Wynton Marsalis describes the layout for upcoming shows at Jazz At The Lincoln Center, laying out that they will be doing his music for three days. Elements of jazz that he remembers back in New Orleans were to be added to the music (choirs, singing, jazz tap) that he said were not a part of modern jazz. Here, a short discussion about bringing these elements back to “modern jazz.”

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About The Video

In a recently posted YouTube video, jazz trumpeter – and now artistic director of Jazz At The Lincoln Center – Wynton Marsalis mentioned the lineup to be presented October 29th-31st, 2009. In his description of the songs to be performed, he pointed out that they would be playing music that he has written in the past for this three day period.

Jazz At The Lincoln Center has always performed music of all artists and styles, but when you’re the artistic director, I guess you have the say in what gets played. That’s a great idea, and Marsalis’ music sure does bring in the crowds.

What was interesting about the YouTube video presentation was that toward the end, Marsalis talks about the different elements that he wanted to put into the shows – elements or choirs and jazz tap. He mentioned that this was similar to what he group up with in New Orleans, and he wanted to bring these elements – things that you don’t typically have in modern jazz – back into view.

Commentary

That got me to thinking about a couple different questions:

(1) When and why did these things begin to disappear?
(2) Is it right to try to “get those elements back into modern music”?

Marsalis commented that he remembers these things as being crucial parts of the jazz scene when he was growing up in New Orleans. Maybe it was just jazz at the time, and it’s something that is not done as much any more. Or maybe this is purely unique to New Orleans jazz. After all, while we can put the label of “jazz” on a lot of music, there are still different categories – and even subcategories – of jazz. But he’s right, these elements have seemed to sneak out of the mainstream.

As for “getting those elements back into modern music,” well that’s something a little different. If there are different categories of jazz, and these types of elements happen to be unique to New Orleans jazz, why try to infuse them into “modern jazz.” Don’t get me wrong, I like New Orleans jazz, and I love Wynton Marsalis’ compositions, but is he trying to force something that should be left alone?

If we are not talking about elements unique to New Orleans jazz, then might we be talking about the direction that jazz has taken in its natural evolution? I really like the idea of bringing back some of these elements, especially for sentimental reasons, but the idea of bringing them back to modern jazz caught my attention, and I had to comment on it. It doesn’t seem like the elements mentioned by Marsalis are conducive to “modern jazz” – whatever may fall under this loosely defined category. I guess it just doesn’t seem natural. Your thoughts?

Original Video at jalc.org

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