Wynton Marsalis

Artistic Director, Jazz at Lincoln Center. First Jazz musician to win Pulitzer Prize. Style incorporates a heavy emphasis on the blues, an inclusive approach to all forms of jazz from New Orleans to modern jazz, persistent use of swing as the primary rhythm, an embrace of the American popular song, individual and collective improvisation, and a panoramic vision of compositional styles from ditties to dynamic call and response patterns (both within the rhythm section and between the rhythm section and horn players). Jazz and classical musician, bandleader, composer, and educator. Holds over thirty honorary degrees.