Wynton Learson Marsalis (born October 18, 1961) is an American trumpeter, composer, and music instructor, who is currently the artistic director of Jazz at Lincoln Center. He has been active in promoting classical and jazz music, often to young audiences. Marsalis has won nine Grammy Awards, and his oratorio Blood on the Fields was the first jazz composition to win the Pulitzer Prize for Music. Marsalis is the only musician to have won a Grammy Award in both jazz and classical categories in the same year. Marsalis was born in New Orleans, Louisiana, on October 18, 1961, and grew up in the suburb of Kenner. He is the second of six sons born to Dolores Ferdinand Marsalis and Ellis Marsalis Jr., a pianist and music teacher. He was named after jazz pianist Wynton Kelly. Branford Marsalis is his older brother and Jason Marsalis and Delfeayo Marsalis are younger. All three are jazz musicians. While sitting at a table with trumpeters Al Hirt, Miles Davis, and Clark Terry, his father jokingly suggested that he might as well get Wynton a trumpet, too. Hirt volunteered to give him one, so at the age of six Marsalis received his first trumpet. Although he owned a trumpet when he was six, he did not practice much until he was 12. He attended Benjamin Franklin High School and the New Orleans Center for Creative Arts. He studied classical music at school and jazz at home with his father. He played in funk bands and a marching band led by Danny Barker. He performed on trumpet publicly as the only black musician in the New Orleans Civic Orchestra. After winning a music contest at fourteen, he performed Joseph Haydn's trumpet concerto with the New Orleans Philharmonic. Two years later he performed Brandenburg Concerto No. 2 in F Major by Bach. At seventeen, he was one of the youngest musicians admitted to Tanglewood Music Center. Marsalis applied to only two music colleges, the Juilliard School and Northwestern University. He was accepted to both schools and chose to attend the former. In 1979, he moved to New York City to attend the Juilliard School for a Bachelor of Music in trumpet performance, leaving in 1981 without earning a degree. He intended to pursue a career in classical music. In 1980, he toured Europe as a member of the Art Blakey band, becoming a member of The Jazz Messengers and remaining with Blakey until 1982. He changed his mind about his career and turned to jazz. He has said that years of playing with Blakey influenced his decision. He recorded for the first time with Blakey and one year later he went on tour with Herbie Hancock. After signing a contract with Columbia, he recorded his first solo album. In 1982, he established a quintet with his brother Branford Marsalis, Kenny Kirkland, Charnett Moffett, and Jeff "Tain" Watts. When Branford and Kenny Kirkland left three years later to record and tour with Sting, Marsalis formed a quartet, this time with Marcus Roberts on piano, Robert Hurst on double bass, and Watts on drums. After a while, the band expanded to include Wessell Anderson, Wycliffe Gordon, Eric Reed, Herlin Riley, Reginald Veal, and Todd Williams. ... Source: Article "Wynton Marsalis" from Wikipedia in English, licensed under CC-BY-SA.

Filmography

• 2021In a Different Key — Original Music Composer
• 2019Bolden — Original Music Composer, Executive Producer
• 2019Motherless Brooklyn — Musician
• Jackie Robinson — Original Music Composer
• 2014Concerto Ellington-Marsalis — Music
• 2012Man in the Glass: The Dale Brown Story — Music
• 2011On the Shoulders of Giants
• Prohibition — Music Arranger, Original Music Composer
• 2011Wynton Marsalis and Eric Clapton Play the Blues - Live from Jazz at Lincoln Center — Self, Producer
• 2008Faubourg Tremé: The Untold Story of Black New Orleans — Self - Interviewee / Self - Musician, Executive Producer
• 2008Willie Nelson / Wynton Marsalis - Live from Jazz at Lincoln Center, NYC — Musicien
• 2005Scooby-Doo! in Where's My Mummy? — Campbell (voice)
• Unforgivable Blackness: The Rise and Fall of Jack Johnson — Original Music Composer
• 1998Sugar Ray Robinson: The Bright Lights and Dark Shadows of a Champion — Original Music Composer
• 1990Charles Mingus: Epitaph
• Shannon's Deal — Music
• 1990Tune in Tomorrow... — Self - The Wynton Marsalis Band, Original Music Composer
• 1989Shannon's Deal — Music
• This Is America, Charlie Brown — Music
• 1986An All-Star Celebration Honoring Martin Luther King Jr.
• The South Bank Show

Appearances as themselves (52)

• 2024In Restless Dreams: The Music of Paul Simon — Self
• 2023Jazz 100 — self
• 2022Hargrove — Self
• 2022Louis Armstrong's Black & Blues — Self
• 2021Up From the Streets - New Orleans: The City of Music — Self - musician
• 2020A Swingin' Sesame Street Celebration — Self
• 2020A World Without Beethoven? — Self
• 2020Find Your Groove — Self
• 2020Topowa! Never Give Up — Self
• The Great American Read — Self
• 2018Wynton Marsalis Quintet: Jazz in Marciac — Self - Trumpet
• 2017Chasing Trane — Self - Musician
• 2016Tony Bennett Celebrates 90 — Self
• 2015Song of Lahore — Self
• 2014Brownie Speaks — Self
• Sarah's Music: Contemporary Classical — Self
• 2013VA - Jazz Intermezzo Vol.1 — Self (archive footage)
• Masterclass — Self
• 2009Let Freedom Swing: Conversations on Jazz and Democracy — Self
• 2009Tootie's Last Suit — Self
• 2009Willie Nelson and Wynton Marsalis Play the Music of Ray Charles — Self - Trumpet and Vocals
• 2008Wynton Marsallis and JALC Orchestra - Congo Square — Self
• 2006Live from Abbey Road: Best of Season 1 — Self
• 2006The N Word — Self
• When the Levees Broke: A Requiem in Four Acts — Self
• Iconoclasts — Self
• 2005Shelter from the Storm: A Concert for the Gulf Coast — Self
• Real Time with Bill Maher — Self
• 2003The Marsalis Family: A Jazz Celebration — Self - trumpet
• 2002It's Black Entertainment — Self
• 2002Wynton Marsalis - Blues & Swing — Self
• Jazz — Self
• Soul Food — Self
• 1999The Worlds of Harry Connick Jr. — Self
• 1999Trumpet Kings — Self (archive footage)
• 1997Charles Mingus: Triumph of the Underdog — Self
• 1997Sessions at West 54th Vol.1 — Self (archive footage)
• The Chris Rock Show — Self
• The Daily Show — Self
• 1996Tony Bennett's New York — Self
• 1995Accent on the Offbeat — Self
• Marsalis on Music — Self - Host
• Late Show with David Letterman — Self - Musical Guest
• 1992Satchmo: The Life of Louis Armstrong — Self
• The Tonight Show with Jay Leno — Self
• 1991A Carnegie Hall Christmas Concert — Self
• 1990Sesame Street: Sing Yourself Silly! — Self (archive footage)
• 1989A Classical Jazz Christmas with Wynton Marsalis — Self
• 1988Sesame Street: Put Down the Duckie — Self
• Saturday Night Live — Self - Musical Guest
• Le Grand Échiquier — Self
• Great Performances — Self