Wynton Marsalis CD/DVD set to be released

Emarcy is pleased to announce the release of the Jazz at Lincoln Center Orchestra with Wynton Marsalis’ Vitoria Suite, available on October 19th. The two disc set is a new extended work by Marsalis that uses the impulse of the blues as a foundation to jointly explore the music of two worlds and two cultures: the jazz and blues of North America and the indigenous music of the Basque region and flamenco of Spain.

Vitoria Suite is a 12-part work, inspired by the 12 measures of the blues, and also includes a bonus “Making Of” DVD. Composer Wynton Marsalis’ seamless usage of both Spanish and American styles shows how much the two locations have in common, musically if not geographically. “As outsiders,” says Marsalis, “it’s not possible for us to play this music in the same way that a Spanish musician would, so instead I’ve tried to take elements of the music of the region and translate that into the sound of jazz.”

The Suite isn’t only about American musicians experimenting with Spanish forms – it is also about collaborating with leading Spanish players, specifically the legendary flamenco guitarist Paco de Lucia, whose contribution is a testament to the power of inter-cultural collaboration. Movements from Vitoria Suite will be performed live by the Jazz at Lincoln Center Orchestra with Wynton Marsalis in Jazz Meets Clave at Jazz at Lincoln Center on October 21, 22 & 23. Go to jalc.org for more information.

Wynton Marsalis is the Artistic Director of Jazz at Lincoln Center. He is an internationally acclaimed musician, composer, bandleader, educator and a leading advocate of American culture. Born in New Orleans, Louisiana, he made his recording debut as a leader in 1982, and has recorded more than 30 jazz and classical recordings, which have won him nine GRAMMY® awards. Wynton became the first jazz artist to be awarded the prestigious Pulitzer Prize in music, for his oratorio Blood on the Fields, which was commissioned by Jazz at Lincoln Center.

By creating and performing an expansive range of brilliant new music for quartets to big bands, chamber music ensembles to symphony orchestras, tap dance to ballet, Wynton has expanded the vocabulary for jazz and created a vital body of work that places him among the world’s finest musicians and composers. He helped lead the effort to construct Jazz at Lincoln Center’s new home – Frederick P. Rose Hall – the first education, performance, and broadcast facility devoted to jazz, which opened in October 2004.