Wynton On Never Being Good Enough

When I hear Wynton Marsalis play, I can't believe he could EVER feel not good enough! He is sensational and has such stage presence. And there's a difference in being cocky and being confident---to me, he just appears proud and confident in who he is and what he's doing---like a man who has mastered his craft! My life would be so empty without jazz---Thanks for keeping it alive!!!

"Musicians have so much to give but nobody wants it."

Wynton once said the top three things a horn player should worry about are: 1) Tone quality 2) Tone quality 3) Tone quality He’s 100% right.

he really speaks in jazz

Wynton, you made both your parents and musicians proud! Keep on playing!❤

Jazz is the supreme of all music, jazz will never died.

I have always watched and listened to Wynton play and speak. I never felt he was cocky at all. I watched his face and listened to him and he was always helpful and sending a positive message. Great musician and ambassador.

I got to meet him backstage after a performance in Grand Rapids. He was very gracious and made me feel he was genuinely interested in what I had to say. He didn’t shake hands and rush off but asked me questions and we took a photo. I’m an elementary music teacher, so I was thrilled!

I like Wynton's answer at the beginning. Music isn't a contest. Yes, playing is for pleasure. There will always be someone who can play better and each of us is better than someone, maybe better than we were last week, but . . . did we enjoy performing? Good. Did we get paid? Even better.

Thank you!

met wynton after a phenomenal show in baltimore. i’d just started my jazz education that summer and i was telling him about a show i’d had earlier that day and he asked why i didn’t bring my trumpet to his show, i was 14. thank you wynton.

I write and speak about early jazz music, and I have a motto: “If the roots die, so does the tree.” Wynton holds a special place in my own pantheon, and I want to say, Thank you. Being “calmer” makes me think of Danny Barker’s words: ““You got to pluck that bass or play that instrument a certain way, a certain lilt. Nobody’s in a hurry—all that runnin’ and jumpin.’ No, you take it easy.” That, to me, is the essence of swing rhythm. Peter Gerler, Newton, MA

And thus he would go on to have his own son Jasper Marsalis, otherwise known as Slauson Malone. Co-creator of Standing on the Corner and enigmatic force in the world of avant-garde hip hop and jazz. God bless this lineage of talented musicians and may the family go on to keep the spirit of jazz alive.

Good parents often get good kids.

I appreciate a lot of what Wynton has done for jazz and his wisdom for the younger generation, but I think some of his opinions, especially in regards to modern music and the progression of jazz, are a little close-minded and dismissive of developments and technology in today's world. I think the reason some older musicians may be disappointed in the current (or whenever "current" was in the video) state of music is because it no longer reflects the values that were important to them in their youth. While we should listen intently to this man's words, we should be careful not to confuse opinion for fact.

I would be happy with 10% of wynton's talents he is everything that is great about being a trumpet player

I admire Wynton and love listening to him. I always learn something new from him.

We are so fortunate to share the same time on this earth as Wynton. We are witness to someone equal to Louis Armstrong or Miles or Bird or Coltrane. Or Mingus or Ellington Wynton is a giant. And he is of our time.

Watching this makes me tear up, especially at the end. The jazz musicians around here in Seattle have so, so much heart and soul to give and not many people care to receive it. Other musicians dig it but they are few in number. (but really, you just have to go on and grapple with getting better at the music and forget about all that other stuff, as Mr. Marsalis did, and his family)

I met horn players when I was a kid, by accident, Over 50 years ago, awesome sir!