Polarising Wynton Marsalis

“At 41, Wynton Marsalis is the most famous living jazz musician, named in 1996 as one of Time magazine’s 25 most influential Americans. While many jazz players have been classically trained, he is rare in straddling both worlds professionally.” Yet he inspires camps of critics as well as admirers. “While friends cite his charm and humility, others find him dogmatic, and worry about the power of his patronage. Marsalis rails against a ‘jazz establishment’ as ‘racist, ignorant and disrespectful of musicians’.”