Wynton Marsalis and the Lincoln Center Jazz Orchestra riveted
the relatively tame audience with their outstanding performance on
Friday night in Hill Auditorium.

The full breadth of the impact of jazz could be seen that night
by the array of different people entering Hill Auditorium: There
were older patrons in formal attire and younger students in
sneakers and shorts. The orchestra played pieces from two major
works of the swing era; first Benny Carter’s “Kansas
City Suite” and then Duke Ellington’s “Black,
Brown and Beige.”

First up from the “Kansas City Suite” was
“Vine Street Rumble.” Pianist Eric Lewis slowly started
off the piece, then Carlos Henriquez and Herlin Riley followed on
the string bass and drums, respectively. With a nice trotting tempo
and swing, the orchestra soon filled the entire auditorium with
trumpet trills and crisp trombone staccatos.

One of the many highlights of the night was “Miss
Missouri.” This piece had a wonderful melody which, at its
core, was comprised of a four-note pattern theme by the bass. The
audience could feel the energy emanating from the stage by the
animation these swing virtuosos showed. Marsalis and the drummer,
Riley, looked at each other nodding their heads and just vibing to
the rhythm. Members of the orchestra yelled “What!” and
“Yeah!” and made grunting noises. Through all of this
excitement, most of the crowd was motionless until the end of
someone’s solo when the audience would applause.

In between pieces, Marsalis entertained the audience with
anecdotes and jokes. Marsalis displayed the characteristics of not
just a great musician, but of a great entertainer.

After the intermission, Marsalis announced that they were going
to play pieces from Duke Ellington’s opus. Imitating the
sound of a timpani, Riley picked up some mallets and struck the
toms to begin “Black.” Ted Nash on alto saxophone
performed a very moving solo that touched everyone with each
passionate note. At various parts of this piece, a locomotive train
could be heard, which is one of the innovations that Duke Ellington
was known for creating with jazz.

The orchestra concluded with three pieces from the movement
“Beige,” after which the crowd gave a boisterous
standing ovation as the orchestra walked off the stage. While the
crowd was cheering “Encore,” the trumpet section,
pianist, bassist and drummer came back for an improvisational
session where the crowd severed its social restraints. The audience
cheered and applauded each trumpet player improvising to the
backdrop given by Lewis, Henriquez and Riley.

The conclusion that everyone leaving Hill Auditorium had drawn
from such an event is that jazz recorded on any type of medium just
does not do the genre justice. It was simply great live music
played by great musicians.