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Jazz at Lincoln Center Orchestra with Wynton Marsalis: Jazz for Young People

Jazz At Lincoln Centre Orchestra With Wynton Marsalis
The Bridgewater Hall
June 22, 2010

Most of England might be steely, looking over to the action in South Africa in the grips of football fever, but in the capital this past weekend The Barbican has played host to the most ambitious jazz residency since its doors opened.

Concerts, workshops open to all and reaching out to the east London communities, as well as a series of performances by the world famous Jazz at Lincoln Centre Orchestra with their passionate and opinionated leader/ trumpeter, and focal point, Wynton Marsalis, for what’s being dubbed United In Swing 2010.

But whilst those poor southerners may have had to sit through seemingly endless hours of tuneless amateurs making ungodly sounds with brass instruments in those very workshops, here in the always lovely Bridgewater Hall setting we get to hear some big band classics played by virtuoso veteran players.

Guiding us from the early swing compositions of Jelly Roll Morton before taking in some blues, cuban-tinged jazz and be-bop from the likes of Wayne Shorter, Charlie Christian, and Duke Ellington.

The 15-piece band are perfectly in tune and on the page each theme in their enormous repertoire, though when the spotlight falls on each of the players they effortlessly flirt between improvisational virtuosity with perfect lines and subtle figures that recall Jazz greats.

For highlights look no further than the melancholically titled ‘I Left My Baby Standing In The Back Door Crying’, ‘I’m Gonna Lay Down My Burden By The Riverside’, Ellington’s ‘Chinoiserie’, and the hard-bop of Shorter’s Infant Eyes.

If the early finish feels somewhat premature given the breadth of their repertoire those filing into the street will agree that you’re unlikely to hear Jazz played with such passion and vitality by a touring troupe this year.

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