Wynton Marsalis

Black Codes (From the Underground)

Wynton Marsalis · 1985

Kenny Kirkland

Kenny Kirkland · 1991

Black Codes (From the Underground)Black Codes (From the Underground)Wynton Marsalis · 1985 (1985) was a manifesto for the neo-bop movement. The Branford MarsalisBranford Marsalisブランフォード・マルサリス brothers, Kenny KirklandKenny KirklandKenny Kirkland · 1991's piano, Jeff Jeff "Tain" WattsJeff "Tain" Wattsジェフ・テイン・ワッツ's drums — this band devoted itself entirely to reviving bebop's language in the present tense.

Wynton Marsalis

Wynton Marsalis · 1982

Full Wynton MarsalisWynton MarsalisWynton Marsalis · 1982 Septet concert from July 1993, recorded by Dutch TV during the 'In This House, On This Morning' period.

— Holy Ghost - Wynton Marsalis Septet at North Sea Jazz Festival 1993, Wynton Marsalis Official, 1993

Album of the Year

Art Blakey · 1981

Keystone 3

Art Blakey · 1982

Aurex Jazz Festival '83

Art Blakey & The Jazz Messengers · 1983

New York Second Line

Art Blakey · 1983

Wynton Marsalis joined Art Blakey's band as a teenager without having heard a single Blakey record — just playing scales over the chords, not yet knowing that a solo is something you construct, as he admitted at twenty-two. That was the starting point of the man later cast as jazz's traditionalist-in-chief.

— Statement stmt-wynton-marsalis-on-art-blakey

You Won't Forget Me

Shirley Horn · 1991

Stung around age 20 by critics who called him soulless, Wynton Marsalis later waved off comparisons to Miles Davis: don't, he said — Miles came up in blues bands, and he hadn't. The standard-bearer of the tradition conceding he lacked the older man's blues roots.

— Statement stmt-wynton-marsalis-on-miles-davis

Wynton Marsalis

Wynton Marsalis · 1982

Black Codes (From the Underground)

Wynton Marsalis · 1985

Album of the Year

Art Blakey · 1981

Citizen Tain

Jeff 'Tain' Watts · 1999

Wynton Marsalis's 1985 album Black Codes (From the Underground) is known for its tight ensemble unison, but Branford Marsalis later recalled that only Wynton actually rehearsed — the band itself barely ran through the material together.

— Statement stmt-branford-marsalis-on-wynton-marsalis

Wynton Marsalis

Wynton Marsalis · 1982

Black Codes (From the Underground)

Wynton Marsalis · 1985

Citizen Tain

Jeff 'Tain' Watts · 1999

Romare Bearden Revealed

Branford Marsalis Quartet · 2003

In 1984, Wynton Marsalis — already a rising star — called his quintet's pianist Kenny Kirkland and drummer Jeff 'Tain' Watts the best young players on the scene, yet completely unrecognized. The spotlight stayed on the leader; the sidemen he rated above himself remained unknown.

— Statement stmt-wynton-marsalis-on-kenny-kirkland