The Wynton Marsalis Septet

Trumpet player Wynton Marsalis, jazz’s Young Lion turned Pulitzer winner, is without a record label for the first time in his two-decade career. Judging from writer David Hajdu’s respectful profile in the March issue of The Atlantic, though, demand for Marsalis and respect for his work remain enviably high. Marsalis’ stringently classicist view of jazz continues to rankle some critics (and Marsalis’ brother Branford Marsalis, the saxophone player as noted for his funk and pop excursions as for his own driving jazz). Though Marsalis is as outspoken as ever at this career crossroads, his purist stance romanticizes the music in a way his lyrical playing reinforces; he’s almost too good to argue with. And apparently, loving postfusion jazz is a chaste position. Speaking to Hajdu, critic Stanley Crouch, a longtime friend of Marsalis, took aim at dissenting reviewers. “Marsalis, any way the critics look at him, is superior to them,” Crouch said. “He’s a greater musician than any of them are writers. He’s a good-looking guy. He has access to and has had access to a far higher quality of female than any of them could ever imagine.” No word yet on the after-show orgy, but if you want access to jazz of the highest quality, take a date to see Marsalis and eat your heart out.