Everywhere You Go, There’s Wynton

Can the jazz world ever get too much of Wynton Marsalis?

This year should be a good test. Next week, Columbia Jazz will release “Live at the Village Vanguard,” a seven(!)-CD boxed set compiled from recordings made between 1990 and 1994 by Marsalis and his Septet at the New York jazz nightclub. This follows the issuance of eight previous CDs in jazz and classical settings, with the music ranging from Jelly Roll Morton and Stravinsky to a wide array of Marsalis originals. The math, in case you hadn’t noticed, adds up to 15 CDs in calendar year 1999.

In addition, of course, he continues to administer the Jazz at Lincoln Center program and, in his spare time, is working on a 12-movement work for symphony orchestra, jazz band and 60-voice chorus scheduled to premiere Dec. 29 at Lincoln Center’s Avery Fisher Hall. No lack of ambition there.

But the question remains. How much is too much, even of a good thing? One answer will be provided by the record-buying and concert-going public. The other answer rests within the music itself. Thus far, Marsalis has maintained a remarkably high level of quality in virtually everything he’s done. But even the deepest pool of talent can lose its capacity to restore itself if it is drained too quickly.

The seven-CD set will probably do well, since Marsalis’ talented Septet possessed plenty of musical resources. But a lot will undoubtedly be riding on the 12-movement symphonic work. And one can’t help but wonder, regardless of the response the piece receives, whether Marsalis might not be wise, as the new millennium arrives, to allow some time for his creative batteries to recharge.

Among the other boxed sets arriving in what will undoubtedly be a tidal wave of seasonal packages is a bounteous six-CD assemblage from one of jazz piano’s most distinctive voices: “Erroll Garner” (Telarc). The compilation includes 12 LP albums originally recorded for Garner’s own Octave Records label between 1959 and 1973; most have been issued before in single-CD releases. Studio and live recordings are represented, as well as Garner’s theme music for the 1963 Paul Newman-Joanne Woodward film “A New Kind of Love.”

Garner had that rarest of jazz qualities, an instantly identifiable and utterly original style. And it bursts out all over the place in the consistently high-level performances here. There’s barely a standard from the Great American Songbook that eludes Garner’s grasp, and in each case he brings the music to life with his own insouciant touch. A must-have collection--and one that will not simply remain on the shelf as a historical item--for all jazz fans.

Jazz in Print: Louis Armstrong was an inveterate journal keeper, sometimes in his own hand, sometimes via a portable typewriter, sometimes via audiotape. “Louis Armstrong: In His Own Words” (Oxford University Press, $25), edited by Thomas Brothers, is a remarkable assemblage--more insightful in many ways than all the essays and critical evaluations written about this seminal jazz artist.

Jazz critic Howard Mandel’s “Future Jazz” (Oxford University Press, $26) is an insightful collection of essays focusing upon jazz developments in the post-’60s period.

“Masters of Jazz Guitar: The Story of the Players and Their Music” (Miller Freeman Books, $39.95) is a beautifully produced coffee-table-sized package, complete with a cornucopia of excellent color and black-and-white photos. Chapters, by a variety of writers, cover such topics as “Soloists of the Swing Era,” “The Bebop Masters,” “Fusion: The First Wave,” “Brazilian Guitar” and “The New Mainstream.”

Rahsaan Roland Kirk, perhaps the most idiosyncratic of all jazz artists--even within the framework of the exceedingly individualist ‘60s and ‘70s--was also an enigmatic figure. John Kruth’s “Bright Moments: The Life & Legacy of Rahsaan Roland Kirk” (Welcome Rain Publishers, $24.95) succeeds in shedding some light on Kirk’s too brief transit through the jazz world. But an authoritative biography, one that deals with Kirk’s singular musical contributions, remains to be done.

As the Ellington centennial year comes to a close, “Duke Ellington” (Friedman/Fairfax Publishers, $27.50) provides an attractive exclamation point to the celebration. Writer Scott Yanow (a contributor to The Times) provides a historical overview that links together a remarkable collection of photographs covering every segment of the Ellington musical odyssey.

Passing: The death of trumpeter Lester Bowie from liver cancer earlier this week deprives the jazz world of one of its more colorful figures. Always marching to the sound of his own drummer, Bowie was one of the few to perceive the possibilities for absurdity and irony within the too often inner-focused avant-garde sounds of the ‘60s and ‘70s.

A highly original trumpeter, always in search of new sounds, he did not hesitate to attack what he considered to be the unadventurous, retro qualities of the ‘90s players inspired by Wynton Marsalis. But Bowie’s omnivorous willingness to open jazz up to every possibility is not a particularly favored approach in this decade of politically correct jazz. And for that reason, as well as for the sheer imaginativeness of his own music, he will be much missed.