What jazz teaches about necessity of civil discourse
Nation & World What jazz teaches about necessity of civil discourse Musician, composer Wynton Marsalis visits campus to help launch Culture and Civil Society Initiative Christina Pazzanese Harvard Staff Writer February 19, 2025 4 min read Wynton Marsalis. Veasey Conway/Harvard Staff Photographer Jazz offers an important lesson on the vital importance of civil discourse, according to jazz great Wynton Marsalis. “If I’m playing in a rhythm and you’re playing a totally different rhythm, we’re not going to agree,” said the acclaimed composer and musician last week at a campus event. “Not only are we not going to agree, we’re not going to sound good. And if we don’t have the same understanding of what we’re trying to do on the bandstand, we’re going to have hard time.” And, he said, when musicians agree less and less on what constitutes their common musical history, they lose the language that connects them. A longstanding advocate for arts education and for wider recognition of...