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Article: Wynton Marsalis and the Jazz Rage; At 33, the Prodigy Is Still Angry, Still Driven and Still at the Top
- Article from:
- The Washington Post
- Article date:
- March 19, 1995
- Author:
CopyrightThis material is published under license from the Washington Post. All inquiries regarding rights should be directed to the Washington Post. (Hide copyright information)
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Wynton Marsalis, the premier jazz figure of his time, leans
against his black baby grand, lovingly explaining the life and legacy
of Louis Armstrong to a Brazilian TV crew. The interview was supposed
to have ended half an hour ago, but Marsalis waves off his publicist.
He is hard into Teacher Wynton mode now, tracing Armstrong year by
year from New Orleans to a Chicago ballroom.
Marsalis speaks softly, as if to an eager child, his sentences
brimming with awe as he honors the great trumpeter's "continuous
invention," his "great genius," his "heroic character."
The Brazilians nod silently. Then Marsalis shifts into Agitator
Wynton mode:
"Some people called Louis Armstrong an Uncle Tom. But he ...