Jazzed

All photos: Mickey Pfleger

It was a day for the ages. 
A day, in fact,
 
for all ages.
 

On a blustery Saturday in March, Wynton Marsalis and the Lincoln Center Jazz Orchestra came to Santa Cruz and performed two shows--a free afternoon workshop for more than 1,000 enraptured schoolchildren and a sold-out evening concert at which more than 2,000 jazz lovers bopped, swayed, snapped, and tapped together in the dark of the downtown Civic Auditorium.

The visit by Marsalis and the orchestra, presented by UC Santa Cruz Arts & Lectures, was the third stop on a world tour celebrating the centennial of the birth of the grandfather of jazz, Duke Ellington. The concerts by the 15-member ensemble were of a caliber rarely seen in Santa Cruz, and the children's workshop was made possible by support from the Santa Cruz County Symphony and the Kuumbwa Jazz Center.

Artistic director Marsalis, one of the world's most talented jazz composers and trumpeters, and executive producer and director Rob Gibson have good reason for showcasing the work of Ellington. The pianist and composer's prolific career, during which he produced more than 1,500 pieces, not only spanned 50 years of jazz, but was instrumental in launching and defining many jazz idioms.

During the evening show, the orchestra traveled nearly the entire course of jazz history, playing everything from "Take the A Train," an Ellington classic; to "Lady Mac," one of Ellington's few waltzes; to the composer's experimental adaptations of movements from Grieg's "Peer Gynt Suite."

Much in the spirit of Ellington, Wynton Marsalis (son of pianist Ellis and brother to saxophonist Branford) downplayed his presence on stage. He had his moments, of course, but so did each of the other members of this exceptional ensemble (after all, what's jazz without a few solos).

 

"I just want to treat these kids like my own kids, and invite them into the world of music. As long as they look back on it and remember that some man, sometime, told them something about music, that's enough for me."

 

The evening crowd was dressed to the nines--the band in tuxedos, the crowd in dress coats and gowns. But hours earlier the preferred fashion ran more along the lines of jeans, sneakers, and baseball caps when area fourth and fifth graders attended the orchestra's extraordinary afternoon workshop. One of several education programs offered by Jazz at Lincoln Center (the nonprofit umbrella under which the orchestra performs), the workshop is designed to turn kids on to the magic of jazz.

Marsalis immediately endeared himself to the children when he apologized for performing a Saturday show. "A lot of the time, we do this show during the week; so I am really sorry that we're not getting y'all out of school," he told them.

But there were no complaints as Marsalis captivated his young audience with a witty and insightful narrative of Ellington's life and music. As he traced the evolution of jazz from "polite society music" ("kind of boring," he confided), through such incarnations as New Orleans jazz, swing, and improv, the orchestra demonstrated with music.

As the concert concluded, Marsalis said in a bemused tone that he had never, in 15 years of presenting kids' programming, seen such an attentive and focused audience.

And though it was, in some ways, all about music, the afternoon workshop was about much more. "Ellington did what he loved: He liked it, and it felt good. You can do that too. Do what you like, not what your friends are doing. Be a number one yourself, not a number two somebody else," he told the kids.

Ironically, given the musicaldynasty he grew up in, Marsalis didn't much like jazz as a child, which may be part of the reason the educational aspect of his work is so important to him.

The afternoon workshop, Jazz for Young People, is just one of the many free programs presented by Arts & Lectures for area students. For more information on these programs, contact Arts & Lectures at (831) 459-3861 or artslecs@cats.ucsc.edu.

"Growing up we always had jazz in the house, and my father would take us to his gigsuntil all hours of the morning," he said. "But in those days, I wasn't really hip to it. It wasn't until I was older that I realized that the music made by great artists like Ellington and Louis Armstrong contains a beauty, a sophistication, and a hipness that you don't always find in other forms of music."

And now, as both educator and performer, Marsalis transfuses that appreciation into others. "I just want to treat these kids like my own kids, and invite them into the world of music. As long as they look back on it and remember that some man, sometime, told them something about music, that's enough for me."

--Barbara McKenna


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