Wynton Marsalis: At the Octoroon Balls Video

The Harlem Quartet, comprised of First Place Laureates of the Sphinx Competition Ilmar Gavilan, Melissa White, Juan-Miguel Hernandez and Desmond Neysmith, perform "Hellbound Highball"-Wynton Marsalis's dynamic 5th movement of his string quartet, At the Octoroon Balls. Marsalis's composition explores the American Creole contradictions and compromises - cultural, social, and political - exemplified by life in New Orleans. The piece’s seven movements evoke people, places, and events in the Crescent City: “Come Long Fiddler,” “Mating Calls and Delta Rhythms,” “Creole Contradanzas,” “Many Gone,” “Hellbound Highball,” “Blue Lights on the Bayou,” and “Rampart St. Row House Rag.”