Jazz royalty came to the Lobero Theater on July 16 and a packed house was granted an audience with the king and his court. The Wynton Marsalis Septet, led by one of the grand masters of America’s homegrown musical style, put on a tight, varied, entertaining, and fully satisfying show.
Marsalis usually brings his larger ensemble, the Jazz at Lincoln Center Orchestra (JLCO), to the Granada, so it was a treat to hear a smaller group at the more intimate Lobero. Each member of the seven-piece group (we’ll meet ’em all!) was allowed to shine on their own, while the veteran leadership of Marsalis created a near-perfect blend of their talents on the eight pieces they performed.
The opener showed off the group’s range, in a Marsalis-penned tune called “Free to Be.” The song seemed to gather several classic jazz styles in one, mixing a little New Orleans swing, a driving be-bop bass beat, and some throaty work by sax man Chris Lewis. “Dead Man Blues” by Jelly Roll Morton was a full trip to the Big Easy, complete with Lewis and Alexa Tarantino on dueling clarinets “conversing” with trombonist Chris Crenshaw, plus a sweet solo by Marsalis as the leader. It was truly a royal performance.
From Marsalis’s “The Democracy! Suite” set of compositions, the group played “Ballot Box Bounce” at lightning-quick pace. Tarantino chipped in with a flute solo that nicely balanced the otherwise brass-heavy piece. The rhythm section of Carlos Henriquez on bass, Jason Marsalis on drums, and Dan Nimmer on piano did what I’m dubbing a tri-solo, exchanging and combining over and over for a piece-within-the-piece.
A slower pace came in “Something about Belief,” from Marsalis’s Integrity Suite, first performed in 2015 at the Supreme Court. In remarks before the song, Marsalis talked about how, just as the band makes each song as it happens, we are all “co-creating our existence,” before launching into a performance that would not have been out of place in a black-and-white 1940s noir movie. It almost made me wish for a whiskey and a cigarette to create dramatic smoke.
The Latin-tinged “Cuchifrito” by Henriquez got feet tapping, and he wisely gave his boss a great solo midway through. Henriquez is one of two musicians taking over from Marsalis as artistic directors of the JLCO in 2027. Marsalis founded the group in 1988 when he was only 26, but he announced recently that he is retiring from the role next summer (but will continue performing).
Before “Moscow Blues,” Marsalis pointed out that this septet might be the only group ever to play in front of the Supreme Court and at the Kremlin, where they debuted that piece in 2021. The bouncy, 1940s-big-band-style tune included a great duet by Lewis and Tarantino on alto and tenor sax, respectively, and a pinky-challenging high-note piano solo by Nimmer. To wrap up the show, the septet played a second “The Democracy! Suite” movement that Marsalis said was inspired by the beats he has heard at protest marches. Lewis’s soprano sax was a highlight here, along with Crenshaw, who made his trombone sound like three different instruments with great mute work. An encore included a final Wynton Marsalis solo that demonstrated his epic range.
A bonus note: Before the show, UCSB Arts & Lectures announced that Marsalis would lead the JLCO in a new piece commissioned from him by longtime A&L supporter Sara Miller McCune at The Granada Theatre on February 24, 2027. Season subscriptions are on sale now, while single tickets for the JLCO performance go on sale August 7. See bit.ly/44IywWC for more information.
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