“Jazz at Lincoln Center Orchestra with Wynton Marsalis ” reviewed by Amy Menzel

***** Got a bucket list? “See Jazz at Lincoln Center Orchestra with Wynton Marsalis” should be on it. Don’t have a bucket list? Make a bucket list and start with, “See Jazz at Lincoln Center Orchestra with Wynton Marsalis.” If you have a bucket list and you’ve already checked this one off, I’d tell you to scribble a little extra note to “see again,” but I’m betting you’ve already done that.

Thursday night was my second opportunity to see this incredible group live. It was my husband’s first. We both give it ★★★★★, which adds up to 10 stars, which still seems way too few stars for this virtuosic group of musicians.

They played pieces by Charlie Parker, Horace Silver, Thelonious Monk, Chico Pinheiro, and Dizzy Gillespie, among others. The crowd was thrilled to hear Marsalis introduce “I Remember Clifford” and was obviously even more pleased by the orchestra’s rendition. There was an eagerness to the applause throughout the night – earnest bursts of clapping for each solo, quickly quieting so as not to miss a note of the next section.

I jotted thoughts down throughout the evening, but now realize I noted how impressed I was by every single solo. So my notes are fairly useless unless you’re looking for a nearly illegible (and often incorrectly spelled) scrawl of each musician’s name with a bunch of stars and exclamation points next to it. If forced to pick a highlight, I’d go with the piece by Benny Green, “For Duke Pearson.” It was one of a few numbers in which Milwaukee-native Dan Nimmer was able to showcase his exceptional talent on piano. (Side note: This review would have been submitted at least 10 minutes earlier had I not found a video on Instagram with Green performing the piece with JLCO. Definitely worth checking out. With any luck, watching will also improve your Insta- algorithm.)

As if an evening of extraordinary music isn’t enough, Jazz at Lincoln Center is committed to providing educational opportunities, which not only impresses this teacher, but – much more importantly – inspires many young musicians. The Sun Prairie High School Jazz Ensemble, directed by Matt McVeigh, actually kicked off the evening, playing two numbers on the Uihlein Hall stage. In his introduction of the group, McVeigh mentioned the opportunities made possible by Jazz at Lincoln Center’s Essentially Ellington program, one of several educational initiatives. You can learn more at jazz.org/education/ You might also, like many other band directors and parents and family members in Thursday night’s audience, bring young aspiring musicians to enjoy a truly enjoyable evening of live performance when JLCO is back in town.

Jazz and the joy it brings is alive and well thanks to the talent and efforts of JLCO. Not only is this a fantastic and fun group of musicians, they are ambassadors of culture and creativity.

All this is to say that I can’t more highly recommend making it a point to see Jazz at Lincoln Center Orchestra with Wynton Marsalis. Their midwinter tour wraps up with performances at Notre Dame (Jan. 31) and the University of Michigan (Feb. 1), but check out jazz.org/the-orchestra/jlco-on-tour for future tour dates or go to jazz.org for more information on Jazz at Lincoln Center in general.
Jazz at Lincoln Center Orchestra with Wynton Marsalis was brought to the Marcus Performing Arts Center as part of the Culture Collective. Learn more about upcoming events in this series, including Complexions Contemporary Ballet, YAMATO: The Drummers of Japan, and Ladies of Hip Hop by visiting www.,marcuscenter.org