Marsalis is the leader of one of the finest jazz quartets today including key member and longtime pianist, Joey Calderazzo. Their paired evolution has been a brightness at the core of an adventurous band that itself has added light and heat to the music of its time and this performance will be no exception! Please join us for an astounding performance of one of the most innovative and forward-thinking jazz ensembles today! Tickets are $45 general, $45 Senior/child, $22 HSU students. Tickets are available at the University Ticket Office at HSU or at centerarts.humboldt.edu.
Leader of one of the finest jazz quartets today and a frequent soloist with classical ensembles, Branford has become increasingly sought after as a featured soloist with such acclaimed orchestras as the Chicago, Detroit, and Düsseldorf Symphonies and the Boston Pops, with a growing repertoire that includes compositions by Copland, Debussy, Glazunov, Mahler, Milhaud, and Vaughn Williams. His propensity for innovative and forward-thinking compels him to seek new and challenging works by modern classical composers such as modern Scottish composer Sally Beamish who, after hearing Branford perform her composition “The Imagined Sound of Sun on Stone” at the 2006 North Sea Jazz Festival, was inspired to re-conceive a piece in progress, “Under the Wing of the Rock,” which he premiered as part of the Celtic Connections festival in Beamish’s home country of Scotland in 2009.
In 2011, the National Endowment for the Arts conferred the prestigious Jazz Masters Fellowship on the Marsalis Family, a celebration and acknowledgement of a family described by the New York Times as “jazz’s most storied living dynasty”, who have made an indelible mark, collectively and individually, on the history and the future of jazz, America’s art form.
Embodying expressiveness, melody, emotion; those elements of music that transcend genre and period and speak to us of inspiration and beauty, Marsalis’ recent jazz release, Songs of Mirth and Melancholy is a spectacular duo collaboration with his Quartet’s longtime pianist, Joey Calderazzo. Comprised of seven original compositions plus a cover of Wayne Shorter’s “Face On the Barroom Floor” and Brahms’s “Die Trauernde,” like all of Marsalis’ nearly two dozen recordings in various styles, Songs of Mirth and Melancholy is born of an ever-evolving love of music which has marked his career.
Having gained initial acclaim through his work with Art Blakey’s Jazz Messengers and his brother Wynton’s quintet in the early 1980s, Marsalis also performed and recorded with a who’s who of jazz giants including Miles Davis, Dizzy Gillespie, Herbie Hancock, and Sonny Rollins. He has also collaborated with such diverse artists as Sting, the Grateful Dead and Bruce Hornsby. His expansive interests are further reflected in his explorations in film, radio and television, including his role as the musical director of The Tonight Show with Jay Leno for two years in the early 1990s. Marsalis has also acted in such popular movies such as Throw Mama from the Train and School Daze, provided music for Mo’ Better Blues and other films and hosted National Public Radio’s syndicated program Jazz Set.
Whether on the stage, in the recording studio, in the classroom or in the community, Branford Marsalis embodies a commitment to musical excellence and a determination to keep music at the forefront.
For more information and credit card orders, call CenterArts at 826-3928 or centerarts.humboldt.edu.