New York City Day 3 Part II - Wynton

Oh what a NIGHT!

Yes, that is me with Wynton Marsalis. Friday night T and I went to see Wynton Marsalis Septet. Here is some show info.

In This House, On This Morning The Wynton Marsalis Septet

It's that sweet embrace of life--sometimes celebratory, sometimes solemn--rising from so many houses on so many Sundays. We mark the 15th anniversary of Wynton's first in-house commission, a sacred convergence of gospel and jazz that gave rise to a new sound, at once modern and familiar. When the Wynton Marsalis Septet--the same group of musicians who debuted the music 15 years ago featuring Riley, Gordon, "Warmdaddy" and Williams--testify, the House of Swing will shake down to its drum skin floors.

The evening started with T and I having to take our longest subway ride of our trip. We seem to really be getting the hang of this subway stuff. LOL. Once we figured out how to get to the train going in the right direction we did alright. We headed to central park south around 5:30 for our 6:00 reservations at Micky Mantle's restaurant. Neither of us are big baseball fans, but this place was close to the Rose Hall so we decided to have dinner there. I think I was too excited about the show so I didn't really eat a lot.

I have been a fan of Wynton Marsalis for over 20 years and this was going to be my very first time hearing him perform live. Last year we did see him in his capacity as the conductor of the Lincoln Center Jazz Orchestra when they played locally but he did not perform on the trumpet that night and that is what I really love. After dinner we walked back towards the Rose Hall stopping at the fountain that is located in Columbus Circle near Trump International Hotel and Tower. We took a few pictures and then headed over to the hall.

When we arrived on the floor that housed the Rose Hall, we were greated by a local gospel choir singing. What an awesome opening act. The song they were singing when we arrived was "On Time God", which took me back to my days at the church I grew up attending. We spent the next 30 minutes listening to some wonderful gospel music. Before heading into the hall I picked up an autographed copy of one of Wynton's cd's. It was worth every penny that I spent on it.

The concert was broken into three parts with all three parts representing some aspect of a traditional sunday service at your typical black church. Those guys were just amazing. I have never heard a trombone, trumpet, saxaphone, drums, base, or piano played like they did. I still get goose bumps just remembering the show. Wynton was awesome but each of the artist were spectacular in their own right.

After the show was over I headed for the exit since it was time to go home right? Well NOT! T had evidently been exchanging e-mails with Wynton's publicist and had arranged for me to meet him after the show. So when I headed for the exit she said,"wait". I asked "For what" and she said "We need to go to the green room". I was like "For what?" and she said "So you can meet Wynton". Well I almost died right there. I think I was shell shocked for quite a while. T said that I was shaking. To be honest I don't remember if I was but I wouldn't be surprised if she was right. LOL.

15 minutes later I was shaking hands and talking to Wynton Marsalis. He signed my playbill along with T's ticket for the show and graciously posed for pictures. I still think I am on cloud nine. I am not sure when I will ever come back down to earth. I know I will never forget that night and I will never be able to thank T enough for setting up the meet.