Matt Meets Wynton Marsalis

February 24, 2006

Matt and I made a trip to NY in February to do an amazing thing.  We went there to look through original Duke Ellington scores and select some unknown songs for Matt to perform on April 29^th at the Duke Ellington Birthday Celebration at MoMA (the Museum of Modern Art) in NY.

The trip turned out to be SO much more of an educational experience than we could have ever imagined.

We arrived in NY on Thursday, Feb 24, 2006.  I contacted Wynton Marsalis to let him know we were in town and ask if he were performing somewhere that evening.  We have been talking with Wynton for quite a long time now, although Matt and Wynton’s schedules never coincided such that they could actually meet in person.  Wynton said he was performing at “Jazz at Lincoln Center” and that he would leave tickets for us to attend the concert.  Matt and I grabbed some dinner and went to the show.  Believe it or not, it was the first time Matt had attended a live big band concert.  I grew up hearing Count Basie and Duke Ellington and others in concert.  Although Matt loves big band music, he had not previously attended a live concert with a big band.  He was thrilled. 

If you have the opportunity to hear the Lincoln Center Orchestra, you should definitely do it.  The Orchestra was doing a pre-concert show before they headed to Los Angeles for the weekend for an LA-geared performance.  So, the “title” of the performance that night was “Los Angeles:  Central Avenue Breakdown,” and the musical selections focused on performers who lived in or moved to or had SOME connection to Los Angeles.  The Orchestra also had two special guests that evening…Gerald Wilson, Leader and Arranger, and Plas Johnson, Tenor Saxophonist.

The Lincoln Center Orchestra performs every style of jazz there is…from the beginnings of jazz to contemporary jazz.  So, the performance was a history lesson as well as a feast for the ears.  Wynton talked about each piece before it was played…giving the history of the musician who wrote the piece along with many “little-known” tidbits of fascinating information about the performers of that time, events in history affecting the performer and/or the music.  Each pearl of information was just as exciting as the music.  You felt even more of a connection to each song because you knew a little about it before having heard it.  And, of course, the music itself was fantastic.  The tunes played ranged from Mingus to The Pink Panther theme... and, yes, you guessed it…Plas Johnson is the man whose saxophone you hear on the famous Pink Panther movie (as well on just about every movie soundtrack where a soulful sax is warranted).  He thrilled everyone by playing the theme with the orchestra.  The guys in the orchestra were joking and relaxed, and obviously having a good time.  But the AUDIENCE was treated to a delightful whirlwind of jazz and history…

Matt and I, unfortunately, could only stay for the first set.  We were tired from travel, and Matt and I both needed to get to SLEEP.

But, during intermission, Wynton allowed us to come backstage for the long-awaited meeting.  And, of course, we got to meet other members of the band.  Wynton was SO encouraging and wonderful with Matt.  What a generous and kind soul he is…despite the fact that he is incredibly busy!  He said he looked forward to having Matt on the bandstand.  And we went into Wynton’s dressing room, where Matt played a piano piece for him and the others in the area.

I was very amused by the fact that during intermissions, Wynton plays chess.  He has an “ongoing” chess match that gets played before performances and during intermissions.  In between Matt’s sets, he EATS.  Matt eats before a concert, during intermission, and after a concert.  He’ll munch on veggies and fruit and chips…anything he can use as fuel. 

Teenagers…!

Then it was time for the second set, so we thanked Wynton and said goodnight.  Wynton and the band went back on stage.  Matt and I headed back to the hotel for some sleep.  What a great night!

We would very much like to thank Wynton Marsalis for making this evening possible.  We understand how much he went out of his way for us despite his busy schedule.