>> NOW TO THE WORLD OF MUSIC.

AFTER NEARLY 40 YEARS, THE LEGENDARY JAZZ MUSICIAN WYNTON MARSALIS IS STEPPING DOWN AS MANAGER AND ARTISTIC DIRECTOR.

THE WORLD-RENOWNED TRUMP OR AND COMPOSER HELPED FOUND THE NEW YORK INSTITUTION IN THE 80S WITH THE MISSION TO BUILD A MORE CONSCIOUS, ELABORATIVE AND CREATIVE WORLD THROUGH THE WORLD OF JAZZ.

MARSALIS SITS DOWN WITH WALTER ISAACSON TO TALK ABOUT WHAT HE BELIEVES JAZZ IS THE PERFECT MEDIC FOR TO BUREAUCRACY AND DEMOCRACY.

>> WELCOME BACK TO THE SHOW.

>> THANK YOU, WALTER.

>> YOU JUST ANNOUNCED AFTER 40 YEARS, YOU WILL BE STEPPING DOWN FROM JAZZ AT LINCOLN CENTER.

TAKE US BACK THEN.

I THINK YOU WERE ABOUT 25 YEARS OLD.

YOU HAD BEEN RECORDING WITH YOUR OWN QUARTET.

I THINK YOU DID LIVE AT BLUES ALLEY.

WHAT HAPPENED WHEN THEY GOT YOU THE PHONE CALL?

>> THE THINKING IS THAT IT CAME FROM SOMEONE FROM VISITOR SERVICES OF LINCOLN CENTER, COULD WE DO A SUMMER SERIES OF THREE CONCERTS ?

WOULD I DO IT FOR NO MONEY?

AND CAN I CALL MUSICIANS?

I THOUGHT, GREAT.

WE WILL DO THREE CONCERTS.

WE DID THE FIRST THREE CONCERTS.

AND I DIDN'T REALLY THINK ABOUT IT BECAUSE IT WAS THE YEAR I PROBABLY DID 200 OR SOMETHING CONCERTS THAT YEAR .

BUT I WAS WORKING WITH LENA BLOOM GARDEN AND DOROTHY KURT WHO WAS IT WBGO AND BETTY CARTER WHO WAS OF COURSE THE GREAT GENIUS OF OUR MUSIC , SINGER AND TEACHER.

AT THAT TIME, I DIDN'T THINK ABOUT THE FACT THAT IT WAS THREE LADIES.

THEY WERE MUCH OLDER THAN ME .

BUT THEY HAD A VISION FOR THE COMMUNITY.

THE NEXT YEAR, WE DID THREE MORE CONCERTS.

ONE OF THEM WAS A DUKE ELLINGTON CONCERT.

THE DUKE ELLINGTON CONCERT GOT REALLY BAD REVIEWS .

AND WHEN I SAW THAT THOSE CONCERTS GOT REALLY BAD REVIEWS, I THOUGHT NEXT YEAR, WE NEED TO DO TWO OF THEM.

WE DID TWO THE NEXT YEAR BECAUSE THE CRITIQUE IS THAT WE SHOULD NOT BE PLAYING THE MUSIC.

THAT IS WHAT GALVANIZED MY UNDERSTANDING .

IT MADE ME REALLY UNDERSTAND HOW IMPORTANT IT WAS FOR US TO BUILD THIS AS AN INSTITUTION.

AND THEN SO MANY DIFFERENT THINGS.

SO MANY PEOPLE FROM THE COMMUNITY CAME TO HELP US BUILD JAZZ AT LINCOLN CENTER.

>> SO RESISTING DUKE ELLINGTON.

SO YOU DOUBLED DOWN ON DUKE ELLINGTON.

YOU ARE A BIG DUKE ELLINGTON FAN.

HOW IMPORTANT IS DUKE ELLINGTON AND THE UNDERSTANDING OF HIM?

>> DUKE IS THE GREATEST COMPOSER OF THE 20TH CENTURY.

COVERED MORE MUSIC.

RECORDED 800 ALBUMS.

OVER 2000 COMPOSITIONS.

PLAYED EVERYWHERE IN THE WORLD AND REPRESENTED AS WELL AS ANYONE COULD REPRESENT THE DIVERSITY OF THE NATION CREATED AND ADORNED BY A MUSIC GENIUS ON SO MANY LEVELS.

INNOVATIVE AND SO MANY THINGS.

BLUES AND HARMONY.

HOW THEY USE THIS IN THE CONTEXT OF A GROUP.

I COULD GO ON AND ON ABOUT HIM.

BUT THE WHOLE THRUST OF JAZZ, AND A GENERATION WE DID NOT PLAY BIG BANNED MUSIC.

WE LARGELY PLAYED IN SMALL BANDS.

I DID NOT WANT TO PLAY IN A BIG BAND.

I CALLED DIZZY GILLESPIE AND ASKED HIM, SHOULD I DO THIS?

HE TOLD ME, ONE SHOULD NEVER CONSIDER IT IN ACHIEVEMENT TO LOSE ONE'S ANCESTRAL HERITAGE.

SO I TOOK IT THAT WE NEED TO LEARN HOW TO PLAY THIS MUSIC.

WE CALLED SURVIVING MEMBERS OF DUKE ELLINGTON'S GREAT 1955, UNTIL 1974 BAND AND MEMBERS OF THE JONES LEWIS ORCHESTRA PLAYING AT THE VILLAGE GUARD.

WE HAD MEMBERS IN THEIR 60s AND 70s AND MEMBERS IN THE 40s AND 50s.

AND WE WERE IN OUR 20s AND 30s.

THAT IS HOW WE WENT ABOUT LEARNING HOW TO PLAY THE MUSIC.

>> SO WHEN YOU COME THERE, THERE IS THIS KINETIC CALLED, I THINK IT IS A LINCOLN CENTER COMMITTEE FOR THE FUTURE.

WHAT THEY DECIDED, RIGHT BEFORE YOU HAVE COME, IS WE DON'T NEED SPECIAL THINGS FOR JAZZ.

JAZZ DOES NOT HAVE A REAL PLAY ACT.

>> BUT THE CHAIRMAN OF THE BOARD OF THE LINCOLN CENTER, AT THAT TIME, IN OUR TIME, HE WAS A SUBMARINE COMMANDER IN WORLD WAR II .

AND HE TOLD ME LOOK , MAN, I USED TO TAKE EVERY FURLOUGH.

EVERY TIME I GOT OFF, I WOULD GO SEE CHARLIE PARKER.

THIS WILL GET IN.

SO HE LOVED BIRD.

AND IRENE DIAMOND WAS ONE OF OUR BIGGEST DONORS.

SHE HAD BEEN IN HOLLYWOOD.

SHE UNDERSTOOD HOW THESE SYSTEMS WORK AND THE INJUSTICE OF THINGS.

BECAUSE SHE IS A WOMAN WHOSE WORK WAS STOLEN AND SHE HAD TO DEAL WITH A LOT OF DIFFERENT CHALLENGES.

SHE WAS INTERVIEWED INTO A LOT OF PEOPLE AND SAID, THIS WILL GET IN .

SO WE HAD GOOD PEOPLE AND WE HAD SUPPORTERS AND GORDON DAVIS AND THE LEADERSHIP WE HAD AND STILL HAVE , THEY WORKED AROUND-THE-CLOCK.

AND WE GOT IN.

>> HOW IMPORTANT WAS IT TO RISA WRECKED IN SOME WAYS, JAZZ AT A TIME WHEN ALL SORTS OF NEW MUSIC IS COMING ALONG AND YOU WERE KIND OF A RESISTOR TO THAT NEW --NEW MUSIC.

SOME OF THE HIP-HOP.

>> IT WASN'T JUST TO POP.

WHOLE EMPHASIS OF ROCK 'N' ROLL AS A NATIONAL IDENTITY.

YOU TAKE THE WHOLE ROCK 'N' ROLL THOUGHT OF REBEL WITHOUT A CAUSE AND KIDS VERSUS PARENTS AND ALL THE KIND OF STUFF INTRODUCED INTO THE CULTURE THAT WAS GOOD MAYBE FOR 10 YEARS BUT NOT OF 50 OR 60 YEAR VISION, AS WE HAVE COME TO SEE NOW.

ALL OF THESE KINDS IDEAS.

HIP-HOP BECAME PART OF THAT.

MY INITIAL FOCUS WAS NOT HIP-HOP .

IT WAS, WHAT THE ROCK 'N' ROLL MENTALITY REPRESENTED .

ONCE AGAIN, NOT THE MUSICIANS.

THE MUSICIANS ARE NOT THE ONES WHO ARE MYTHOLOGIZING IN THIS WAY.

THE MARKETPLACE IS DEMANDING THAT.

YOU COULD GO BACK TO THE BEGINNING OF JAZZ AND UNDERSTAND THAT THE PRESSURE BENNY GOODMAN GOT WHEN HE WAS TRAINED TO DEAL WITH AND A GRATING THE AMERICAN PUBLIC SPACE IN THE 1930s.

IT WAS NOT FROM MUSICIANS.

IT WAS FROM THE SYSTEM THAT WANTED TO STAY SEGREGATED.

IN MY TIME, WE HAD THAT OF COURSE WITH THE CONTEMPORARY JAZZ .

IRONICALLY, THEY INVENTED A WARFARE BETWEEN US AND SOME DOWNTOWN MUSICIANS.

WHITE AND BLACK.

IT WAS STUPID AND CRAZY AND NOT GROUND IN ANY FACT.

BY A LARGE, WE RECEIVED UNBELIEVABLE SUPPORT FROM PEOPLE FROM ALL WALKS OF THE COMMUNITY.

GET THIS IN HERE.

DEAL WITH OUR TRADITION.

PLAY OUR MUSIC.

DEVELOP AND BUILD THE LIBRARY.

THE ONE THING THAT SHOCKED ME IS HOW MUCH SUPPORT WE GOT FROM PEOPLE ALL OVER THE COMMUNITY WHO WERE NOT NECESSARILY INVOLVED IN JAZZ .

>> USACE SUPPORT OUR TRADITIONS.

SOMETIMES, WHETHER IT IS PRESERVATION HALL IN NEW ORLEANS OR JAZZ AT LINCOLN CENTER OR WHATEVER YOU HAVE, THAT TENSION BETWEEN PRESERVING THE TRADITIONS AND MAKING SURE THEY ARE NOT IN AMBER AND CAN'T MOVE .

WHAT DID YOU DO ABOUT THAT?

>> WE NEVER HAD THAT PROBLEM BECAUSE WE IMPROVISED.

ALWAYS WRITING NEW MUSIC.

IN THE LAST 14 YEARS, AND ALABAMA LONG, WE HAVE ADDED 1200 NEW ARRANGEMENTS TO OUR LIBRARY.

FOR ME AND SHERMAN AND ALL OF US WHO WORK ON MUSIC, WE COME UP WITH NEW STUFF ALL THE TIME.

I NEVER WORRIED ABOUT THAT BECAUSE MY VISION FOR THE MUSIC WAS ALWAYS IMPROVISATION WHICH MEANS NO MATTER WHAT YOU ARE PLAYING, YOU ARE ADDING TO IT.

THERE WAS NEVER THE IDEAS LIKE WHAT ARE WE GOING TO DO WITH THIS OR WRITE THIS MUSIC.

WE DID SO MUCH NEW MUSIC AND SO MANY COLLABORATIONS AND WROTE SO MANY BALLETS AND MUSICIANS FROM ALL OVER THE WORLD AND NEW THINGS THAT HAD NEVER BEEN HEARD.

THAT WAS NOT OUR PROBLEM.

OUR PROBLEM OUR PROBLEM WAS FORCING THE EXPERTS IN OUR COUNTRY AND THE SO-CALLED INTELLECTUALS TO UNDERSTAND THAT THERE WAS A SOURCE OF AMERICAN GREATNESS THAT CAME FROM QUARTERS THEY WERE AGAINST WHICH WAS PART OF THE BASIC COST OF RACISM IN OUR COUNTRY.

>> YOU TALK JUST NOW ABOUT RACE AND RESISTANCE TO JAZZ AND HOW IMPORTANT WAS THAT IN SHAPING WHAT JAZZ BECAME ?

>> THE OPPOSITION IS IMPORTANT BECAUSE IT MAKES YOU STRONGER.

BUT IF YOU LET THE OPPOSITION --OPPOSITION ALSO IS INTELLIGENT.

IT IS NOT JUST FIGHTING YOU ON THE SAME QUARTER.

I COME TO NEW YORK AND I FIGURE ON GETTING OUT OF THE RACISM OF NEW ORLEANS.

IN THE SOUTH.

AND YOU HAVE PEOPLE APPEAR NOT IN YOUR SYSTEM OF SEGREGATION AND THEY ARE WORSE THAN THE PEOPLE IN THE SOUTH .

WHAT THEY ARE GOING TO WRITE IN THE WAY THEY ARE GOING TO UNDERMINE THE GREATNESS OF THEIR CAUSE .

BUT YOU ALSO ARE GOING TO HAVE PEOPLE OF ALL RACES AND OF ALL WALKS.

EVERY BACKGROUND, COME TOGETHER TO SUPPORT THIS ART FORM AND CREATE SOMETHING GREAT AND THAT WILL NOT BE MYTHOLOGIZED THE WAY IT SHOULD HAVE BEEN.

SO IT IS OUR JOB TO CONTINUE TO TALK ABOUT WHAT WE DID AND WE WERE ALL TOGETHER.

NOT JUST BLACK PEOPLE ARE NOT JUST WHITE PEOPLE.

WE WERE ALL WORKING ON IT AND CONTINUE TO WORK ON IT .

>> THERE HAS BEEN A PUSHBACK IN THE PAST 10 YEARS AGAINST THE IDEA THAT DIVERSITY IS OUR STRENGTH AND THAT IS WHERE OUR CREATIVITY COMES FROM.

IS JAZZ REPUTATION OF THAT?

>> ABSOLUTELY.

THAT IS LIKE CAUSES SO MUCH PROBLEMS.

FOOLISHNESS IS ALWAYS SOMETHING YOU HAVE TO FIGHT AGAINST.

>> GROWING UP IN NEW ORLEANS AS YOU DID, BIG FAMILY, MUSICAL FAMILY, THERE WERE A LOT OF INFLUENCERS THAT FLOWED TOGETHER THERE FROM THE FRENCH UPPER HOUSE TO CONGO SQUARE.

TELL ME HOW THOSE FLOWED TOGETHER TO CREATE JAZZ AND YOUR MUSIC .

>> IN MY GENERATION, A LOT OF THOSE TRADITIONS HAD BEEN LOST.

BUT BECAUSE OF MY FATHER WAS SUCH A GREAT EDUCATOR AND ALWAYS AN ADVOCATE OF DOING THINGS AND BEING PLACES, I WAS ABLE TO PLAY IN DANNY BARKER'S BAND THAT PLAYED TRADITIONAL MUSIC.

I HAD A BAND DIRECTOR THAT WAS ARMENIAN AMERICAN.

HE PLAYED IN A AND OF, BAND DIRECTORS ON TUESDAY NIGHT.

WE WERE REHEARSING AT THE UNIVERSITY OF NEW ORLEANS.

THEY PLAYED JOHN PHILLIPS.

BECAUSE OF HIM, I WOULD GO DO THAT.

I PLAYED THE SONGS.

THE TYPE OF INFLUENCERS IN THE MUSIC LARGELY.

WE PLAYED FUNK IN NEW ORLEANS, POPULAR MUSIC.

BUT WE KNEW AND LEARNED A LOT OF DIFFERENT MUSIC.

FRENCH SONGS THAT MY GREAT UNCLE WOULD SING.

MISSISSIPPI RIVER SONGS.

CHURCH MUSIC OF ALL KINDS.

JACKSON IS FROM NEW ORLEANS.

THE SOIL STILL PRODUCED A WIDE BODY OF MUSIC OF ALL KINDS.

AND WE WERE FRENCH AND WE WERE SPANISH.

AND WE HAD CARIBBEAN INFLUENCE.

IF YOU WERE IN MY TIME, 60s AND 70s, EARLY 80S, YOU WOULD HAVE HAD A LOT OF INFLUENCES JUST BEING THERE.

AND I WAS FORTUNATE TO RECEIVE A LOT OF THAT INFORMATION.

>> I DO REMEMBER THE STORY OF WHEN YOU GO OUT TO JULLIARD AND YOU ARE LOOKING DOWN ON LOUIS ARMSTRONG AND THE LIGHT.

AND YOUR DADDY, THE GREAT ELLIS MARSALIS, HAS THAT RIGHT.

>> YES.

WHEN YOU DON'T KNOW YOUR HISTORY.

EVEN IF YOU ARE TAUGHT IT.

I FATHER TAUGHT AMERICAN HISTORY.

IT WASN'T LIKE I WASN'T IN THE CLASSES WITH THE COLLEGE STUDENT HEARING WHAT HE WAS SAYING.

WHEN YOU VOLUNTEER YOUR GENERATION, YOU HAVE TO OVERCOME YOUR GENERATIONAL IGNORANCE.

GENERATIONS WILL THINK THINGS --WHAT IS THE EVIDENCE OF IT?

MY FATHER WAS LIKE, LEARN ONE OF THE SOLOS.

HE CHALLENGED ME TO LEARN A SO I NEVER LEARNED.

I SAID, THIS IS ALL HANDKERCHIEF HEAD MUSIC.

AND FROM THE 60s AND 70s.

WE HAVE AFRO BLACK POWER.

WE HAVE LOUIS ARMSTRONG SINGING.

WE DID NOT RESPECT THAT ASPECT OF HIS PERSONALITY.

WHEN I WENT TO LEARN THE SOLO, IT WAS ON A SONG CALLED JUBILEE FROM THE 1930s.

I COULDN'T MAKE IT THROUGH THE SOLO BECAUSE OF HIS ENDURANCE AND ABILITY .

AND KEEP IN MIND, THESE RECORDINGS WERE LESS THAN THREE MINUTES.

IT WAS LIKE TWO MINUTES, 20 SECONDS OF PLAYING STRAIGHT.

FROM A MUSICIAN STANDPOINT, I SAID, I GOT TO LISTEN TO POPS AND UNDERSTAND WHO HE WAS .

>> YOU LEARNED A LOT ABOUT IMPROVISATION WHEN YOU ARE DOING JAZZ.

YOU SAY THAT IS THE CORE OF HOW YOU MADE THINGS WORK .

HOW DID YOU APPLY THAT TO ACTUALLY BEING AN EXECUTIVE WHO HAD TO LEAD JAZZ AT LINCOLN CENTER ?

>> THE MAIN THING AT JAZZ IS YOU HAVE TO HAVE --EVERY MEMBER MUST UNDERSTAND THE OVERALL FORM.

IF YOU JUST TAKE AN ORGANIZATION WITH A BUDGET , WHATEVER YOUR DIVISION IS, YOU NEED TO UNDERSTAND YOUR PERCENTAGE OF THE BUDGET AND HOW IT OVERALL WORKS .

WHAT ARE THE PROCEDURES IN YOUR PROCESSES AND THE FONT YOU USE ON THINGS.

WHAT DO YOU REPEAT OVER AND OVER AGAIN AND JUST?

IT IS NOT REPETITION.

WHAT YOU REPEAT OVER AND OVER AGAIN IS HOW YOU TRAIN YOURSELF .

AND THE MAIN THING IN JAZZ IS LISTENING.

WE SPEND MOST OF OUR NIGHTS LISTENING AND TRUSTING.

THE FUNDAMENTAL -- IT IS JUST A UNIT --A NUMERIC ACCURACY OF MUSIC.

SO THE ACCURACY JAZZ DEMANDS , IF YOU ARE GOING TO BE ON A CERTAIN LEVEL, CAN BE APPLIED TO BUSINESS AND THE TYPE OF NUMERIC RIGOR THAT IS REQUIRED TO FUNCTION AS A TEAM .

>> ONE OF THE LEADERSHIP LESSONS I SORT OF TAKE FROM YOU IS I WATCHED YOU PLAY WITH YOUR ORCHESTRA LOT.

I WATCHED YOU BUT YOU LEAD.

YOU LEAD FROM BEHIND.

YOU ALWAYS STAND BEHIND THE ORCHESTRA.

>> THAT IS DEMOCRATIC LEADERSHIP.

IS LIKE A FLOCK OF GEESE.

THEY MAKE THE CALLS FROM THE BACK.

IF YOU REALLY ARE LEADING , EVERYBODY IS LEADING.

WITH OUR ORCHESTRA, MY JOB IS WE HAVE 15 SO LISTS.

EVERY NIGHT, I HAVE TO PROGRAM THE CONCERT SO THAT ALL 15 PEOPLE PLAY AT LEAST ONE TIME.

THAT IS A CHALLENGE WITH 10 SONGS .

I KNEW THE ORCHESTRA WAS GOING TO REALLY BE GREAT WHEN OUR TROMBONE, CHRIS CRENSHAW, WHO SITS IN FRONT OF ME, HE LOOKED AT ME FOR THE LAST TWO SONGS AND STARTED TO TELL ME WHO HADN'T PLAYED.

I SAID , OKAY.

AND WE ALL STARTED TO LOOK OFF OF EACH OTHER.

THIS PERSON HAS NOT PLAYED.

AND WE START TO NEGOTIATE THE SONGS SO THAT WE ALL MAKE SURE EVERYONE PLAYS .

>> ABOUT THREE YEARS AGO, I WENT AND SAW IT.

YOU DID DEMOCRACY SUITE AT LINCOLN CENTER.

AND YOU SAID, JAZZ MUSIC IS THE PERFECT METAPHOR FOR DEMOCRACY .

TELL ME WHAT YOU ARE FEELING ABOUT DEMOCRACY NOW AND WHAT JAZZ MEANS, TO TEACH IT.

>> FIRST, TO COME INTO ALIGNMENT WITH OUR AMERICAN MYTHOLOGY , WE ARE FAR AWAY FROM IT.

WE CAN MAKE ALL THE MOVIES WE WANT TO MAKE MAKING HEROES INTO ONE PERSON WITH INTEGRITY.

THE LEVEL OF CORRUPTION WE ARE SEEING NOW, WE WERE ALWAYS ON THE WAY TOWARD IT.

I'M A NONPARTISAN ATTACKER OF THE CORRUPTION I SEE.

I HAVE BEEN DOING IT FOR 40 YEARS .

WHAT YOU ARE SEEING IN THE PUBLIC SPACE NOW IS THE TYPE OF ARROGANCE AND CRIMINAL ACTIVITY THAT WE ARE ALWAYS WORKING OUR WAY TOWARDS.

NOW YOU SEE IT.

AND THE QUESTION IS, HOW DO THE PEOPLE IN LARGE RESPOND TO THIS?

ARE WE GOING TO SAY NO ?

THE JUDICIAL SYSTEM IS NOT SAVING US THE WAY IT SHOULD.

THERE IS A LEVEL OF CORRUPTION AND WE HAVE TO WAKE UP AND SAY WE ARE TIRED OF THIS [BLEEP].

AND IF WE DO IT, OKAY.

IF WE DON'T, WE WILL BE JUST LIKE ALL OTHER THINGS THAT COULD HAVE BEEN SOMETHING.

AND IT IS RELATED TO JAZZ.

IN JAZZ, YOU CAN PUT THE BASE IN.

THE DRUMMER CAN PLAY LOUD.

ONE SOLOIST CAN PLAY 400 COURSES CHORUSES.

THE MUSIC BREAKS DOWN.

YOU HAVE TO BALANCE YOUR FREEDOM TO IMPROVISE WITH RESTRAINT THAT COMES WITH RECOGNIZING OTHER PEOPLE.

DEMOCRACY DIES WHEN YOU DO NOT UNDERSTAND THE NEED FOR LEVELING AND TO CREATE WEALTH FOR EVERYBODY AND TO SEE IN YOUR NEIGHBOR, NOT YOUR ENEMY, BUT A FRIEND .

AND IT LEADS TO MANAGING THEMSELVES.

THAT IS WHAT I HAVE TO DO.

I CAN'T SAY, I'M HERE.

I WILL SOLO ON EVERY TUNE.

EVERY TIME 70 PLAYS , IT IS UNIQUE.

IT IS NOT THE SOLUTION.

WE ARE IN TROUBLE NOW BUT I'M MORE BIG RATED ABOUT IT.

A DOCTORS IS NOT GO TO A PLACE WHERE PEOPLE ARE SICK AND SAY, MAN, A LOT OF PEOPLE ARE SICK HERE.

COME ON MAN.

YOU ARE THE DOCTOR.

HELP PEOPLE.

SO A LOT OF TALKING GOES ON ABOUT DEMOCRACY.

LET'S SEE .

>> AND SO YOU ARE THE DOCTOR.

WHAT ARE YOU DOING NOW?

>> I'M THE DOCTOR OF DEMOCRACY .

LET'S GO.

>> WHAT YOU DO WITH YOUR MUSIC?

>> WE HAVE A WHOLE THREE MONTHS TO DEDICATE TO IT CALLED JAZZ CALL FOR FREEDOM.

WE ARE PUTTING OUT THREE RECORDS.

WE HAD 12 VIDEOS OF YOUNGER AND OLDER PEOPLE OF ALL GENERATIONS SINGING FREEDOM SONGS ABOUT DEMOCRACY .

ANNOUNCING EDUCATION THAT WE ARE GOING TO DO IN MINNESOTA.

WE ARE ALREADY DOING EDUCATION CALLED LET FREEDOM SWING.

WE ARE RELEASING AN ALBUM I DID IN 2017, 2018, CALLED THE EVER FUNKY LOW DOWN.

YOU LISTENED TO THAT, YOU WOULD THINK I WAS WRITING THE BLUEPRINT.

EVER FUNKY FUNKY.

YOU SEE IT PLAY OUT.

>> SO YOU GOT A BIG PIECE OF MUSIC YOU ARE WRITING RIGHT NOW?

>> YES, SIR.

I'M WRITING MY FIFTH SYMPHONY.

IT IS CALLED THE LIBERTY SYMPHONY.

I'M LATE.

I'M ALWAYS LATE.

THAT GIVES ME THE ENERGY TO STAY UP DAY AND NIGHT AND DEALING WITH THIS CELEBRATION OF AMERICA'S 250TH.

AND I WILL DEAL WITH SUBJECTS LIKE I ALWAYS TRY TO DO.

BETTER OF A SERIOUS NATURE.

AND LET'S SEE.

>> YOU ARE DEALING WITH THE 250TH OF THE NATION.

THE LIBERTY SERIES.

HOW DO YOU DO THAT?

>> DEALING WITH MAJOR AMERICAN THEMES AND FORMS.

MY WHOLE TIME OF WRITING MUSIC, I'M DEALING WITH AMERICAN MYTHOLOGY AS EXPRESSED IN MUSIC.

I HAVE CHURCH USE IT, RAGTIME, USE OF THE BLUES.

CELTIC MUSIC AND STUFF THAT COMES OUT AS DIFFERENT VERNACULAR TRADITIONS , LIKE GOSPEL MUSIC.

COUNTRY MUSIC.

BLUEGRASS, TEXAS SWING.

I STUDIED IN --DIFFERENT FORMS OF LATIN MUSIC.

I STUDIED AMERICAN MUSIC MY ENTIRE LIFE .

I PUT ALL OF THESE THINGS IN A CHORUS FORMAT.

THINGS WE HAVE THAT MAKE OUR MUSIC UNIQUE .

AND I'M GOING TO MAKE ANOTHER STATEMENT ABOUT WHO WE ARE AND THE POSSIBILITIES OF US .

IT WON'T ALL JUST BE OPTIMISM.

EVEN THOUGH IT HAS TO BE THAT FOR ME .

IT DOESN'T MAKE SENSE FOR ME TO WRITE IT.

IT WILL BE OPTIMISM BUT IT WILL ALSO BE MOVEMENTS LIKE, THIS YOU DID, DESPITE THE WORD OF THE LORD.

IT WILL ALSO BE SERIOUS BECAUSE I TAKE ALL OF THIS VERY SERIOUSLY .

>> WYNTON MARSALIS, THANK YOU FOR JOINING US.

>> WALTER, WALTER GREAT TO SEE YOU ALWAYS!