Wynton Marsalis

Wynton Learson Marsalis born October 18 1961 is an American trumpeter composer and music instructor who is currently the artistic director of Jazz at Lincoln Center He has been active in promoting classical and jazz music often to young audiences Marsalis has won nine Grammy Awards and his oratorio Blood on the Fields was the first jazz composition to win the Pulitzer Prize for Music Marsalis is the only musician to have won a Grammy Award in both jazz and classical categories in the same year Marsalis was born in New Orleans Louisiana on October 18 1961 and grew up in the suburb of Kenner He is the second of six sons born to Dolores Ferdinand Marsalis and Ellis Marsalis Jr a pianist and music teacher He was named after jazz pianist Wynton Kelly Branford Marsalis is his older brother and Jason Marsalis and Delfeayo Marsalis are younger All three are jazz musicians While sitting at a table with trumpeters Al Hirt Miles Davis and Clark Terry his father jokingly suggested that he might as well get Wynton a trumpet too Hirt volunteered to give him one so at the age of six Marsalis received his first trumpet Although he owned a trumpet when he was six he did not practice much until he was 12 He attended Benjamin Franklin High School and the New Orleans Center for Creative Arts He studied classical music at school and jazz at home with his father He played in funk bands and a marching band led by Danny Barker He performed on trumpet publicly as the only black musician in the New Orleans Civic Orchestra After winning a music contest at fourteen he performed Joseph Haydns trumpet concerto with the New Orleans Philharmonic Two years later he performed Brandenburg Concerto No 2 in F Major by Bach At seventeen he was one of the youngest musicians admitted to Tanglewood Music Center Marsalis applied to only two music colleges the Juilliard School and Northwestern University He was accepted to both schools and chose to attend the former In 1979 he moved to New York City to attend the Juilliard School for a Bachelor of Music in trumpet performance leaving in 1981 without earning a degree He intended to pursue a career in classical music In 1980 he toured Europe as a member of the Art Blakey band becoming a member of The Jazz Messengers and remaining with Blakey until 1982 He changed his mind about his career and turned to jazz He has said that years of playing with Blakey influenced his decision He recorded for the first time with Blakey and one year later he went on tour with Herbie Hancock After signing a contract with Columbia he recorded his first solo album In 1982 he established a quintet with his brother Branford Marsalis Kenny Kirkland Charnett Moffett and Jeff Tain Watts When Branford and Kenny Kirkland left three years later to record and tour with Sting Marsalis formed a quartet this time with Marcus Roberts on piano Robert Hurst on double bass and Watts on drums After a while the band expanded to include Wessell Anderson Wycliffe Gordon Eric Reed Herlin Riley Reginald Veal and Todd Williams Source Article Wynton Marsalis from Wikipedia in English licensed under CCBYSA