Chicago Symphony Orchestra and Wynton Marsalis

To be honest, it is quite sad and a bit embarrassing to say that my generation (the millennials) do not appreciate classical music as much as they should. There is this apparent stuffiness that is included with the idea of attending a classical music concert; that it will be dependently boring. But if you get the opportunity to see a great orchestra, in a great venue, it is absolutely life changing. It becomes more than just a show, it becomes a full experience that you will always look back on and truly appreciate all that it gave you.

As you take your seat, you can see the orchestra already set up, except the chairs are empty, and then the lights dim a little bit, and the musicians start to file in, with the last person being the director. The orchestra gets settled in, and starts to tune up, and then the conductor calls everyone to order, and then it starts. The strings start to vibrate and fill the entire venue, and suddenly you are completely surrounded by the music. It hits your mind and your soul, and you fall under an inexplicable spell. Completely entranced, you lose yourself in the absolute beauty until you are snapped back to reality at with the applause of the ending of the show.

When Wynton Marsalis first picked up the trumpet at a young age there was no doubt that he was a musical prodigy. As a teenager he performed with the New Orleans Philharmonic and during his college years he was educated at Juliard where he honed his craft. Wynton Marsalis has come a long way since his beginnings and still continues to accomplish many feats through the blow of his trumpet. Wynton Marsalis is a well versed jazz musician having come from a very large musical family. His father Ellis Louis Marsallis, Jr. is a highly regarded jazz pianist who helped define the New Orleans Jazz style, so there is no question that some of his style influenced Wynton Marsalis’ technique. Every note that comes out of Wynton’s trumpet is loaded with emotions. The tone he gets is very warm and mellow, resonating with the audience in a serene way. His sound can be very energetic at times, creating tones that are similar from the swing jazz you would expect to hear in the roaring twenties. Wynton Marsalis’ music mainly consists of traditional sounding music, rather than experimentations into hard bop jazz or in depth improvisation. He seems to be a perfectionist and tends to stick to his musical script, but every note he plays is presented exactly how it should be presented. He often tours with a very talented backing band, consisting of members who play the upright bass, trombone, drums, and saxophone, which gives him the appropriate instrumentation to play Swing music.
Wynton Marsalis has made a huge impact on jazz music. He has been awarded nine Grammys for his work and is one of the only artists to win a Grammy for both Jazz and Classical music. His skills as a musician have been respected by many fellow musicians and he has shared the stage with many great performers such as Sonny Rollins, Herbie Hancock, and Dizzy Gillespie. His setlist is usually a diverse mix of songs consisting of some of his originals as well as some covers of such traditional jazz standards and some rock and roll covers like “Layla” from Derek and the Dominos. Wynton Marsalis has truly proven himself a master at his craft and seeing him live will clearly convey his talent.