Jazz at The Lincoln Center Orchestra

Jazz music is the perfect metaphor for democracy,” says famed trumpeter Wynton Marsalis. At a time when America—and indeed, the whole world—finds itself at a crossroads, the Pulitzer Prize-winning composer has been inspired to write a poignant and buoyant work, The Democracy! Suite, which proves that the joy and beauty of jazz can bring us all closer together.

That new suite is now a digital album from Marsalis and a septet composed of members of the famed Jazz at Lincoln Center Orchestra. Recorded live in Jazz at Lincoln Center’s Appel Room during the Covid-19 lockdown, the work is irresistible and irrepressible. Tracks like “Out Amongst the People (For J Bat)” and “Be Present” are an impassioned reflection of turbulent times that find peerless musicians working as a harmonious community, urging us to reflect on the past and reconsider the future.

PERSONNEL:

• Wynton Marsalis - trumpet, music director
• Ted Nash - alto and soprano saxophones, flute
• Walter Blanding - tenor and soprano saxophones, clarinet
• Elliot Mason - trombone
• Dan Nimmer - piano
• Carlos Henriquez - bass
• Obed Calvaire - drums, tambourine

Recorded on September 27, 2020 at Jazz at Lincoln Center's Frederick P. Rose Hall

TRACKS:

• SIDE A
• A1. Be Present
• A2. Sloganize, Patronize, Realize, Revolutionize (Black Lives Matters)
• A3. Ballot Box Bounce
• A4. That Dance We Do (That You Love Too)

• SIDE B
• B1. Deeper Than Dreams
• B2. Out Amongst the People (for J Bat)
• B3. It Come ‘Round ‘Gin
• B4. That’s When All Will See