The Jazz at Lincoln Center Orchestra is an American big band and jazz orchestra led by Wynton Marsalis. The Orchestra is part of Jazz at Lincoln Center, a performing arts organization in New York City.

History

In 1988 the Orchestra was formed as an outgrowth of its concert series, Classical Jazz, with David Berger conducting. When Wynton Marsalis became artistic director in 1991, he emphasized the history of jazz, particularly Duke Ellington. The first album was Portraits by Ellington (1992), and seven years later the Ellington centennial was honored with the album Live in Swing City: Swingin' with the Duke (1999).^[1]

Under the leadership of Marsalis, the band performs at its home in Lincoln Center, tours throughout the U.S. and abroad, visits schools, appears on television, and performs with symphony orchestras. The Orchestra backed Wynton Marsalis on his album Blood on the Fields, which won the Pulitzer Prize.^[1][2][3]

Since 2015, the Orchestra's albums have been issued on its own label, Blue Engine Records.^[4]

Personnel

• Wynton Marsalis – trumpet
• Ryan Kisor – trumpet
• Marcus Printup – trumpet
• Kenny Rampton – trumpet
• Chris Crenshaw – trombone
• Vincent Gardner – trombone
• Elliot Mason – trombone
• Robert Stewart – saxophone
• Walter Blanding – saxophone
• Victor Goines – saxophone
• Sherman Irby – saxophone
• Ted Nash – saxophone
• Paul Nedzela – baritone saxophone
• Dan Nimmer – piano
• Carlos Henriquez – double bass
• Obed Calvaire – drums

Discography

• Portraits by Ellington (1992)
• Jazz at Lincoln Center Presents: The Fire of the Fundamentals (1994)
• They Came to Swing (1994)
• Blood on the Fields (Columbia, 1997) OCLC 37265855
• Live in Swing City: Swingin' with Duke (1999)
• Big Train (Columbia, 1999) OCLC 53304940
• All Rise (Sony Classical, 2002) OCLC 50762664
• Lincoln Center Jazz Orchestra with Wynton Marsalis Plays the Music of Duke Ellington (Warner Bros., 2004) OCLC 51283882
• Cast of Cats (2004)
• A Love Supreme (2005)
• Don't Be Afraid: The Music of Charles Mingus (2005)
• Congo Square (2007)
• Portrait in Seven Shades (Jazz at Lincoln Center, 2010)
• Vitoria Suite (Universal, 2010) OCLC 659741065
• Wynton Marsalis and Eric Clapton Play the Blues (2011)
• Live in Cuba (Blue Engine, 2015)
• Big Band Holidays (Blue Engine, 2015)
• The Abyssinian Mass (Blue Engine, 2016)
• The Music of John Lewis (Blue Engine, 2017)
• All Jazz Is Modern: 30 Years of Jazz at Lincoln Center Vol. 1 (2017)
• Handful of Keys (Blue Engine, 2017)
• United We Swing: Best of the Jazz at Lincoln Center Galas (2018)^[5][6]
• Una Noche con Rubén Blades (2018)
• Swing Symphony (2019)
• Jazz and Art (2019)
• Jazz for Kids (2019)
• Big Band Holidays II (2019)^[7]
• Sherman Irby's Inferno (2020)
• The Music of Wayne Shorter (2020)
• Black, Brown, and Beige (2020)
• Rock Chalk Suite (2020)
• Christopher Crenshaw's The Fifties: A Prism (2020)
• Big Band Holidays III (2023)