Jazz and Art Jazz at Lincoln Center Orchestra & Wynton Marsalis

• 1 Stuart Davis for the Masses: The Mellow Pad 03:33
• 2 Stuart Davis for the Masses: Garage Lights 02:39
• 3 Stuart Davis for the Masses: New York 03:06
• 4 Blue Twirl 09:17
• 5 Bearden (The Block) 07:16
• 6 Air, Earth, Fire, Water (Orisha Medley) 08:26
• 7 Winslow Homer: Homer's Waltz 04:05
• 8 Winslow Homer: Homer's Blues 03:57
• 9 The Repose in All Things 05:45
• 10 Twilight Sounds 07:40
• Total Runtime 55:44

Info for Jazz and Art

In past concerts that have been described by the New York Times as being “soulful,” “evocative,” and “playing directly to the band’s strengths,” the Jazz at Lincoln Center Orchestra with Wynton Marsalis performed original compositions inspired by masters of modern art including Romare Bearden, Stuart Davis, Sam Gilliam, Winslow Homer, Wifredo Lam, Norman Lewis and Piet Mondrian. On August 2, 2019, Blue Engine Records will release the studio recordings of these charts on a new album entitled Jazz and Art.

GRAMMY Award-winner and Jazz at Lincoln Center Orchestra member Ted Nash says, “Music and paintings share so many characteristics; textures, colors, layers, line, form, shape. No wonder they are such agreeable collaborators. When these two art forms come together, they create a new medium. In February 2010, the audience in Jazz at Lincoln Center’s Rose Theater got to experience that transcendent combination when seven imaginative composers presented new works accompanied by projections of the paintings that inspired their creations.”

Jazz and Art displays impressive musicianship and a range of musical styles, from modern jazz to gospel, American pastoral music, Afro-Cuban, spirituals, New Orleans, Indian chants, avant garde, and beyond. The compositions were inspired by works of art from beloved museums such as The Guggenheim, The Metropolitan Museum of Art, and the Museum of Modern Art.

“The world’s pre-eminent large jazz ensemble.” (Chicago Tribune)

“Heaps of elegance, dexterity and charm… their fleet, floor-skimming steps and the orchestra’s exuberant buzzing worked together like one great colony.” (The New York Times)

Sherman Irby, alto saxophone, clarinet, flute
Ted Nash, alto saxophone, clarinet, flute
Victor Goines, tenor saxophone, bass clarinet, clarinet
Walter Blanding, tenor saxophone
Joe Temperley, baritone saxophone, bass clarinet
Ryan Kisor, trumpet
Marcus Printup, trumpet
Kenny Rampton, trumpet
Wynton Marsalis, trumpet, vocals
Vincent Gardner, trombone
Chris Crenshaw, trombone
Elliot Mason, trombone
Dan Nimmer, piano
Carlos Henriquez, bass
Ali Jackson, drums, tambourine
Special guests:
Papo Vazquez, trombone
Iwao Sado, Batá drums
Xavier Rivera, Batá drums
Anthony Carrillo, Batá drums

Jazz at Lincoln Center
The mission of Jazz at Lincoln Center is to entertain, enrich and expand a global community for jazz through performance, education, and advocacy. We believe jazz is a metaphor for Democracy. Because jazz is improvisational, it celebrates personal freedom and encourages individual expression. Because jazz is swinging, it dedicates that freedom to finding and maintaining common ground with others. Because jazz is rooted in the blues, it inspires us to face adversity with persistent optimism.

Wynton Marsalis
is an internationally acclaimed musician, composer and bandleader, an educator and a leading advocate of American culture. He has created and performed an expansive range of music from quartets to big bands, chamber music ensembles to symphony orchestras and tap dance to ballet, expanding the vocabulary for jazz and classical music with a vital body of work that places him among the world’s finest musicians and composers.

Always swinging, Marsalis blows his trumpet with a clear tone, a depth of emotion and a unique, virtuosic style derived from an encyclopedic range of trumpet techniques. When you hear Marsalis play, you’re hearing life being played out through music.

Marsalis’ core beliefs and foundation for living are based on the principals of jazz. He promotes individual creativity (improvisation), collective cooperation (swing), gratitude and good manners (sophistication), and faces adversity with persistent optimism (the blues). With his evolved humanity and through his selfless work, Marsalis has elevated the quality of human engagement for individuals, social networks and cultural institutions throughout the world.

Rubén Blades
Panamanian-born Rubén Blades (1948– ), another giant of salsa, is a multi-talented celebrity whose interests range from music to film to politics. He grew up in Panama, the child of professional musicians, and was trained as a lawyer. Cuban music and Beatles songs were his musical inspirations, and anti-US student demonstrations sparked his political awareness. Blades immigrated to New York in 1974 with $100 in his pocket and found a job in the mailroom at Fania Records. He was soon signed by the record label and began to perform as a member of the Fania All Stars, singing alongside trombonist Willie Colón and vocalist Héctor Lavoe. Blades’ first solo Fania record—produced by Colón—established an alliance between the two artists.

When the Blades-Colón partnership ended in 1982, Blades moved to Elektra Records (now Sony). He formed a new synthesizer-flavored band called Seis del Solar (Six from the Tenements) and released a crossover album called Buscando América (Looking for America), which featured doo-wop, reggae, Cuban, and rap influences. Blades’ experimentations with salsa have sometimes employed elements of jazz and rock as well as synthesizers to replace the traditional horn-led sound. He has collaborated with artists as diverse as Joe Jackson and Linda Ronstadt, and in 1988 he released an album in English called Nothing But the Truth. In 1996 he won a Grammy for his album La Rosa de Los Vientos (Rose of the Winds), and two years later sang alongside rising Latin superstar Marc Anthony in Paul Simon’s Broadway musical, The Capeman.

When Blades stresses social and political issues in his lyrics he reflects the Latin American Nueva Canción (New Song) and Cuban Nueva Trova movements, which blend poetry and politics. According to critic Anthony De Palma, “The words Blades sings are not of partying, but of protest, of indignance against greed, corruption, and spiritual sloth.” 19 Blades’ songs have sometimes stirred up controversy. His 1980 song “Tiburón” (Shark) condemned superpowers for interfering with the affairs of smaller countries. Angry conservative listeners interpreted the song as criticism of US involvement in Panama (which it was), and the song was banned on many of Miami’s Latin music radio stations. For a time, Blades even had to wear a bullet-proof vest when performing in the city.

Blades is a multi-talented artist who has pursued multiple career directions. In 1984 he put his music career on hold to study for a master’s degree in international law at Harvard University. Following that he went into film acting and won roles in several major films. Blades also founded a political party in Panama and ran for president in 1994. He came in second with almost a quarter of the vote. He continues to make music, perform, and blend genres. Blades is fully bilingual and translates all the lyrics on his records so that multiple audiences can appreciate the poetry of his work.

This album contains no booklet.