Wynton Marsalis has been at the helm of a number of impressive jazz projects throughout his career. In addition to being the artistic director of Jazz at Lincoln Center, the trumpeter-composer-bandleader-educator has composed several masterworks, including his epic three-CD Blood on the Fields, which garnered him a Pulitzer Prize in 1997. But Marsalis, arguably the best- \known and most controversial figure of modern jazz, launches into his most ambitious project yet in 1999 when he delivers twelve CDs to be issued by Columbia Jazz and Sony Classical. In addition to three jazz and three classical collections, Marsalis will unveil a multi-CD set recorded live at the Village Vanguard over a span of several years. Plus, to encourage students and educators collecting the entire series, a bonus CD will be made available in the year 2000.
"It's all about music," says Marsalis when asked to describe the scope of his project. "The goal is to affirm the integration of many different types of music as well as to celebrate the aesthetic process. "The project deals with different aspects of American music. It runs the gamut from Jelly Roll Morton tunes to a new piece I've written called Big Train. There's film score music and pieces I've written for dance performances. And there's a new work I wrote last year called The Marciac Suite. It's a composition for septet and quintet that celebrates the French town of Marciac, which puts on a great jazz festival every summer."
The jazz and classical divisions of Sony music plan to join forces on releasing the albums, offering them at affordable prices to encourage collecting. The three classical releases (including one double CD) features such works as Sweet Release, excerpts from an HBO special on boxer Sugar Ray Robinson and a new work titled Fiddler's Tale. "It's based on Igor Stravinsky's A Soldier's Tale," says Marsalis. "My piece is a soulful confirmation of Stravinsky. As a matter of fact, it's reeking with soul."
The three jazz CDs include a septet album of Monk music (with a Marsalis original titled In Walked Monk), a festive Jelly Roll Morton celebration and the Big Train extended work. "The new piece is about the relationship of the individual to a community of people," Marsalis explains. "It's also about choice and integration. But mostly it's about childhood. You know, every kid loves trains."
Marsalis hastens to add that the element common to all the jazz discs is the s-word. "Swing, baby, don't forget swing," he says. "How do we approach Monk? Swing. What's the feel of Big Train. Swing. In fact, all the pieces whether they're jazz or classical have swing."
Discussing the project while still in the midst of recording the music (he says that describing his days as busy is an understatement), Marsalis nonetheless is excited. "It's been fun so far and it's gonna be fun the rest of the way," he says. "Bottom line, it's all about music: writing, playing, performing, recording, putting it out for audiences to hear. This project isn't about press agents and marketing campaigns any more that it's about lifting weights and getting in shape. It's not about being cute, and it's not about good or bad reviews. It's all about music."
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