Wynton Marsalis (1961-) - Legendary New Orleans Jazz and Classical Trumpeter and Exemplar

[DonRocks]

Wynton Marsalis holds a special place in my heart, in that he's the most famous person (sorry, Jon 🍷) with whom I've ever had an extended conversation. On Jan 19, 1984, he performed a modern jazz concert at UNC-Charlotte - not long after his Grammy triumph - and my professor, my fellow student, and I drove two hours each way (from Clemson) to see it. Unbeknownst to the entire crowd, there was a "meet-and-greet" after the performance in a small room - we happened to overhear that it was occurring - and we got to speak with him, just the three of us, for what must have been twenty minutes - he even gave my professor (a fine, amateur horn player) pointers on his embouchure (you've never seen a Computer Science professor with a bigger smile on his face). Two of my greatest treasures are a Marsalis-autographed copy of the CDs linked to above (the second also autographed by drummer Jeff Watts). Enough background - this is a wonderful podcast:

"Jazz Artist Wynton Marsalis Says Rap and Hip-Hop are 'More Damaging than a Statue of Robert E. Lee'" on washingtonpost.com