Branford Marsalis
A virtuoso jazz saxophonist with a wry improvisational sense, Branford Marsalis is a boundary-pushing performer who has explored an array of styles from post-bop and traditional jazz to classical, funk, hip-hop, and rock. Initially emerging in the 1980s to widespread acclaim alongside his brother trumpeter Wynton Marsalis, Marsalis drew early comparisons to idols Wayne Shorter, John Coltrane, and Sonny Rollins. Ever creatively restless, he branched out, playing with Sting, Bela Fleck, Bruce Hornsby, as well as his own genre-bending side-project Buckshot LeFonque. He brings the same adventurous, exploratory approach to his recordings, investigating aspects of the blues on 1992's Grammy-winning I Heard You Twice the First Time, leading his harmonically sophisticated quartet on 2000's Grammy-winning Contemporary Jazz, or collaborating with vocalist Kurt Elling for 2016's poetically atmospheric Upward Spiral. Born in 1969 in Breaux Bridge, Louisiana, Marsalis grew up in a creative musical family the eldest son of pianist and music professor Ellis Marsalis and singer and teacher Dolores. A naturally gifted musician, he learned to play piano at age four, and later took up the clarinet. He was around 15 when he decided to switch over to the saxophone. Although steeped in jazz and classical music in his youth, he also gravitated toward playing in funk bands, often with his brother Wynton. After high school, he studied music at Southern University where he mentored under legendary New Orleans clarinetist Alvin Batiste. Under Batiste's recommendation, he then transferred to Berklee College of Music in Boston. However, he left Berklee in mid-1980 to tour Europe with a big band led by drummer Art Blakey. More work followed, including stints with Lionel Hampton and Clark Terry. By 1981, he had become a regular member of Blakey's Jazz Messengers ensemble, playing alongside Wynton. There was also a tour with Herbie Hancock's V.S.O.P. II in 1983 and recordings with Miles Davis, Was (Not Was), and Dizzy Gillespie. In 1984, Marsalis also made his debut as leader with Scenes in the City, playing alongside pianists Mulgrew Miller and Kenny Kirkland, bassists Charnett Moffett and Ron Carter, and drummers Jeff "Tain" Watts and Marvin "Smitty" Smith. From 1981 to 1985, Marsalis was a member of his brother Wynton Marsalis' quintet, appearing on a handful of influential, Grammy-winning albums, including Black Codes from the Underground, Think of One, and Hot House Flowers, all of which found the siblings building upon the modal and post-bop traditions of artists like Miles Davis, Woody Shaw, and John Coltrane. However, Marsalis left the group in 1985 to play in former Police singer Sting's band, which at the time was heavily influenced by jazz, funk, and fusion. The move brought wider recognition to Marsalis, who appeared on Sting's 1984 album, Dream of the Blue Turtles and 1986 concert film and recording Bring on the Night. The move also brought other opportunities, including a long association with director Spike Lee, beginning with an appearing in 1987's School Daze. While he enjoyed playing with Sting, the saxophonist was back to leading his own group by 1986, which primarily featured pianist Kirkland, bassist Bob Hurst, and drummer Watts. Signed to Columbia, he issued inventive albums like 1986's Grammy-nominated Royal Garden Blues, 1988's Grammy-nominated Trio Jeepy, and 1991's The Beautyful Ones Are Not Yet Born. He also experimented with mixing hip-hop, funk and acid-jazz in his Buckshot LeFonque project, and continued his work with Spike Lee, contributing to 1988's Music from Do the Right Thing and 1990's Music from 'Mo Better Blues. In 1992, Marsalis released I Heard You Twice the First Time, which found him exploring different expressions of the blues. Along with his brother Wynton, the album featured guest appearances from B.B. King, John Lee Hooker, Russell Malone, and Linda Hopkins. It reached number one Billboard's Top Jazz Albums chart and won the Grammy Award for Best Jazz Instrumental Performance, Individual or Group. That same year, the saxophonist gained even wider attention when he joined Jay Leno's Tonight Show as the musical director. Also during this period, he contributed to the Malcolm X soundtrack, and appeared on albums by Roy Hargrove, Bobby Hutcherson, Terence Blanchard, and others. After two years with Leno he stepped down from The Tonight Show, handing the band over to guitarist Kevin Eubanks. This led to a period of eclectic guest spots on albums with Youssou N'Dour, Bela Fleck, Everette Harp, and Bruce Hornsby; the latter of which earned Marsalis his second Grammy Award for the Best Pop Instrumental Performance for his work on Hornsby's track "Barcelona Mona." Marsalis returned to his own genre-bending jazz work with the 1996 trio album The Dark Keys. Requiem (his final album with pianist Kirkland, who died several months after the session) arrived in 1999. In 2000, he finished out his Columbia contract with Contemporary Jazz, his first album with pianist Joey Calderazzo. It won the Grammy for Best Jazz Instrumental Performance, Individual or Group. In 2002, he formed his own label, Marsalis Music. Intended as a true independent label focused on supporting the development of musicians, Marsalis Music began issuing albums by a diverse range of artists including guitarist/vocalist Doug Wamble, pianist/vocalist Harry Connick, Jr., saxophonist Miguel Zenón, and others. Marsalis himself also kept busy releasing a handful of albums on the label including 2002's Footsteps of Our Fathers, which featured his take on the classic John Coltrane composition "A Love Supreme," 2003's Romare Bearden Revealed, 2004's Eternal, 2006's Braggtown, and 2009's Metamorphosen; the latter of which found him paying tribute to the many of his friends and mentors who had passed away, including Alvin Batiste, Michael Brecker, Freddie Hubbard, and others. In 2011, Marsalis and Calderazzo paired down to a duo for Songs of Mirth and Melancholy. In the spring of 2012, the saxophonist's quartet, featuring Calderazzo, bassist Eric Revis, and drummer Justin Faulkner, released Four MF's Playin Tunes. Also in 2012, Marsalis gave a solo saxophone concert at San Francisco's Grace Cathedral. Two years later, it was released as In My Solitude: Live at Grace Cathedral by Okeh. In 2016, Marsalis collaborated with vocalist Kurt Elling on the expansive Upward Spiral. He then returned to his quartet for 2019's The Secret Between the Shadow and the Soul, which peaked at number three on the Billboard Jazz Albums chart. Also that year, he collaborated with the Ural Philharmonic Orchestra on the classical album Gabriel Prokofiev: Saxophone Concerto; Bass Drum Concerto. In 2020, Marsalis supplied the soundtrack to Ma Rainey's Black Bottom, a biopic on the life of legendary blues singer Ma Rainey starring Viola Davis and Chadwick Boseman.© Matt Collar /TiVo Read more
A virtuoso jazz saxophonist with a wry improvisational sense, Branford Marsalis is a boundary-pushing performer who has explored an array of styles from post-bop and traditional jazz to classical, funk, hip-hop, and rock. Initially emerging in the 1980s to widespread acclaim alongside his brother trumpeter Wynton Marsalis, Marsalis drew early comparisons to idols Wayne Shorter, John Coltrane, and Sonny Rollins. Ever creatively restless, he branched out, playing with Sting, Bela Fleck, Bruce Hornsby, as well as his own genre-bending side-project Buckshot LeFonque. He brings the same adventurous, exploratory approach to his recordings, investigating aspects of the blues on 1992's Grammy-winning I Heard You Twice the First Time, leading his harmonically sophisticated quartet on 2000's Grammy-winning Contemporary Jazz, or collaborating with vocalist Kurt Elling for 2016's poetically atmospheric Upward Spiral.
Born in 1969 in Breaux Bridge, Louisiana, Marsalis grew up in a creative musical family the eldest son of pianist and music professor Ellis Marsalis and singer and teacher Dolores. A naturally gifted musician, he learned to play piano at age four, and later took up the clarinet. He was around 15 when he decided to switch over to the saxophone. Although steeped in jazz and classical music in his youth, he also gravitated toward playing in funk bands, often with his brother Wynton. After high school, he studied music at Southern University where he mentored under legendary New Orleans clarinetist Alvin Batiste. Under Batiste's recommendation, he then transferred to Berklee College of Music in Boston. However, he left Berklee in mid-1980 to tour Europe with a big band led by drummer Art Blakey. More work followed, including stints with Lionel Hampton and Clark Terry. By 1981, he had become a regular member of Blakey's Jazz Messengers ensemble, playing alongside Wynton. There was also a tour with Herbie Hancock's V.S.O.P. II in 1983 and recordings with Miles Davis, Was (Not Was), and Dizzy Gillespie. In 1984, Marsalis also made his debut as leader with Scenes in the City, playing alongside pianists Mulgrew Miller and Kenny Kirkland, bassists Charnett Moffett and Ron Carter, and drummers Jeff "Tain" Watts and Marvin "Smitty" Smith.
From 1981 to 1985, Marsalis was a member of his brother Wynton Marsalis' quintet, appearing on a handful of influential, Grammy-winning albums, including Black Codes from the Underground, Think of One, and Hot House Flowers, all of which found the siblings building upon the modal and post-bop traditions of artists like Miles Davis, Woody Shaw, and John Coltrane. However, Marsalis left the group in 1985 to play in former Police singer Sting's band, which at the time was heavily influenced by jazz, funk, and fusion. The move brought wider recognition to Marsalis, who appeared on Sting's 1984 album, Dream of the Blue Turtles and 1986 concert film and recording Bring on the Night. The move also brought other opportunities, including a long association with director Spike Lee, beginning with an appearing in 1987's School Daze.
While he enjoyed playing with Sting, the saxophonist was back to leading his own group by 1986, which primarily featured pianist Kirkland, bassist Bob Hurst, and drummer Watts. Signed to Columbia, he issued inventive albums like 1986's Grammy-nominated Royal Garden Blues, 1988's Grammy-nominated Trio Jeepy, and 1991's The Beautyful Ones Are Not Yet Born. He also experimented with mixing hip-hop, funk and acid-jazz in his Buckshot LeFonque project, and continued his work with Spike Lee, contributing to 1988's Music from Do the Right Thing and 1990's Music from 'Mo Better Blues.
In 1992, Marsalis released I Heard You Twice the First Time, which found him exploring different expressions of the blues. Along with his brother Wynton, the album featured guest appearances from B.B. King, John Lee Hooker, Russell Malone, and Linda Hopkins. It reached number one Billboard's Top Jazz Albums chart and won the Grammy Award for Best Jazz Instrumental Performance, Individual or Group. That same year, the saxophonist gained even wider attention when he joined Jay Leno's Tonight Show as the musical director. Also during this period, he contributed to the Malcolm X soundtrack, and appeared on albums by Roy Hargrove, Bobby Hutcherson, Terence Blanchard, and others.
After two years with Leno he stepped down from The Tonight Show, handing the band over to guitarist Kevin Eubanks. This led to a period of eclectic guest spots on albums with Youssou N'Dour, Bela Fleck, Everette Harp, and Bruce Hornsby; the latter of which earned Marsalis his second Grammy Award for the Best Pop Instrumental Performance for his work on Hornsby's track "Barcelona Mona." Marsalis returned to his own genre-bending jazz work with the 1996 trio album The Dark Keys. Requiem (his final album with pianist Kirkland, who died several months after the session) arrived in 1999. In 2000, he finished out his Columbia contract with Contemporary Jazz, his first album with pianist Joey Calderazzo. It won the Grammy for Best Jazz Instrumental Performance, Individual or Group.
In 2002, he formed his own label, Marsalis Music. Intended as a true independent label focused on supporting the development of musicians, Marsalis Music began issuing albums by a diverse range of artists including guitarist/vocalist Doug Wamble, pianist/vocalist Harry Connick, Jr., saxophonist Miguel Zenón, and others. Marsalis himself also kept busy releasing a handful of albums on the label including 2002's Footsteps of Our Fathers, which featured his take on the classic John Coltrane composition "A Love Supreme," 2003's Romare Bearden Revealed, 2004's Eternal, 2006's Braggtown, and 2009's Metamorphosen; the latter of which found him paying tribute to the many of his friends and mentors who had passed away, including Alvin Batiste, Michael Brecker, Freddie Hubbard, and others.
In 2011, Marsalis and Calderazzo paired down to a duo for Songs of Mirth and Melancholy. In the spring of 2012, the saxophonist's quartet, featuring Calderazzo, bassist Eric Revis, and drummer Justin Faulkner, released Four MF's Playin Tunes. Also in 2012, Marsalis gave a solo saxophone concert at San Francisco's Grace Cathedral. Two years later, it was released as In My Solitude: Live at Grace Cathedral by Okeh. In 2016, Marsalis collaborated with vocalist Kurt Elling on the expansive Upward Spiral. He then returned to his quartet for 2019's The Secret Between the Shadow and the Soul, which peaked at number three on the Billboard Jazz Albums chart. Also that year, he collaborated with the Ural Philharmonic Orchestra on the classical album Gabriel Prokofiev: Saxophone Concerto; Bass Drum Concerto. In 2020, Marsalis supplied the soundtrack to Ma Rainey's Black Bottom, a biopic on the life of legendary blues singer Ma Rainey starring Viola Davis and Chadwick Boseman.
© Matt Collar /TiVo
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The Secret Between the Shadow and the Soul
Jazz - Released by Sony Music - OKEH on 1 Mar 2019
Jazzwise Five-star reviewLast century, in the mid-eighties to be precise, Branford Marsalis and his brother Wynton were at the forefront of a new wave of post-bebop virtuosos. ...
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Coltrane's A Love Supreme Live In Amsterdam
Jazz - Released by Okeh on 18 Nov 2005
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Ma Rainey's Black Bottom (Music from the Netflix Film)
Film Soundtracks - Released by Masterworks on 18 Dec 2020
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Upward Spiral
Kurt Elling, Branford Marsalis
Vocal Jazz - Released by Okeh on 3 Jun 2016
24-Bit 88.2 kHz - Stereo -
Eternal
Jazz - Released by Universal Music Group International on 14 Sep 2004
Eternal finds saxophonist Branford Marsalis in a contemplative mood performing a mix of original and standard ballads with his usual quartet of pianis ...
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Songs of Mirth and Melancholy
Branford Marsalis, Joey Calderazzo
Jazz - Released by Marsalis Music on 7 Jun 2011
Given the history that saxophonist Branford Marsalis and pianist Joey Calderazzo have, the end results of Songs of Mirth and Melancholy should not be ...
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I Heard You Twice The First Time (Album Version)
Jazz - Released by Columbia on 27 Aug 1992
Branford Marsalis plays the blues on this interesting if erratic CD. Among his many guests are B.B. King (although surprisingly, there is no interacti ...
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
The Steep Anthology
Jazz - Released by Columbia - Legacy on 1 Jan 2001
The Steep Anthology collects various tracks from some of saxophonist Branford Marsalis' best Columbia albums. Beginning with his first session as a le ...
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Gabriel Prokofiev: Saxophone Concerto, Bass Drum Concerto
Branford Marsalis, Joby Burgess, Alexey Bogorad
Concertos - Released by Signum Records on 27 Sep 2019
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Bloomington (Album Version)
Jazz - Released by Columbia on 23 Sep 1991
This live set (part of which was included in the performance film The Music Tells You) features Branford Marsalis and his longtime trio (bassist Rober ...
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Trio Jeepy
Jazz - Released by Columbia on 3 Jan 1988
Branford Marsalis clearly had a lot of fun during this set. On seven of the ten numbers included on the double LP (the CD reissue actually has one les ...
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Eternal
Jazz - Released by Marsalis Music on 14 Sep 2004
Eternal finds saxophonist Branford Marsalis in a contemplative mood performing a mix of original and standard ballads with his usual quartet of pianis ...
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Songs Of Mirth And Melancholy
Branford Marsalis, Joey Calderazzo
Jazz - Released by Universal Music Group International on 7 Jun 2011
Given the history that saxophonist Branford Marsalis and pianist Joey Calderazzo have, the end results of Songs of Mirth and Melancholy should not be ...
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Romances For Saxophone
Classical - Released by Columbia on 17 Jun 1986
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Renaissance
Jazz - Released by Columbia on 24 Sep 1987
The high point of Branford Marsalis' third Columbia release as a leader is a 15-minute version of Jimmy Rowles' "The Peacocks" played in a trio with p ...
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Contemporary Jazz (Album Version)
Jazz - Released by Columbia on 15 Jun 2000
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In My Solitude: Live at Grace Cathedral
Jazz - Released by Okeh on 22 Sep 2014
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Classic Branford Marsalis
Classical - Released by Sony Classical on 2 Apr 2008
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Scenes In The City
Jazz - Released by Columbia on 1 Nov 1983
Branford Marsalis's debut as a leader is ambitious yet consistently successful. On "Scenes of the City," his narrative is in the same spirit of some o ...
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Four MFs Playin' Tunes
Jazz - Released by Universal Music Group International on 1 Jan 2012
4 étoiles ClassicaIndispensable JAZZ NEWSThere was no doubt that when Jeff "Tain" Watts left the Branford Marsalis Quartet in 2009, they would take some time to regroup. They recruited then 1 ...
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