Wynton Marsalis has comfortably found his niche as the gatekeeper of the jazz tradition. His vehicle, the Jazz at Lincoln Center Orchestra, has kept the musical flames of artists like Ellington, Morton and Monk alive through the years with their recordings and tours. This time around, the JALCO had pianist Jon Batiste join the team in tribute to John Lewis, a founding member of both the Modern Jazz Quartet and the idea of Third Stream music, mixing both jazz and classical.
For this 2013 concert, Marsalis and company centered the concert around Lewis’ four piece “The Comedy”, with Batiste delivering rich solos between Ellingtonian tones on “La Cantatrice” and subtle tones during “Pulcinella.” The team shows it’s bebop heritage with a sizzling read of “Two Bass Hit” as Marsalis, Batiste and bassist Carlos Henriquez sizzle between orchestral punches. The pianist gets the spotlight for a semi-classical, semi-bluesy solo version of the iconic “Django” and teams up with a richly toned Victor Goines on clarinet and back porch bluesy “Doug Wamble on guitar during a cozy “2 Degrees East, 3 Degrees West.”
While not exactly exploring new territories, Marsalis still does the world a service by reminding us of where we’ve come from, and why we should appreciate it.