Jazz artist to perform at sold-out Easton show....

EASTON -- Traditional jazz music will be alive and well in Easton this weekend.

Famed trumpet virtuoso Wynton Marsalis, who also excels at classical music, will return to the Avalon Theatre for performances Friday and Saturday -- and they are both sold out.

The theater's Clay Owens said ticket requests were "through the roof" even after they'd all been snatched up. Most customers paid between $50 and $100 per seat, although students were offered reduced rates.

"To say we're happy to have Wynton back would be an understatement. He is truly a great musician and a nice, easy-going person," Owens said. "Wynton really liked the Avalon; he commented several times how much he enjoyed the theater and the food. When we were making arrangements with his management, the one request we kept getting was that we have plenty of crabcakes for him."

There was a serious undertone to Marsalis' 2006 performance, however. The show occurred just after Hurricane Katrina had devastated his hometown of New Orleans. While the musician honored his contract to perform in Easton, Owens said Marsalis was saddened by the death and destruction his friends and relatives were dealing with at the time. In the months that followed, Marsalis filmed television ads and gave numerous speeches and interviews about the importance of rebuilding New Orleans. He also staged a benefit at Jazz at Lincoln Center, where he is the music director.

The son of jazz pianist Ellis Marsalis Jr., Wynton has always been outspoken; he has long criticized the commercialization of jazz and other forms of music. He sparred in the press with his older brother, saxophonist Branford Marsalis, after Branford quit his band to perform with Sting when the rocker quit The Police. Branford later did a stint as the original music director of Jay Leno's Tonight Show.

In addition to racking up almost a dozen Grammys, Marsalis was the first person to win a Pulitzer Prize for Music for a jazz recording.
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