Annotations for People: Wynton Marsalis

These are not small-time Latin Jazz players working obscurely in some stylistic ghetto, but superior musicians who happen to be Latinos, and who, for the past decade, have been developing a pan-Latin view of Jazz that might very well be the music's future. Early on in Jazz, trumpetist Wynton Marsalis, who was also a crucial advisor to the series, speaks about how, quote, "the real power of jazz is that a group of people can come together and negotiate their agendas with each other." That in Jazz is a prime example of such negotiation. Here is a music drawn from several cultures and traditions, played by groups made up of musicians with often profoundly different backgrounds, and more. Here is a music with all deep roots, embracing the new world. A music rich with memories, but looking for a future unburdened by history. A music street-wise and brash, but also touchingly familiar with the past. Here is a music with all deep roots, embracing the new world. It is a soundtrack for a nation of immigrants. But you won't hear any of it in Jazz, and that's too bad. By perpetuating the notion of a United States and an American culture drawn only from two races, Jazz doesn't just fail Latinos or Latin music fans. It fails us all.