Wynton Marsalis Quintet

Wynton Marsalis brings his quintet to Rose Theater for a five-piece set built around Marsalis, pianist Marcus Roberts, bassist Reginald Veal, drummer Jason Marsalis, and a tenor saxophonist to be announced. The music is described as writing and exploratory improvising for two horns, with rhythmic shifts, strettos, and changes of mood and key. Its repertoire reaches from Black Codes from the Underground, released in 1985, to the Integrity Suite, which the group performed before the U.S. Supreme Court in 2023.

The quintet’s music is rooted in Marsalis’s “hardcore belief in the dynamic power of swinging jazz,” with performances characterized as spontaneous, highly interactive, and serious fun. Earlier editions of the group have included tenor saxophonist Walter Blanding and pianist Dan Nimmer, while a 1985 lineup included pianist Kenny Kirkland, saxophonist Branford Marsalis, drummer Jeff Watts, and bassist Charnett Moffett. Reviewing an earlier version, The Guardian called it “a remarkable hard-bop quintet who fizz and crackle and groove,” praising players who listen carefully and shape solos “like perfectly written narratives.” A Morning Call review found Marsalis’s soloing “considered, carefully delivered, well-controlled,” with “imagination and charm.”