Lil Buck Rocks Out with Wynton Marsalis

May 13, 2014

These days, the high-art world just can’t get enough of Lil Buck. Over the course of a couple of years, the jookin’ sensation went from dancing on the streets of Memphis to performing with the New York City Ballet and appearing on Vogue.com.

Remember the 2011 video that started it all—Buck doing his version of The Dying Swan, accompanied by none other than Yo-Yo Ma? In the footage, you can instantly see the roots of his crossover appeal: the fluidity of his upper body, his incredible “pointework,” the sensitive way he responds to melody as well as rhythm. He’s an unexpected yet sort of natural fit in the world of classical music and dance.

Yo-Yo Ma isn’t the only world-class musician to have fallen under Lil Buck’s spell. Yesterday, Buck appeared on “CBS This Morning,” accompanied (and interviewed) by fabulous trumpeter Wynton Marsalis. “I don’t just necessarily limit myself to a certain genre of music,” Buck told him. “Music can be, like—a limitation. Like, a lot of people just dance to rap music in Memphis. I’m influenced by all sounds—period.”

The full video isn’t available online yet, but you can read the story here. And take a look at this Marsalis/Buck jam session: