James Gaffigan and Wynton Marsalis Receive Standing Ovation for "All Rise" at the 2026 Edinburgh International Festival

Wynton Marsalis’ Symphony No.1, “All Rise”, Opening Concert of the Edinburgh International Festival

By Patrick Hadfield

UK Jazz News

The Usher Hall stage can rarely have been so crowded, such is the scale of this enterprise. Wynton Marsalis has been clear about his intentions for his Symphony No. 1: It is about his “vision of the togetherness and ascendance of humanity”, with each section “express[ing] different moments in the progression of experiences that punctuate our lives” – intentions worthy of Mahler, needing an orchestra and choir of Mahlerian dimensions to achieve them.

Marsalis wrote the piece in 1999, having been repeatedly goaded to do so by Kurt Masur (*), and it was premiered by the Jazz at Lincoln Center Orchestra (JLCO), with Masur conducting the New York Philharmonic on the cusp of the millennium. The premiere recording, made with the Los Angeles Philharmonic just a few days after the terrorist attacks of 9/11 in 2001, was released into a different world.

The Royal Scottish National Orchestra is familiar with working outside the usual strictures of classical music: they performed Marsalis’s bluesy Trumpet Concerto with Alison Balsom at the Edinburgh International Festival two years ago, and have collaborated with the Scottish National Jazz Orchestra in Gershwin’s Rhapsody In Blue. It is clear they – and guest conductor James Gaffigan – know…really know…how to swing.

Marsalis’s symphony is based around the structure of a twelve bar blues: twelve movements, organised into three sections of four, each section representing a different stage in life (movement listing below). It is almost two hours long. For this performance, the three sections were separated by two intervals, which gave musicians and audience a chance to catch breath, but also broke up the momentum and coherence of the piece.

The first section, birth and joyous youth, was the least convincing, but there was still much to admire. The sheer impact of the combined ensembles was often breathtaking. During the jazzier parts, Gaffigan stepped back and let JLCO do their thing; their effortless swing to the fore in sections of “Go Slow (But Don’t Stop)”, one of many parts in the symphony in which Ellingtonian overtones emphasised the importance of Duke to contemporary American music.

After the first interval, doubts were blown away. Dealing with mistakes, pain and suffering, the blues was deeply woven into the fabric of the music. After opening with the full percussion section – five musicians including the timpanist – involved in a furious rhythmic conversation while the members of JLCO all beat out polyrhythms – the entry of the chorus with a loud, extended scream was genuinely shocking. Throughout this third of the symphony, the chorus came into their own: In “Cried, Shouted, Then Sung”, their foot stamping evoked the mood of a slaves’ work song, enlivened by their chant of “freedom!” After a moving interplay between the cello and bass sections of the orchestra, the chorus’ singing in “Look Beyond” was deeply powerful.

“Halls of Erudition and Scholarship” signalled a mood shift, from melancholy blues to lively, optimistic swing. The change continued after the second interval into the final section, dealing with maturity and joy. And joyous it was. From the Latin rhythms of “El ‘Gran’ Baile de la Reina” through to the stupendous finale of “I Am (Don’t You Run From Me)”, it got better and better. “El ‘Gran’ Baile de la Reina” featured some wonderful trumpet playing from Marsalis himself, as well as the orchestra’s trumpet section, and a romantic duet between violin and cello. “Express Brown Local” was a feature for JLCO, Marsalis’ writing invoking Ellington at his prime and finishing with JLCO in full force.

“I Am (Don’t You Run From Me)” brought the symphony to a triumphant, moving climax. The rich, sonorous voices of the soloists from the Jason Max Ferdinand Singers soared over the chorus, chanting “I am!” and “All rise!”. For the middle section, taking the form of a spiritual, the chorus put down their music and were dancing animatedly as they sang. JLCO broke into the marching rhythm of a New Orleans second line, bringing the symphony to a conclusion at the birthplace of jazz.

And at the culmination, the audience did rise, offering a ten minute standing ovation as Gaffigan brought the orchestral sections, the chorus and JLCO to their feet, finally bringing Marsalis to the front of the stage and joining in the applause. The ovation could have been longer, had a band made up of musicians from the Scottish National Youth Jazz Orchestra not marched through the auditorium, picking up the New Orleans thrust of the symphony, to lead us out onto the street.

Read the full article here: https://ukjazznews.com/wynton-marsalis-symphony-no-1-all-rise-opening-concert-of-the-edinburgh-international-festival/