Washington Post, “You can’t have a pipeline of filth be your default position and not have it take a toll on society.”).

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But for this son of the Crescent City, getting the word out about the music he grew up playing has always been his prime directive.

“I don’t remember exactly what our first mission statement was (in founding Jazz at Lincoln Center), but it’s essentially what it is now. We play, teach and advocate for jazz,” he explained in a recent interview. “That was our model in 1987, no segregation, no generation gap and all jazz is modern. We still have that model. I already had an audience. The question was would my audience go along with that. I was playing quintet and septet music at the time. Now I’m in front of an orchestra and sitting in the back. At first, people didn’t want to hear the old music, but then after a while people started to like it.”

When Dorthaan Kirk (widow of jazz legend Rahsaan Roland Kirk) approached Marsalis on behalf of her employer, the Newark, New Jersey radio station WBGO, about starting a jazz program, the composer/trumpeter was intrigued. Tapping close friend and esteemed jazz critic Stanley Crouch as an artistic consultant, the duo crafted an inaugural three-night program made up of tributes to Dinah Washington (featuring Betty Carter), Thelonious Monk (featuring Carmen McRae and Sphere) and Charlie Parker (featuring Charles McPherson, Frank Morgan and Wes Anderson). The following year, Marsalis curated a tribute to Duke Ellington, a decision that wasn’t necessarily well received. The outspoken musician chose to ignore the naysayers.

“We called [Duke Ellington authority] Dave Berger to see if we could get a band of [Duke’s] sidemen together, and he said we could call them,” Marsalis said. “He called them and the people we agreed on. We put my septet together with the older Duke members, the Thad Jones-Mel Lewis Band, and played those concerts. What’s interesting is during those years, concerts like the one about Duke Ellington got bad reviews. But the bad reviews weren’t so much about how we played it, maybe partially, but that we played it. I saw that they didn’t want us to play it, so we did two nights of it.”

The current tour features Marsalis and the JLCO exploring Ellington’s connections with African music, including material from the Ellington works “Afro-Bossa” (1963), “Liberian Suite” (1947) and “Togo Brava Suite” (1971).

By all accounts, Marsalis is a member of New Orleans’ first family of jazz. Father Ellis Marsalis, Jr. was an esteemed pianist/music teacher while brothers Branford, Jason and Delfeayo are all respected jazz musicians in their own right. Wynton is the second oldest child, and while he received his first trumpet when he was six from Dixieland great Al Hirt, it wasn’t until the younger Marsalis was in his teens that he got serious about improving on his instrument. Local musician John Longo Sr. got the aspiring horn player on the road to excellence.

“I didn’t want to play trumpet, so I was always not practicing,” Marsalis admitted. “The summer I was 12, I was listening to (John) Coltrane’s “Giant Steps,” Miles (Davis’) “Someday My Prince Will Come” and Freddie Hubbard’s “Red Clay.” I told my daddy I wanted to learn how to play like that, and he said he didn’t know because we didn’t have money for lessons. He called John to see about him giving me lessons. The agreement was that my lessons would be $5 and John would take piano lessons. I remember I had to take a couple of buses to get to John’s house. And he was in a neighborhood different from mine. He lived in a double-shotgun house and half the house was burned out.”

Marsalis fondly remembered, “It was all familiar man. We all knew each other. I’d go and he’d give me long lessons. John taught me so much about playing trumpet and love for the instrument. He was my principal teacher and taught me about breathing, playing, embouchure, slurring and all the things I needed to learn. He’d put on records for me and we’d listen to stuff. He was always very loving.”

Fast forward to the modern day and the JLCO has been spreading the gospel, both on the road and from its home base at Rose Hall. In the end, Marsalis’ role is as much about being an educator as it is being a jazz musician.

“We’re always swinging and all our music is modern…we’re playing all the generations of the music,” Marsalis explained. “You’ll hear fantastic musicianship. There’s a belief in the music and a precision ensemble. Part of the responsibilities that come with performing are investment in community. The community means any kids I see coming to my shows, I’m teaching the same way I teach my own kids.”