The Ever Fonky Lowdown, written and performed by Wynton Marsalis, was written in 2018 to address universal issues of human exploitation and suffering with a specific focus on how those matters have played out in America. The most recent public acts of police violence and the social inequities exposed by the Covid-19 Pandemic have spotlighted national problems and hit a global nerve as well, as evidenced by the many international protests in solidarity. In this very moment, our world is experiencing more and more social upheaval over a myriad of human rights issues.
The Ever Fonky Lowdown is entertaining—but it also brilliantly reveals an incisive, panoramic, and satirical view of modern society. A funky jazz parable for 2020, the new work covers terrain from football to politics, power to poverty, from love and romance to betrayal and corruption. It will make you dance and sing and it will make you think and reconsider.
The work ultimately asks the question, where do we go from here?
Written by Wynton Marsalis, The Ever Fonky Lowdown was premiered in 2018 by the Jazz at Lincoln Center Orchestra with Wynton Marsalis; vocalists Camille Thurman, Ashley Pezzotti, Christie Dashiell, and Doug Wamble; and narrator Wendell Pierce.
On September 22, 2020, FOLCS brought to its stage Jazz at Lincoln Center’s Managing and Artistic Director and legendary musician, Wynton Marsalis, for a Conversation on The Ever Fonky Lowdown. All attendees had the opportunity to stream The Ever Fonky Lowdown for free through the streaming platform of their choice.
Watch The Ever Fonky Lowdown: A Conversation with Wynton Marsalis here.
Wynton Marsalis
Musician; Managing and Artistic Director, Jazz at Lincoln Center
Jazz musician, trumpeter, composer, bandleader, advocate for the arts, and educator Wynton Marsalis has helped propel jazz to the forefront of American culture. His prominent position in American culture was solidified in April 1997 when he became the first jazz artist to be awarded the Pulitzer Prize in music for his work Blood on the Fields, which was commissioned by Jazz at Lincoln Center. In 2012, he was named Managing and Artistic Director of the world-renowned arts organization. He had served as artistic director as well as music director of the Jazz at Lincoln Center Orchestra (formerly known as the Lincoln Center Jazz Orchestra) since its inception. In 2011, CBS Television named him Cultural Correspondent. Since July 1, 2014, Mr. Marsalis has served as the Director of Jazz Studies at The Juilliard School.