Wynton Marsalis on Letterman

[ThePianoMan173]

While I can appreciate the talent involved here, I have to say I'm not much of a Marsalis fan. To quote another musician he sounds like a talented high school player. There is no soul, there is just straight up technicality. He doesn't even produce engaging rhythms in his solos, just scales, and splashy effects, put together randomly. Could he play soulfully? Probably. But I never hear him do so. And for all the people who say he is a pioneer; I will disagree. This is just my opinion, b

[12343astronomer]

i hate improve it's really hard

[zusmanovsky]

Marsalis is a person from future era, but he does not know about it.

[JazzyZenBrotha]

Brotha Marsalis is an amazing Jazz musician. But he is also very diverse because he also plays Classical as well. I think he's one of the pioneers of our time.

God Bless brotha Marsalis on his musicianship skills and his innovation.

[mahboy08]

I like how people try to hate on Wynton Marsalis, when he will play atleast 90% of you into the ground. He does like to do flashy tricks and what not, but the licks that he does during his solo's are still technically challenging. He has the abliity to play any genre and do it well. He's one of the greatest trumpeters of this day and the constant hating is very ridiculous! If you think you're better, then post a video of yourself and let the youtube jazz community be the judge...

[walkingon2001]

Why do they blurry his mouth piece out?

[afox1995]

@walkingon2001

His horn is a Monette Raja, the mouthpiece is seamlessly built in to the horn

[Arborwaychet]

Man can play anything he wants ... and he loves playing special effects 3.07 being a prime example ... does it take jazz in a new meaningful direction? Does it touch you or create intimacy? For me it does none of those things ... Yet I'm certain if he wanted to he could play from the soul

[zusmanovsky]

Anybody knows what is the title of this amazing tune? Thanks.

[penutbito]

@zusmanovsky didnt want those monette bastards to sue. wait who am i kidding, they are way too lazy

[Amiir1]

nice choice of song nigga : )

[EdwardJohnDoherty]

I think we have already entered an age of musical darkness and for any man to stand up like this and remind us of our links to the past, of what we could potentially lose, then he deserves our respect.

[Veycen]

@EdwardJohnDoherty Would you consider show and soundtrack music to be be a light in this musical darkness then?

[hvkarajanfan]

and this is why wynton has won 8 grammy's and a pulitzer and is known as one of the greatest jazz musicians of all times and u r still a nobody

[Danro05]

alright well that ending was a little weird but wynton is still the best trumpet player alive

[davisc1926]

@Danro05 - You say it's a little weird, I say it's genius. I didn't think bending notes using half-valves was weird.

[thetrainmin]

Now this is more like it. The prick who put the Wynton Shreds version on here oughtta be hurt severely. CanSomeone please upload Sunflowers from Wyntons The Marciac Suite? An extrememely powerful piece that people must here.

[muppetchile]

The Wynton shreds video is way better. I think who ever made that is a genius.

[freshhh1994]

amen

[MCroach1]

check out his podcast on itunes

[jetzine00]

@thetrainmin I was actually really disappointed when I found out that that wasn't the real thing. Oh well, a guy can dream.

[mcj3691]

the guy who put the wynton shreds version up is just having some fun. i think that version is hilarious. and i'm a big wynton fan too.

[deepfriedpankakes]

I've seen wynton before, and ive seen many trumpet player but at like 2:40 he does like some sort of gliss or slide that i've never herd before thats remarkable

[GrundyMad]

All you do is half valve it and lip it up to the note you want, I've heard it several times.

[JACKOFMAPLEJANDY]

hes half valving into a scoop tard. i play trumpet and that's in at least a 4rth of our charts you must not listen to much jazz

[deepfriedpankakes]

my apologies for not being a trumpet player and asking a question. And i play more gigs at 17 than you will ever so...shut your trap

[JACKOFMAPLEJANDY]

Ive played in at least 70 gigs and im 14

[Rockabilly500]

lol,fag

[Rockabilly500]

lol wow you're so fucking cool

[StradMan37]

Wynton's the greatest, on both the jazz & classical repetoire!

"Spring", with its' fitfuly wild jumps & key changes, is one of the most difficult jazz pieces to play - at least as far as I (a retired-yet still playing-for-fun amateur) have ever attempted.

Wynton plays the tune with an easy, swinging feel - as befits a true genius of his craft!

Thanks for posting this lovely piece - even with the extraneous string section, it's a virtuosic example of Mr. Marsalis' overwhelming talent.

[Curlyfunksta]

That is one Wicked looking trumpet, can you buy there or are they custom?

[conorJones]

that's a monette custom trumpet. I believe they run for 20,000 dollars or more and take more that 1,000 hours of work to complete. indeed, wicked :)

[jerec576]

That specific one is near impossible to get unless you are a popular artist. Monette Samadhi with that artwork is now 30,000. along with a 1 year to 5 year waiting list

[JSBasss]

Funny. I like the "shreds" version better somehow... :)

[matthewharris065]

Man, it doesn't get any more soulful than this. People that say he lost his touch or whatever o on the other vid don't understand jazz, because this is about the best you'll ever hear!

[bobilleg74]

A jazz performer on a mainstream chat show? You just wouldn't see this happen on British TV. It is totally ignored in favour of samey chart bands. This is one thing I admire the Americans for: They respect their musical heritage.

[karv92]

ha yea but not as much as we used to...do you remember doc severinsen on the tonigh show?

[lennhart]

Indeed...jazz used to me much more common on US TV. The HOMOGENIZATION of US TV began, I believe, in the 80s and with media consolidation has only gotten much, much worse.

[latinjazzlover7]

I agree with karv92. I understand there is a vast variety of music out there but I wish they would go back to this once in a while at least. We don't see it enough though. :(

[DMGDeed]

The problem seems to be that, as far as I know, there aren't many nationally-famous British jazzists--or, for that matter, players of orchestral instruments in general. Then again, I haven't even really seen anything shown here on people like John Dankworth either.

[bobilleg74]

This is true, but only because they are not given recognition by the mainstream media in the first place. The only person who springs to mind is Courtney Pine mainly, I guess, because his jazz is more hiphop/drum n bass orientated.

[Yanks121482]

Jamie Cullum

[Tehcarp]

During black history month.

[Monsgoose]

...Lol?

[James9533]

@bobilleg74

HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA. Buddy I'd hate for you to ever come to America one day and get in hit in the face by reality. I'm glad you have that impression of us though, I'm honestly flatterred.

Sorry to burst your bubble by introducing this fact but: Music is the 4th lowest paying college degree in AMERICA. Out of our 100s of majors, music is the 4th lowest. :(

[razuul12]

@bobilleg74 i'm not sure I agree with you now though. now its all bieber, gaga and other shitty artists. don't get me wrong, im not knocking marsalis at all, but Americans/Canadians respecting there musical heritage is def not happening anymore

[Briankozmo]

@bobilleg74 this hardly happens.

[supahsekzy]

@bobilleg74 ......Kind of. Not really actually. You wanna see real admiration for American musical heritage? Go to Japan.

[jp4love]

not as good as "wynton shreds".

[reicmuth88]

haha

[rdangelo]

agreed, jp4love.

[gestrumpet]

wow 2:12

[Shanopla]

My reply was to Roger btw!

[WoodDuck14]

Monette ad

[RogerSquawk]

style oozes out of his bell!!! love it :)

[Shanopla]

Yes, you couldn't have said it any better.

[albabyluv7]

Relentless!

[Op139]

That's a HUGE bell.

[Alberad08]

Indeed interesting: the bell shaping reminded me on som wide-measured European instrumts from the early 16th cenrury. I assume it's an "Elephant" but don't remember who's making them.

[silver3B]

Wynton so cool!

[Bixachmo]

You all with your negative comments, damn I wish I could hear you play!! You must be amazing. Oh, and that horn was probably more like 20K, but free for him. Ya see, that's was happens when a amazing soul and talent meet there full potential because of the amazing intellect driving them. Oh, but good luck with your Yamaha r2d23cpo on which you probably can't play "Come to Jesus" in whole notes!! Biatches

[UpperRegister]

Wynton is the most complete trumpet player of our time, he can play anything and everything on the trumpet, truly amazing.

[WAKeele]

Yup, although I'd say Thomas Gansch is the the Wynton of Europe.

[Flojinbo]

with a difference, that thomas don't play classic music, and isn't a high-noter but also plays an extreme cool jazz! I've heard him in Mank, where the trumpet factory Schagerl (the best rotary trumpets) is, where he made a workshop with Andy Haderer, also an unbelievable trumpet player.

[cjmbklyn]

Wynton sounds like complete ass! I'm astonished! The man could do no wrong went on national TV and stepped all over it! Wow.

[aa112211]

i love wynton, but i think he needs some more great songs/albums to boost his recognition and rep. some people think he had lost it. i certainly don't.

[crazymonk125]

this the best

[Split006]

is this performance or song on limewire?

[micfoe73]

if u use a thing called vixy u can transfer youtube vids into a mp3 or mp4 format just so you know

[tkpadilla]

wow! I never seen a trumpet where the mouth piece was built into the trumpet!!!!

[RogerSquawk]

its a raja samadhi

[feltser45]

The trumpet is a Monette, Made by Dave Monette in oregon. Great horns, very expensive!! Looks like the raja model about 10k and up.

[tkpadilla]

Dude what trumpet is he playing? It looks expensive

[ericnavy323]

Expensive is an understatement.

[JanCarlo88]

its THE trumpet if you want to spend much money, it's a monette

[Timrunner07]

I think you're all missing the point of music. If you don't like Wynton, that's fine, don't listen to him. I don't like everything he plays, but most of it, I do; I think it's great music. If your idea of a great trumpet player is so specific that nobody can do it, then how do you know it's great? Now I don't even know what I'm saying.  I just want to hear good music.

[AlanDeen]

Your rhetoric is what is bland. I've seen plenty of 'art' that disengages rationality that is pure garbage! (also poetry, and yes, music) It's obvious to me that you have never accomplished anything on a musical instrument, much like the guy who wasn't good enough to make the team, but would take a fervent stance as he stated his opinions.

[cobaltjones]

Despite his great facility on the horn, it just doesn't do anything on a visceral level. It's as if he has absorbed all of the major jazz influences and, much like an encyclopedia, deftly recites recombinations of the lexicon at will. For some reason though, his playing just doesn't sing. He plays in unconnected stabs. Now, at the count of three, attack me...

[davisc1926]

I'm not going to attack you, but I disagree partly with your statement. His critics always talks about his great technique and virtuosity but never acknowledges how well he expresses emotion through his playing. EVERY jazz musician has been influenced by someone before them whether they admit it or not. The special effects he uses has meaning, he just prefers to use them to make 'Wynton'. Even History Channel's "Modern Marvels" refers back to a subjects beginnings to show how we arrived today.

[Bebiri60]

How come he won 8 grammies and other prominent awards, if he's not good enough? He plays in a 15-member (black, white, brown) orchestra,which he has successfully inspired for 12 years, where every player connects the sequence in the link.The thrust of this band, as I understand it, is not to sing, but to improvise, and this it does well.This is not an attack, but an attempt to call into question the basis for ur vitriol and virulence on the last-standing leader of one of the greatest big bands.

[cobaltjones]

Thanks for not attacking me personally. A dialogue is preferable. My point about him is that he thinks what he's playing; that it comes from a rational computer inside his razor sharp intellect, as opposed to an intuitive place of discovery, like Miles Davis.

[cobaltjones]

He thinks "now I'm feeling this" and "now I'n feeling this" without actually feeling it. He distances himself from beingness by being perpetually critically conscious of how what he's doing will be perceived. There's no poetic mystery in his playing, not for me anyway, just intellect and athleticism. He plays too many meaningless notes. Lyricism is the rarest thing in music-only a few can do it and only a few are conscious of it when it happens.

[davisc1926]

Ok, that's your personal opinion. How do you know what he's feeling? How did you know Miles was feeling what he played? You can't make those kinds of judgment calls in jazz. You have to take the musician at face value. Jazz is a music of intuition. I've been listening to Wynton long enough and I hear how he listens to the rhythm section and incorporate what he hears into his solos. To say that his notes are meaningless is ignorant (not in a bad way). Open yourself up to be more receptive.

[cobaltjones]

Beethoven said, "When you hear the work of a composer, you are drawn into their emotional state; you have no choice." Have you noticed that his album compositions are absolutely horrible? check them out. They're didactic and reactionary, which is Wynton in a nutshell. He's just not a creator, he's a thinker and moralist. It's really a thing of cleverness versus intuition. Cleverness in art is impotent. Why? Because art happens when we disengage rationality. Watch him, he's thinking.

[one4two5]

interesting observations. I don't care for his ideas either - they don't seem very spontaneous or soulful. But he has tremendous technique and seems to be able to rip through the old Miles Davis licks with ease. As for the Monette, it certainly doesn't sound worth the $10K price tag. Freddie and Lee sound much better on horns a fraction of the cost. Is it a statement horn - like "look at me with my million dollar horn!"

[cobaltjones]

Wynton has won Grammies because he's what we THINK OF as a great trumpet player, rather than the actual thing. Am I making any sense to you?

[ScreaminDeamon4lyfe]

Its impossible to fake on Wyntons skills...I've just come to realize that I dont prefer his style during this state in his life than how he played in the '80s. The same way i can only listen to certain miles stuff. Musicians expand their playing as they grow throughout life, and I nor you shld expect to like EVERYTHING they end up coming up with

[cobaltjones]

His skills aren't fake---they just don't convey emotion---but the appearance of emotion---he's removed from intimacy by intellect. I admire him as a teacher greatly. He and Jarrett are very similar psychologically. Neither one has a clue that his music is bland. Your point is however a valid one. Thanks for responding.

[MichaelnChristine]

I know ppl are on your ass, but I gotta give ya props for not shying away from the debate. I agree with you 90%, the guy is a beast! He can play in ANY style and be in the top 5%. He just isn't an originator. I listened to several of his albums and it was like "A tune in the style of X, ok now he's doing a tune in the style of Y..." Most guys do that with one style and become disciples of a great, he managed to do it with 50, takes skill. Still it doesn't make him a Miles, Armstrong etc...

[cobaltjones]

Thanks. I think we're at the end of separate genres in music, but few have figured it out yet. This is why we exalt someone who is doing old stuff verbatim; it preserves our sense of familiar reality, even though it doesn't transport us. When the masses become at last deep and still enough to appreciate ambiguity in art and music, it will truly be a brave new world. It will be the beginning of a new golden age. When americans can walk out of No Country For Old Men and not whine, it'll be near.

[MichaelnChristine]

@cobaltjones It's funny because I am of two minds on this sort of subject. I do love Satch and Miles. I love new guys also. I am, however, fervently opposed to the Avant Garde. At least the parts of it I am often exposed to. To me if composition of a piece you hear that requires a new notation to communicate the idea is great. Coming up with a new notation and then trying to write music with it, with no attempt made for musicality is dross and trash.

[cobaltjones]

I agree. to be valid it must not have any trace of effort at being new, it must simply express a broader range of emotion because it had to in order to exist as a world unto itself. That's why the first three tracks of miles Davis' Water Babies are timeless miracles.

[kenferry]

That was beautiful.. so many influences shine through in his playing, its great to hear.

[MagnusHjorth]

The Man at work, for sure... Every note he ever played swings and he´ll keep the world blessed with his amazing feeling and huge musicality for years to come...

[braves1015645]

Wynton is a genius, however, I enjoy Lee Morgan more.

[wbhogg]

I am not even going to get into a discussion about Wynton...he has stirred up enough by saying some crazy things about Keith Jarrett and Miles Davis (do we need to argue their mastery?) However, when a person says to "grow up" and in the same statement calls someone a "cockbag"...well my friends, that should say a lot about the opinion in question. Anyone notice the direct quote in the strings from Just Friends with Bird? (I think bar 12 ish) A tribute you think?

[brooking55]

Wynton Marsalis is one of the greatest jazz musicians of our time.

He not only is a wonderful player, his efforts to educate youth and his

humanitarian efforts should be and are praised by all. I've followed his career

since the very early nineteen eighties and feel his body of work to be

an amazing gift to jazz lovers all over the world. This performance

stands as evidence of his excellence! nuff said!

[ligtningedge9]

BROOKING55 GROW UP AND GET YOUR HEAD OUTTA YOUR ASS Wynton is the MAN!_!gosh don't be such an artsy fartsy cockbag

[GroteEef]

The master himself!!!

[lushrumps]

He's so melodic

[ngassalogy]

yeah!

MUSIC SAID EVERYTHING

[mastereinstienjeffre]

You are a fucktard. I think he knows how to play in tune, and I don't have to say anything about you cuz you're a nobody.

[sigsegv11]

No it's not.

[nb734]

alls i have to say to this comment is who is making millions of dollars playing trumpet and he most likely did it for the color of the note bro

[arn123321]

he's doing that because he wants that note to have a brighter colour.. the ability to use the space in between notes is what separates great musicians from keeners like you who can tell sharp from flat (congratulations).

[crazymonk125]

u cant play near as good as him i hate when u guys criticize professionals like ur better i've never heard of u and ur trumpet skills so just sit down and enjoy if not noone made you sit down and listen to him he

[citizengar]

Ya gotta love Wynton.........

[oocoolo]

absolutely stupendous!!

[morrisd2530]

The finished article! Brilliant!

[dripinglikewater]

amazing! i don't have the word to express myself truly amazing!

[scmpchenti]

great