Renowned American trumpeter and composer Wynton Marsalis believes the universal language of jazz can bridge divides with a common story of humanity.
Marsalis -- who sat down with AFP in Beijing as he kicked off a series of performances in China -- has charted a decades-long career that has seen him win nine Grammys and tour the world with his Jazz at Lincoln Center Orchestra (JLCO).
The 62-year-old is a passionate educator, often emphasising the power of jazz as a way to heal social and political woes.
Marsalis -- who sat down with AFP in Beijing as he kicked off a series of performances in China -- has charted a decades-long career that has seen him win nine Grammys and tour the world with his Jazz at Lincoln Center Orchestra (JLCO).
The 62-year-old is a passionate educator, often emphasising the power of jazz as a way to heal social and political woes.
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NewsTranscript
00:00Jazz is a way of communicating, and the art of jazz is the art of achieving balance.
00:14So there's nothing that the world needs more at this time than to be able to communicate
00:19differences of opinion and ways of life, and to try to figure out what is the optimal balance
00:26for us to deal with each other, and a balance that's always changing, because jazz is ever-changing.
00:31I grew up that my brother could not sleep without music on, and I could not sleep with
01:00So we have to figure out how to achieve balance. I don't go to other people's countries to proselytize or tell them what they should be doing.
01:09I'm a guest, and I come there trying to figure out what it is that we have in common that I can accentuate to ease the pathways for us to communicate.
01:19I like to play around all the time, so I tease Ye, I get to control myself to not tease him.
01:26John Coltrane, he did a record called Love Supreme, and he said in a prayer on a record,
01:33sometimes the situation will be very bad, but my mama was always, she always told people something.