The Greenwald Pavilion was nearly filled to capacity on Saturday as Aspen Ideas patrons watched Jon Batiste and WyntonMarsalis take the stage at the final discussion of the week-long festival.
Batiste and Marsalis began the final discussion with a rendition of “The Star Spangled Banner”, followed by “America, the Beautiful”.
At other points, the duo played jazz and blues standards and discussed race.
“In our country, our greatest challenge is for us to be together in spite of our history,” Marsalis said.
Marc Freidberg a thirty-four year resident of Aspen and first-time Ideas fest visitor said there were a lot of things he took away from the event and he is already planning for next year.
“We’ve been more than pleased and we’re ready to sign up for next year, and make sure that it’s early enough,” said Freidberg.
