(Long Island, NY) A smorgasbord of A-list celebrities adorned the red carpet at the Jazz Lincoln Center 6th Annual Spring Gala. This years themed Spring Swing was gloriously held on Monday, May 14, 2007. The spectacular evening included a benefit concert in Rose Theater at Frederick P. Rose Hall, home of Jazz at Lincoln Center. The concert was followed by a wonderful gala dinner dance.
The exceptionally star studded glamorous Spring Gala highlighted some of the greatest talents in music today, performing in collaboration with the Wynton Marsalis Septet, included Lenny Kravitz, Jimmy Buffett and Derek Trucks. Kermit Ruffins and the Barbecue Swingers all performed at the post concert dinner dance. Recording Artist Lenny Kravitz was also there to show his support and deliver some good old-fashioned rock ‘n’ roll to the Jazz at Lincoln Center’s 2007 Spring Gala this past Monday. One of the greatest entertainers of our time, Wynton Marsalis proved once again his outstanding talent as a top rated jazz performer.
Wynton Marsalis life story is a familiar one in the world of entertainment and the music industry. Marsalis was born and raised in the romantic jazz city of New Orleans as the son of a widely respected composer, musician and educator Ellis Maesalis. As a youth Wynton received training in marching bands, funk bands, jazz bands and orchestras with European repertoires. He received his first trumpet at age six but didn’t take playing an instrument seriously until he was given his first classical studies at twelve years old. He played in the New Orleans Civic Orchestra throughout high school, was accepted into the Berkshire Music Center at Tanglewood at seventeen, and attended Julliard one year later.
Chevy Chase, Barbara Cook and Wynton Marsalis
At the 1986 ceremonies, Wynton became the youngest musician in Grammy history to win the “Best Soloist” Jazz award over three consecutive years, as Black Codes (From the Underground), his fourth Columbia LP, captured both “Soloist” and “Group” categories.
Numerous other awards and achievements have followed him over the next decade (and numerous Grammy nominations), as Wynton became the figurehead of the “Young Lions” movement that continues to dominate the Traditional Jazz charts today. Among the musicians whose names are associated with the doors opened by Wynton, Branford, Delfeayo, and Ellis Marsalis can be broadly counted Joshua Bell, Terence Blanchard, James Carter, Cyrus Chestnut, Steve Coleman, Kevin Eubanks, Roy Hargrove, the Harper Brothers, Donald Harrison, Antonio Hart, Kent Jordan, Marlon Jordan, Greg Osby, Nicholas Payton, Marcus Roberts, Michael White, and others.
Glen Close –
Throughout his musical career Marsalis has had to investigate his New Orleans roots, the music of Duke Ellington, of Coleman Hawkins, of Count Basie and Lester Young, of Charlie Parker and Dizzy Gillespie, of Thelonious Monk, of Miles Davis, of Ornette Coleman, of John Coltrane and many, many others… in order to be a master of many different jazz languages.
The proceeds of the evening will benefit Jazz at Lincoln Center, the not-for-profit arts organization dedicated to inspiring and growing audiences for jazz through performance and education of the highest standard – producing nearly 1,000 education and performance events each year.
Led by Gala Chairman Ashley R. Schiff, this year’s lead corporate co-chairs are John W. Konkel of Cadillac, Derek Q. Johnson of Time Warner Inc. and Tony Ponturo of Anheuser-Busch.
Past spring gala concerts have featured performances by the Wynton Marsalis Septet in collaboration with: Ray Charles, Eric Clapton, Robert Downey Jr., Bob Dylan, Savion Glover, Al Jarreau, Tom Jones, Wynonna Judd, B.B. King, John Legend, Lyle Lovett, Branford Marsalis, John Mayer, Audra McDonald, Natalie Merchant, James Moody, Willie Nelson, James Taylor, The Blind Boys of Alabama, Vanessa Williams and Stevie Wonder. Past hosts have included Cedric The Entertainer, Don Cheadle, Laurence Fishburne and Whoopi Goldberg.
This years celebrity arrivals included Glen Close, Jimmy Buffett, Gayle King, Chevy Chase, Barbara Cook, Spike Lee and the Rev. Al Sharpton.
