For Wynton Marsalis, jazz music isn’t just something you compose, perform or listen to. It helps provide a path forward during tough times. Like many Americans, the acclaimed trumpeter, composer and bandleader has had his share of them during the past 12 months. After the coronavirus pandemic hit, the 15-member big band Marsalis leads, the New York-based Jazz at Lincoln Center Orchestra, had to cancel, postpone or virtually reimagine numerous concerts. And, most devastatingly, Marsalis’ father, 85-year-old pianist Ellis Marsalis Jr., died from complications of COVID-19 in April. Yet, in reflecting on the past year in a recent interview ahead of a rare concert appearance in central Ohio, Marsalis pointed to the blues as a musical genre — one that fed into jazz — that balances hopefulness with honesty.