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A feisty boy wonder no longer, Wynton Marsalis, at 50 years of age, has matured into the ever-phenomenal musician and thoughtful spokesperson that the music he loves deserves. The worlds most famous living jazz musician didn't achieve that status on charm alone. The man who jump-started the jazz revival of the 1980s and has upheld his high musical standards ever since, is a remarkable trumpeter, bandleader, composer, and arranger. Marsalis has exhibited prodigious skills that no other figure of his generation can match. As the Pulitzer and 9-time Grammy Award-winner eases into his 50th birthday on October 18, 2011, he casts his memory back a dozen years to 1998-99 when - with the new millennium on the way - he began to lay plans for an unprecedented release of nine major album projects that would eventually span 1999 and 2000. a timely name was given to the campaign, SWINGING INTO THE 21ST! And the artist dedicated himself to the immense task ahead. To celebrate Wyntons 50th birthday, highlights from those nine albums plus his career-defining masterpiece, All Rise, have been selected by the artist for one new compilation: SWINGING INTO THE 21st! From chamber music to studio and live dates with his septet, jazz and blues tributes, film music, scores for ballet, modern classical and orchestral works, to some bona fide swing, SWINGIN INTO THE 21ST also showcases collaborations with a diverse group of musicians and displays Marsalis extraordinary musical range.
