Oct. 31 - Nov. 6, 2013
By Charles J. Gans Associated Press
Wynton Marsalis has taken his Jazz at Lincoln Center Orchestra all the way to China and Russia, but the trumpeter says its current “Abyssinian: A Gospel Celebration Tour’’ is the most challenging in the band’s 25-year history. The tour of U.S. performing arts centers and churches involves a convoy of four buses and an equipment truck. The 15-piece orchestra and the 70-voice Chorale Le Chateau conducted by Damien Sneed are performing Marsalis’ “Abyssinian 200: A Celebration,’’ an extended work blending gospel and jazz traditions he wrote in 2008 to celebrate the 200th anniversary of Harlem’s Abyssinian Baptist Church. “There’s never been a tour where a jazz band and a big choir like this went on the road and played a piece like this,’’ Marsalis said in a telephone interview. “It’s definitely a spiritual experience when you get the choir and the band and the congregation in there together.’’ The piece, based on the liturgy used in many African-American Baptist churches, draws on diverse influences. These include the lessons Marsalis learned from his music professor father about traditional spirituals, hymns and gospel music, his own experiences as a classical trumpeter performing the religious works of Bach, Handel and Palestrina, and his vast knowledge of jazz styles going back to the music’s roots in his native New Orleans. The 52-year-old Marsalis is complementing the tour that concludes this weekend with concerts at Jazz at Lincoln Center’s Rose Theater in New York and Boston’s Symphony Hall with the release this week of
“The Spiritual Side of Wynton Marsalis.’’ The album is a 15-track collection of spiritually inspired works that he recorded from 1988 to 2002. It includes selections from “In This House, On This Morning,’’ Marsalis’ first commissioned work for Jazz at Lincoln Center in 1992, capturing the feeling of a Sunday morning church service in the South. The tour’s main sponsor is a foundation set up by a leading Black businessman, David Steward, founder of World Wide Technology Inc. Steward described the concert series as “an excellent opportunity to celebrate and share the joy, cultural heritage and power of gospel and jazz with longtime fans and new listeners.’’ Earlier this year, the orchestra made a U.S. tour playing a repertoire that covered its entire history. It performed everything from early New Orleans jazz to Ornette Coleman’s modern jazz, as well as classic tunes by Duke Ellington, Thelonious Monk and Dave Brubeck, and compositions by contemporary jazz musicians, including several JLCO members. “This is probably the most flexible ensemble ever in the history of jazz because we have to play so many different styles of music,’’ said Marsalis, JLCO’s music director. Marsalis also hand-picked the 17-piece Jazz at Lincoln Center All-Stars to perform in the new Broadway show “After Midnight,’’ starring Fantasia and Dule Hill, which celebrates Duke Ellington’s
years at the Cotton Club during the 1920s. Trombonist Art Baron says the band is using some of the same transcriptions of Ellington’s arrangements that he played as a founding member of the Lincoln Center Jazz Orchestra, as it was known when Marsalis formed it in 1988. Baron, who played with Ellington before his death in 1974, said the Lincoln Center orchestra had “a very similar vibe ... in which people were not judged by the color of your skin or by your age, just by the music you made.’’
Real Times Media Partnering with Interactive One
Buy Early & Save!
By Tanisha Leonard
Real Times Media, a multimedia company focused on urban marketing, media and entertainment, is set to officially introduce the Real Times Media Digital Network with the launch of the first of its new Interactive One-supported websites in November. The initial sites to launch under the new Real Times Media digital platform will be the company’s www.AtlantaDailyWorld.com and www.NewPittsburghCourier.com properties. The launch of the two sites is the first milestone of the partnership RTM developed with Interactive One Studios, a division of Radio One, which assists external brands with developing highly profitable digital businesses through world-class sales, platform, content and distribution services. “Partnering with Interactive One Studios presents a tremendous opportunity for the Real Times Media digital platform,” said Hiram E. Jackson, CEO, Real Times Media. “For the past few years our company has had a laser focus on re-positioning our brands
into multi-media platforms with emphasis on digital content, special events and marketing services. We’ve been able to make significant headway on our own; however, this partnership with Interactive One will certainly help us reach new levels of success.” Under the terms of the full partnership, Real Times Media is migrating its Atlanta Daily World (www.AtlantaDailyWorld.com), Chicago Defender (www.ChicagoDefender.com), Michigan Chronicle (www. MichiganChronicle.com), and New Pittsburgh Courier (www. NewPittsburghCourier.com) websites to Interactive One’s proprietary content and mobile platforms. The transition will benefit the Real Times Media brands through increased audience reach, world-class advertising, media management and operations, guaranteed uptimes and tech support, and a unique set of features and functions that have made the channels within the Interactive One network a leader in the space.
“Vera Stark is a fabulous force of nature!” – Pearl Cleage
An aspiring actress breaks the mold of stereotypical African American film roles of the 1930s. By Pulitzer Prize winner Lynn Nottage Directed by Leah Gardiner
October 16–November 10 Tickets @ 404.733.5000 | alliancetheatre.org/verastark Series on the Alliance Stage
Contact First Class at 404.505.8188 to book a party of 10 or more.
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features Jazz at Lincoln Center Orchestra Marks 25 Years
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