The Standard Bank Joy of Jazz festival will be kicking off this coming weekend and American trumpeter Wynton Marsalis is currently in the country to take part in it. Heritage day was celebrated in a jazzy fashion at Walter Sisulu Square, on Tuesday, in Kliptown, Soweto where an intimate master class was held by the jazz legend.
Themed Jazz for young people the workshop aimed to dispel the myth that jazz is only meant for the older generation. The National Joy of Jazz Youth Band was in attendance, to drive this message home, and delivered a stellar performance. Comprising of youth from across South Africa these kids can really hold their own and make grown folks run for their money.
Mr Marsalis took the audience through the process of composing jazz music from the genre’s basics to the most intricate aspects. Accompanied by his band Jazz at the Lincoln Center Orchestra Wynton walked us through the initial bassline known as walking and fused it with other elements.
“Jazz music is created when opposites are forced to come together”, he said as he introduced a more intricate element, along with ‘walking’, known as swingin’. As the composition built up he turned it up a notch by playing his trumpet and ultimately drove the crowd wild.
It was refreshing to see how the youth was interacting with the swingin’ professor as he delved deep into the technicalities of jazz. With more than 2 decades in the industry Wynton’s humility is inspiring.
When Gauteng News asked him if he still feels the need to improve his playing, being the established artist he is, he agreed. He mentioned how listening to his compositions drives him to work even harder more especially when fans bump into him in public and express how his music influenced their lives.With so much drama going on in the world we could all do with a bit of smooth jazz music and add some swingin’ to our walkin’.
