“Let’s swing,” exclaimed Wynton Marsalis from the rear of the Guild Hall stage, leading into a stellar night of sublime sound featuring the Jazz at Lincoln Center orchestra. Of course, this was Wynton’s triumph—a recognition of jazz as American classical music and the final stop in a U. S. and Canada tour. The 90-minute set focused on original work by these tuxedo-clad composer/musicians and included classics: Sonny Rollins’ “Freedom Suite,” and trombonist Vincent Gardner’s vocals on “Yes Sir, That’s My Baby.”

Introducing his players as they soloed on trumpet, piano, or sax, showcasing their compositions, he kept the stories to a minimum, such as a Clifford Brown tribute featuring his own trumpet from concerts in Spain’s Basque region. “They speak their own language,” he informed the packed crowd in his New Orleans drawl, “they have great food.”

He likened another composition to a Romare Bearden’s depiction of Harlem as seen from writer Albert Murray’s apartment on 137^th street. Later on, at the garden reception, Wynton Marsalis told me how he was at Murray’s place all the time when he arrived in New York. He knew the books such as The Omni-Americans. I told him how Stompin’ the Blues was instrumental (pun intended) at a time when, a journalist and writer on Jack Kerouac, I needed to know how jazz works. Nodding, he said, “It makes my time to know someone remembers him.”

Over at the bar, flutist/ saxophonist Alexa Tarantino, shared the last drops of “Summer in a Bottle” rose with me, pouring an inch into my wine glass. The only woman on the stage, she said touring with the men was a joy—”They’re my brothers.” Now they go back to the city to get some rest before heading for a next tour in Africa.