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Branford Marsalis (born August 26, 1960), is an
American saxophonist, composer and bandleader. While primarily known for his
work in jazz as the leader of the
Branford Marsalis Quartet, he
also performs frequently as a soloist with classical ensembles and
has led the group Buckshot LeFonque.
Biography
Marsalis was born in Breaux Bridge, Louisiana. His brothers Jason Marsalis,
Wynton
Marsalis, and Delfeayo Marsalis, and father Ellis
Marsalis, Jr. are also jazz musicians.
In the summer of 1980, while still a Berklee College of Music
student, Marsalis toured Europe playing alto and baritone
saxophone in a large ensemble led by drummer Art Blakey. Other big band experience with Lionel Hampton
and Clark Terry
followed over the next year, and by the end of 1981 Marsalis, on alto saxophone,
had joined his brother Wynton in Blakey’s Jazz Messengers. Other performances with
his brother, including a 1981 Japanese tour with Herbie Hancock, led to the formation of
his brother Wynton’s first quintet, where Marsalis shifted his emphasis to
soprano and tenor saxophones. He continued to work with Wynton
until 1985, a period that also saw the release of his own first
recording, Scenes in the City, as well as guest
appearances with other artists including Miles Davis and Dizzy Gillespie.
While Marsalis would release a second Buckshot
LeFonque recording in 1997, his primary focus since 1996 has
been on his own quartet, classical performance and education. With
original member Watts still on drums, bassist Eric Revis replaced Hurst in 1997, while
pianist Joey
Calderazzo became a member after Kirkland’s death the following
year. The Branford Marsalis Quartet has
toured and recorded extensively, receiving a Grammy in 2001 for its album
Contemporary Jazz. After a two-decade
association with Columbia Records, where he served as
Creative Consultant and producer for jazz
recordings between 1997 and 2001, Marsalis founded his own Marsalis Music
label in 2002. With Marsalis as the label’s primary producer, Marsalis Music
has issued audio and video discs that feature Marsalis’ quartet,
the instrumental music of Harry Connick, Jr., new artists Miguel Zenón and Doug Wamble, and (under the Honors Series
logo) veterans Alvin
Batiste, Michael Carvin, Jimmy Cobb and Bob French. Claudia Acuña has also been signed by the
label, with a disc forthcoming.
Marsalis placed greater emphasis on classical music since the 2001 release
of his album Creation. Performances with symphony
orchestras and chamber ensembles worldwide have become a
significant part of his itinerary, with his most intense period of
classical playing scheduled for October and November 2008, when
Marsalis tours the United States with Philarmonia
Brasileira.
Marsalis has also become involved in education at the university
level, with appointments at Michigan State
(1996-2000), San Francisco
State (2000-2002) and North Carolina Central
University (2005-present). After Hurricane Katrina devastated New Orleans in 2005,
Marsalis and Harry Connick, Jr. created the
concept of a Musicians’
Village in the city’s Upper Ninth Ward, with the Ellis Marsalis
Center for Music as the Village’s centerpiece. This project,
undertaken by New
Orleans Area Habitat for
Humanity with Marsalis’ and Connick’s active participation, has
proven to be one of the most successful recovery efforts in the
region, and has already provided dozens of musicians of modest
means with the opportunity to own decent, affordable housing.
Other
appearances
- Featured as saxophonist on "Fight the Power" (1989) by Public
Enemy.[1]
- Wait Wait... Don't Tell Me!
Guest on the "Not my Job" section of the show. On this performance
he claimed the saxophone was the sexiest instrument, then insults
the accordion. In a later episode of the show, "Weird Al" Yankovic
stands up for the accordion; later guest Yo-Yo Ma claimed the saxophone was in fact the
sexiest.
- Interviewed on Space Ghost Coast to Coast
November 11, 1994 Episode 11: "Gum Disease". Although the Coast to
Coast crew said, "He was the most pleasant, and well mannered guest
we had ever interviewed." He didn't sign a release for
merchandising rights, so the episode couldn't be on the Space Ghost
Coast to Coast Volume One DVD.
- Marsalis was featured in Shanice's 1992 hit "I Love Your
Smile". In the second half of the song, he has a solo and
Shanice says "Blow, Branford, Blow."
- He played the role of Lester in the movie Throw Momma from the
Train (1987) and the role of Jordam in Spike Lee's 1988
musical-drama film School Daze.
- Cameo as a repair man who asks Hillary on a date in the episode
"Stop Will! In the Name of Love" on "The Fresh Prince of
Bel-Air" (1994).
- Interviews with Marsalis are featured prominently in the
documentary Before the Music Dies
(2006).
- From 1992 - 1995 Branford was the leader of the Tonight Show Band, on The Tonight Show
with Jay Leno. Initially
he declined the offer but later reconsidered and accepted the
position. He was succeeded as band leader by guitarist Kevin Eubanks.
- Branford was a guest judge on the final episode of Top Chef (Season 5) which took place in New
Orleans, Louisiana.
- On April 28 and 29, 2009 Branford played with The Dead (The
remaining members of the Grateful Dead)at the IZOD Center in East
Rutherford, New Jersey, rekindling a relationship started when he
performed with them at a legendary set at Nassau Coliseum March 29,
1990 during which, according to Dead aficionados, one of the
greatest renditions of "Dark Star" (song), was
performed.
Discography
As leader
- 2009 Metamorphosen
- 2006 Braggtown
- 2004 A Love Supreme Live - (DVD/CD)
- 2004 Eternal
- 2003 Romare Bearden Revealed - CD Issued in
Conjunction with The Art of Romare Bearden (American painter)
- 2002 Footsteps of our Fathers - Branford again
revisits the works of past masters, interpreting the tunes from his
own angle
- 2001 Creation - some classical music rearranged for
saxophone and orchestra
- 2000 Contemporary Jazz - Grammy
Winner in category Best Jazz Instrumental Album,
Individual or Group
- 1999 Requiem - recorded days before the death of and
dedicated to pianist Kenny Kirkland
- 1997 Music Evolution - the second Buckshot LeFonque
project
- 1996 The Dark Keys
- 1996 Loved Ones - a duet with his father Ellis
Marsalis (piano)
- 1994 Buckshot LeFonque
- 1993 Bloomington - live recording
- 1992 Sneakers - soundtrack to the movie
- 1992 I Heard You Twice The First Time - Branford's
quartet pairs up with some Jazz and Blues greats (including
B.B.King, John Lee Hooker, Rip Tip Johnson) for a romp through the
history of African-American music. Grammy Winner
in category Best Jazz Instrumental Performance, Individual Or
Group
- 1991 The Beautyful Ones Are Not Yet Born - with guests
Wynton Marsalis (trumpet) and Courtney Pine (tenor saxophone)
- 1990 Crazy People Music
- 1990 Mo' Better Blues - soundtrack to
the movie
- 1989 Do The Right Thing - music composed and conducted
by Bill Lee
- 1989 Trio Jeepy - an album of standards featuring Milt
Hinton (bass) and Jeff Watts (drums)
- 1988 Random Abstract
- 1987 Renaissance - on "The Peacocks": Herbie Hancock –
Piano, Buster Williams - Bass
- 1986 Romances for Saxophone - some little pieces of
classical evergreens
- 1985 Royal Garden Blues
- 1984 Scenes In The City
As
sideman
- 2009 Your
Songs - Harry Connick, Jr.
- 2007 ID - Anna Maria Jopek. Branford plays on
the track 3 - Zrób, co możesz (Do What You Can) and on
track 11 - Niepojęte i ulotne (Incomprehensible &
Elusive)
- 2007 Marsalis Music Honors Series: Bob French (2007) -
Bob French
- 2006 Intersections
(1985-2005) - Bruce Hornsby
- 2005 Occasion : Connick on Piano, Volume 2 - A duo
album with Harry Connick, Jr.
- 2003 The Marsalis Family: A Jazz Celebration - A
showing for four brothers- Branford, Delfeayo Marsalis, Jason Marsalis,
Wynton
Marsalis, and their father, Ellis Marsalis
- 2003 Little
Worlds - Béla Fleck and the
Flecktones
- 1999 Brand New Day - Sting
- 1996 Mercury Falling - Sting
- 1996 Live Art
- Béla Fleck and the
Flecktones
- 1995 Joe Cool's Blues - Ellis & Wynton
Marsalis. Branford plays on the track "Little Birdie"
- 1995 Hot House - Bruce Hornsby
- 1995 Tales from the Acoustic Planet - Béla Fleck
- 1994 "With the Tenors of Our Time" - Roy Hargrove. On track 3, "Valse
Hot."
- 1994 Rob Wasserman: Trios With Bruce Hornsby on
"White-Wheeled Limousine"
- 1994 JLW - Joe Louis Walker. On track 4 Inner City
Man.
- 1993 It's Got to Be Funky - Horace Silver
- 1993 Jazzmatazz, Vol. 1 - Guru. Features on
track four, "Transit Ride" along with Zachary Breaux.
- 1993 Harbor Lights - Bruce Hornsby
Grammy Winner for song, "Rainbow's Cadillac"
- 1993 Three Flew Over the
Cuckoo's Nest - Béla Fleck and the
Flecktones
- 1992 Pontius Pilate's Decision - Delfeayo
Marsalis
- 1991 Karma - Robin Eubanks. On track 7 The Yearning
and track 10 Remember When
- 1990 The
Soul Cages - Sting
- 1990 Live It Up - Crosby,
Stills & Nash. Branford plays on tracks 5 Yours And Mine
and on track 9 Arrows
- 1990 You Won't Forget Me - Shirley Horn. Branford
appears on the track "It Had to be You"
- 1990 Without
a Net - Grateful Dead. Branford plays on "Eyes of
the World" (live album)
- 1990 We Are In Love - Harry
Connick, Jr.
- 1987 ...Nothing Like the Sun -
Sting
- 1986 Bring on the Night - Sting (live
album)
- 1986 Break Every Rule - Tina Turner. Branford
plays on the track "Paradise Is Here"
- 1985 Dream of the
Blue Turtles - Sting
- 1985 Opening Night - Kevin Eubanks
- 1985 Black Codes (From the Underground) - Wynton
Marsalis
- 1984 Hot House Flowers - Wynton Marsalis
- 1983 Think of One - Wynton Marsalis
- 1982 Wynton Marsalis - Wynton Marsalis
- 1982 Keystone 3 - Art Blakey & The Jazz Messengers
References
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