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Branford Marsalis
Growing up in the rich environment of New Orleans as the oldest son of pianist and educator Ellis Marsalis, Branford was drawn to music along with siblings Wynton, Delfeayo and Jason. His first instrument, the clarinet, gave way to the alto and then the tenor and soprano saxophones when the teenage Branford began working in local bands. A growing fascination with jazz as he entered college gave him the basic tools to obtain his first major jobs, with trumpet legend Clark Terry and alongside Wynton in Art Blakey’s legendary Jazz Messengers. When the brothers left to form the Wynton Marsalis Quintet, the world of uncompromising acoustic jazz was invigorated. Branford formed his own quartet in 1986 and, with a few minor interruptions in the early years, has sustained the unit as his primary means of expression. Known for the telepathic communication among its uncommonly consistent personnel, its deep book of original music replete with expressive melodies and provocative forms, and an unrivaled spirit in both live and recorded performances, the Branford Marsalis Quartet has long been recognized as the standard to which other ensembles of its kind must be measured. Its most recent recording, Four MFs Playin’ Tunes, was named Best Instrumental Jazz Album in 2012 by iTunes.
Branford has not confined his music to the quartet context. In addition to guest turns with a legion of giants including Miles Davis, Dizzy Gillespie, Herbie Hancock and Sonny Rollins, he has excelled in duets with several major pianists, including his boyhood friend Harry Connick, Jr. and the longtime pianist in his quartet, Joey Calderazzo. Branford’s first solo concert, at San Francisco’s Grace Cathedral, is documented on his latest recording, In My Solitude.
Classical music inhabits a growing portion of Branford’s musical universe. With a repertoire including works by Copland, Debussy, Glazunov, Ibert, Mahler, Milhaud, Rorem, Vaughan Williams, Villa‐Lobos and Sally Beamish (who reconceived a work in progress, “Under the Wing of the Rock,” to feature Branford’s saxophone after hearing him perform one of her earlier pieces), Branford is frequently heard with leading symphony orchestras including those in Chicago, Detroit, Dusseldorf and North Carolina as well as the New York Philharmonic. He also served as Creative Director for the Cincinnati Symphony’s Ascent series in 2012‐13.
Broadway has also welcomed Branford’s contributions. His initial effort, original music for a revival of August Wilson’s Fences, garnered a Drama Desk Award for Outstanding Music in a Play and a Tony nomination for Best Original Score Written for the Theater. Branford also provided music for The Mountaintop, starring Samuel L. Jackson and Angela Bassett, and served as musical curator for the 2014 revival of A Raisin in the Sun. Branford’s screen credits include the original music for Mo’ Better Blues and acting roles in School Daze and Throw Momma from the Train.
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Book of Queens
by Doug Collette
Released in 2023 with next to no fanfare, the very gestation of the Eric Krasno/Stanton Moore Project's first effort carries a cachet all its own. Recorded at Levon Helm Studios in Woodstock, New York, and mixed by Jim Scott (Tedeschi Trucks Band, Wilco), Book of Queens is tribute to women in music wherein the nine covers offer homage to the work of musical cons such as Nina Simone, Peggy Lee, and Aretha Franklin as well as contemporary figures of note ...
read moreJazz for Hollywood: Branford Marsalis and Laura Karpman
by Ludovico Granvassu
This time we are focusing on jazz-infused soundtracks that received Academy Awards nominations for Best Original Score in a Feature Film, because jazz does a great job a propelling a movie story forward. Kudos to Laura Karpman, the composer of the soundtrack for American Fiction and Branford Marsalis for the soundtrack of Rustin, two scores that have a life of their own even without the images they were was meant to accompany.Happy listening!Playlist Ben Allison “Mondo ...
read moreA Celebration of Excellence and Musical Diversity at Day one at the 2023 Newport Jazz Festival
by Dave Kaufman
Day 1 | Day 2 | Part 3The Newport Jazz Festival is one of the planet's most fabled and celebrated jazz festivals and it has been towards the top of my bucket list for a very long time. I have attended jazz festivals for almost 40 years since my youth and finally made it to Newport on its 68th anniversary. It was magnificent--a peak lifetime musical experience. Over the festival's three-day span, I was an ecstatic whirlwind, photographing ...
read moreBranford Marsalis at the Knight Theater
by K. Shackelford
Branford MarsalisRomare Bearden Revealed Knight Theater Charlotte, North CarolinaMay 16, 2023 On September 3, 2003, Grammy Award winning saxophonist, Branford Marsalis released Romare Bearden Revealed. The album was a collaborative effort with the National Gallery of Art in Washington DC. The gallery's exhibit, The Art of Romare Bearden, was a homage to Bearden (1911-1983), whose birthplace is Charlotte, North Carolina. The City of Charlotte also named a park after Bearden in 2013, located ...
read moreDelfeayo Marsalis Uptown Jazz Orchestra: Uptown on Mardi Gras Day
by Jack Bowers
Even though New Orleans' lively and colorful holiday festival is the focal point of trombonist Delfeayo Marsalis' Uptown Jazz Orchestra's latest recording, this is an album that can be heard and appreciated at any time of the year, as there is never a day when pleasure and happiness aren't in style. Delfeayo, a member of the multi-talented Marsalis family from New Orleans that includes brothers Branford (who is a guest artist on two tracks), trumpeter Wynton and ...
read moreTenor Titans: Branford Marsalis
by Russell Perry
Branford Marsalis, tenor and soprano saxophone maestro and member of the important musical clan, emerged forty years ago in Art Blakey's Jazz Messengers and as a sideman in his brother Wynton's early endeavors. For thirty years, the primary vehicle for his own releases has been predominantly the sax-piano-bass-drums quartet but recently he has produced work in a duo with long-time collaborator, pianist Joey Calderazzo. He continues to also flourish in outside projects with other jazz leaders. The final of four ...
read moreBranford Marsalis at The Ohio Theatre
by Matt Hooke
Branford Marsalis Quartet Ohio Theatre Cleveland, Ohio October 10, 2019Branford Marsalis is a jazz chameleon. Few saxophonists could go from playing his brother Wynton's straight-ahead outfit to pursing cross over opportunities with pop-star Sting and hip-hop legend Guru to now making music with Gabriel Prokofiev, the great-grandson of pioneering Russian composer Sergei Prokofiev.On October 10 at the Ohio Theatre, all these experiences came together for an experience that did not ...
read moreJazz Musician of the Day: Branford Marsalis
Source:
Michael Ricci
All About Jazz is celebrating Branford Marsalis' birthday today!
Growing up in the rich environment of New Orleans as the oldest son of pianist and educator Ellis Marsalis, Branford was drawn to music along with siblings Wynton, Delfeayo and Jason. His first instrument, the clarinet, gave way to the alto and then the tenor and soprano saxophones when the teenage Branford began working in local bands. A growing fascination with jazz as he entered college gave him the basic tools ...
read more
Jazz Musician of the Day: Branford Marsalis
Source:
Michael Ricci
All About Jazz is celebrating Branford Marsalis' birthday today!
Growing up in the rich environment of New Orleans as the oldest son of pianist and educator Ellis Marsalis, Branford was drawn to music along with siblings Wynton, Delfeayo and Jason. His first instrument, the clarinet, gave way to the alto and then the tenor and soprano saxophones when the teenage Branford began working in local bands. A growing fascination with jazz as he entered college gave him the basic tools ...
read more
Jazz Musician of the Day: Branford Marsalis
Source:
Michael Ricci
All About Jazz is celebrating Branford Marsalis' birthday today!
Growing up in the rich environment of New Orleans as the oldest son of pianist and educator Ellis Marsalis, Branford was drawn to music along with siblings Wynton, Delfeayo and Jason. His first instrument, the clarinet, gave way to the alto and then the tenor and soprano saxophones when the teenage Branford began working in local bands. A growing fascination with jazz as he entered college gave him the basic tools ...
read more
Jazz Musician of the Day: Branford Marsalis
Source:
Michael Ricci
All About Jazz is celebrating Branford Marsalis' birthday today!
Growing up in the rich environment of New Orleans as the oldest son of pianist and educator Ellis Marsalis, Branford was drawn to music along with siblings Wynton, Delfeayo and Jason. His first instrument, the clarinet, gave way to the alto and then the tenor and soprano saxophones when the teenage Branford began working in local bands... Read more.
Place our Musician of the Day widget on your website or blog. ...
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The Adrienne Arsht Center For The Performing Arts Of Miami-Dade County Announces 2019-2020 Lineup For Jazz Roots Concert Series
Source:
Sheryl Feuerstein
The Adrienne Arsht Center for the Performing Arts of Miami-Dade County is proud to announce the 2019-2020 Jazz Roots season—six extraordinary, curated evenings of live music in the Center’s Knight Concert Hall that celebrate jazz’s rich history of fusion and cross-pollination. The Arsht Center is also proud to welcome new Jazz Roots presenting partner, EFG Capital. EFG is a global private banking group headquartered in jny: Zurich, Switzerland with regional headquarters in jny: Miami. The start-studded line up for Jazz ...
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StLJN Saturday Video Showcase: Branford Marsalis Quartet
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St. Louis Jazz Notes by Dean Minderman
Today, let's take a look at some videos featuring the Branford Marsalis Quartet, who will be coming to St. Louis to perform starting this coming Tuesday, April 2 through Thursday, April 4 at Jazz St. Louis. Last seen here in 2017 with singer Kurt Elling, Marsalis and company are on tour in support of a new album, The Secret Between the Shadow and the Soul, released a month ago. While the long-running quartet- Marsalis on tenor and soprano saxophones, Eric ...
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Jazz Musician of the Day: Branford Marsalis
Source:
Michael Ricci
All About Jazz is celebrating Branford Marsalis' birthday today!
Growing up in the rich environment of New Orleans as the oldest son of pianist and educator Ellis Marsalis, Branford was drawn to music along with siblings Wynton, Delfeayo and Jason. His first instrument, the clarinet, gave way to the alto and then the tenor and soprano saxophones when the teenage Branford began working in local bands... Read more.
Place our Musician of the Day widget on your website or blog. ...
read more
Jazz Musician of the Day: Branford Marsalis
Source:
Michael Ricci
All About Jazz is celebrating Branford Marsalis' birthday today!
Growing up in the rich environment of New Orleans as the oldest son of pianist and educator Ellis Marsalis, Branford was drawn to music along with siblings Wynton, Delfeayo and Jason. His first instrument, the clarinet, gave way to the alto and then the tenor and soprano saxophones when the teenage Branford began working in local bands... Read more.
Place our Musician of the Day widget on your website or blog. ...
read more
Jazz this week: Branford Marsalis & Kurt Elling, Denise Thimes, and more
Source:
St. Louis Jazz Notes by Dean Minderman
This week's calendar of jazz and creative music in St. Louis includes a early-week visit from two well-known jazz performers touring together for the first time, plus a couple of new jam sessions providing musical workout opportunities for local players, and more. Let's go to the highlights... Tuesday, January 24 Tonight, saxophonist Branford Marsalis, his quartet, and singer Kurt Elling will perform for the first of two nights at Jazz at the Bistro. Marsalis and Elling are touring together in ...
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Jef Neve
piano
Marcus Jefferson
guitar
Sharel Cassity
saxophone
Steven Husted
bass, acoustic
Ben Bilello
drums
Wesley Crispus
saxophone
Pureum Jin
saxophone, alto
heme japan
piano
Photos
Music
Uptown on Mardi Gras Day
From: Uptown on Mardi Gras DayBy Branford Marsalis
Videos
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Branford Marsalis
Instrument: Saxophone
Born: August 26, 1960
Management: Music Works International
