Feature: Wynton Marsalis, containing musical multitudes
Internationally acclaimed musician, composer, bandleader, educator and American advocate all in one? That sounds like a lot to take on, but Wynton Marsalis does it all.
Marsalis was born on Oct. 18, 1961 in New Orleans, Louisiana to Ellis and Dolores Marsalis. At the age of eight, Marsalis performed traditional New Orleans music in the Fairview Baptist Church band who was led by Danny Barker, another legendary musician.
At the age of 14, Marsalis performed with the New Orleans Philharmonic, and during his high school years, he performed in the New Orleans Symphony Brass Quintet, New Orleans Community Concert Band, New Orleans Youth Orchestra, New Orleans Symphony, a multitude of jazz bands, as well as the popular funk band of that time, the Creators.
When he was 17, Marsalis became the youngest musician to ever be admitted to the Tanglewood Berkshire Music Center, and was awarded the school’s most prestigious award, the Harry Shapiro Award for outstanding brass student.
In 1979, Marsalis moved to New York to attend Juilliard. He began gigging around the city and quickly began gaining large amounts of attention from contractors and producers. Columbia Records signed Wynton his first recording contract.
Marsalis studied under many musical masters including Art Blakey, Sarah Vaughan, Dizzy Gillespie, John Lewis, Ron Carter, Herbie Hancock and many other legends.
In 1981 Wynton constructed his own ensemble and began performing and touring. They performed over 120 concerts yearly for 15 consecutive years.
So far, Marsalis has produced over 100 records; selling over seven million copies worldwide along with three Gold Records. His albums incorporate a large amount of blues, New Orleans jazz to modern jazz, a constant swing rhythm, the American popular song, improvisation and the classic call and response patterns between both the rhythm section and horn players.
Thus far, Marsalis has won nine Grammy Awards and in 1983 he became the only artist to ever win Grammy Awards for both jazz and classical styles. To this day, Marsalis is the only artist to ever win Grammy Awards in five consecutive years.
In 2015 Marsalis was honored with the National Humanities Medal by Former President Barack Obama for his work in deepening understanding of humanities and well as broadening American citizens’ understanding and engagement in history, literature, philosophy and language.
Wynton Marsalis is one of the most recognized and influential musicians in todays’ time, and has been awarded many prestigious awards as well as many honorary degrees. If you would like to learn more about Marsalis, you can visit his website and find his full biography.
