Wynton Marsalis was born in New Orleans, Louisiana, on October 18, 1961. The first performance of Swing Symphony took place at the Berliner Philharmonie in Berlin, Germany, on June 9, 2010, with the Jazz at Lincoln Center Orchestra and Berlin Philharmonic, conducted by Simon Rattle. 

Swing Symphony is scored for three flutes (3rd doubling piccolo), three oboes (3rd doubling English horn), three clarinets (3rd doubling bass clarinet), two bassoons, contrabassoon, four horns, three trumpets, three trombones, tuba, timpani, bass drum, bongo bell, bongos, brake drum, car horn, chimes, claves, congas, cowbells, cymbals, drum set, ethnic hand drum, glockenspiel, guiro, marimba, police whistle, roto-toms, siren, snare drum, stomping board, tambourine, timbales with bell, tomtoms, triangle, vibes, washboard, whip, woodblocks, xylophone, strings, and jazz band. Approximate performance time of the opening four movements is forty-one minutes.

Symphony No. 3 Swing Symphony, by the internationally celebrated American instrumentalist and composer, Wynton Marsalis, was co-commissioned by the Berlin Philharmonic, the London Symphony Orchestra, the New York Philharmonic, and the Los Angeles Philharmonic. The world premiere took place in Berlin on June 9, 2010, with Simon Rattle conducting the Berlin Philharmonic and the Jazz at Lincoln Center Orchestra.

Marsalis views his Swing Symphony as part of a tradition that comprises two legendary jazz events; Paul Whiteman’s 1924 concert in New York’s Aeolian Hall (which featured the world premiere of Gershwin’s Rhapsody in Blue) and Benny Goodman’s 1938 concert at Carnegie Hall. Marsalis observes the works on both of those concerts “include a sequence of pieces representing the bandleaders’ understandings of the history of jazz from its beginnings to that date.” Marsalis also drew inspiration from Duke Ellington’s Black, Brown and Beige, part of a 1943 Carnegie Hall concert. 

Marsalis comments that Black, Brown and Beige “told a tonal history of Afro-American music (from work songs to blues to modern swing, including the Afro-Latin tradition) while also presenting Duke’s concept of the social advancement of American Negroes from slavery to the early 1940s.” In Swing Symphony, Marsalis combines the Whiteman, Goodman, and Ellington influences, focusing in his work on “Afro- AND Anglo- American music.” During the course of Swing Symphony, Marsalis alludes to several iconic jazz and popular pieces. 

Swing Symphony, scored for orchestra and jazz band, is in seven movements. The initial four movements are performed at these concerts.

The first movement, St. Louis to New Orleans, opens with, according to Marsalis, “the ride cymbal articulating the swing rhythm above a primitive, guttural ground,” contrasting “underlying violence” with “overarching aspiration.” The movement explores ragtime and march, concluding with a New Orleans funeral procession. 

All-American Pep begins with a vibrant episode highlighting the percussion, and based upon the song “Charleston.” A languid Argentinian tango segues, via a trombone solo (“à la Tommy Dorsey”), to an upbeat conclusion, a nod to Leroy Anderson’s “Sleigh Ride.” Midwestern Moods is a tribute to the big band styles of such legends as Count Basie, Duke Ellington, Benny Goodman, and Lionel Hampton. 

The fourth movement - Manhattan to LA - starts with frenetic New York City bebop, the first real American virtuosity to embody the velocity and psychological complexity of the 20th century. Dizzy Dean, Charlie Parker, and Stéphane Grappelli are sources of inspiration. The mambo, and a saxophone ballad referencing Benny Carter’s “Bijou,” conclude the movement and piece.