Students get closeup look at Wynton Marsalis, jazz orchestra at rehearsal before big concert
Akron was the first stop Saturday on the Jazz at Lincoln Center Orchestra's (JLCO) current tour, led by trumpeter extraordinaire Wynton Marsalis. The sold-out concert drew more than 2,500 to E.J. Thomas Hall for the final concert of Tuesday Musical's 2023-2024 season.
Earlier in the evening, students were invited to watch the orchestra at an open rehearsal. Most of the orchestra was dressed casually for the 30-minute sound check, including Marsalis in a knit cap and plaid shirt.
He's the artistic director for the orchestra, which numbered 16 in Akron. Juilliard School student Nathaniel Williford, who joined the group on guest trumpet, was among the many featured in solos.
After the sound check, pianist Dan Nimmer sat at the edge of the stage for a short Q&A with 17 band students from Coventry High School. Nimmer, who has been playing with the JLCO for 21 years, said he got lucky when he joined the ensemble shortly after he arrived in New York City, with the help of another musician's recommendation. The pianist, who's from Minneapolis, said he's blessed to play music for a living, which has been his "passport around the world."
Nimmer talked about what makes the JLCO unique: the range of music it plays ― from the 1920s to now ― and the fact that every musician in the group is a world-class soloist. When asked by a student what advice he'd to give to aspiring musicians, Nimmer said, "I would have practiced more."
The Coventry students were among hundreds who received free tickets to the evening performance, along with students from area colleges as well as larger groups including Cuyahoga Falls, Jackson and Ashland high schools.
During the evening concert celebrating the music of jazz pianist, composer and bandleader Duke Ellington, Marsalis introduced each selection from the stage, starting with the 1928 "The Mooche." The program included a trio performing Ellington's 1930 "Mood Indigo" plus the 1965 "Big Fat Alice's Blues," the 1927 "Black and Tan Fantasy," the Middle Eastern sounds of the 1960s "Amad" (from Ellington and Billy Strayhorn's "Far East Suite") and the 1971 "Chinoiserie."
Introducing "Black and Tan Fantasy," Marsalis talked about the distinction between the hot jazz sounds of New Orleans and the sweet jazz sounds of "everywhere else."
"Duke was a universal humanist. He said 'the people are my people,'" Marsalis said of the great Ellington.
Talking about Ellington's "Ad Lib on Nippon" later, Marsalis offered another quote from the legendary jazz artist: "I dress the blues up in their Sunday finest."
At the concert finale, Marsalis thanked the Akron audience for its "warmth and generosity of spirit" and said, "It's great to be appreciated ... Duke is smiling somewhere."
The JLCO's next stop is a four-night residency with the Chicago Symphony Orchestra to commemorate the 125th anniversary of Duke Ellington's birth.
Arts and restaurant writer Kerry Clawson may be reached at 330-996-3527 or kclawson@thebeaconjournal.com.
This article originally appeared on Akron Beacon Journal: Jazz orchestra, Wynton Marsalis play sold-out E.J. Thomas crowd
