Branford Marsalis Biography,Age,Spike Lee,Tonight Show,Quartet

Branford Marsalis Biography

Branford Marsalis is a three-time Grammy Award winner, an American saxophonist, composer, instrumentalist and bandleader. Apart from being 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. He is the head of Marsalis Music, the label he founded in 2002 that has allowed him to produce both his own projects and those of the jazz world’s most promising new and established artists.

Branford Marsalis Age| Birthday

Marsalis was born on August 26, 1960 in Breaux Bridge, Louisiana and is 58 years old in 2018.

Branford Marsalis Parents| Family

Branford is the son of Dolores, a jazz singer who doubled up as a substitute teacher, and Ellis Louis Marsalis, Jr., a pianist and music professor.Branford has three other siblings. His brothers Jason Marsalis, Wynton Marsalis, and Delfeayo Marsalis are also jazz musicians.

Branford Marsalis Wife

Marsalis  married Teresa Reese,an actress, and later divorced in 1985 . He later married Nicole and they sired two children: Reese Ellis and Peyton who are 17 and  13 years old in 2018.

Branford Marsalis Early Career | Scenes In The City

Marsalis toured Europe playing alto and baritone saxophone in a large ensemble led by drummer Art Blakey while still a Berklee College of Music student in Mid 1980s. In1981 Marsalis, on alto saxophone, 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 his brother until 1985, when he released of his own first recording titled ‘Scenes in the City’.

Branford Marsalis And Sting

In 1985, Branford joined Sting, the singer and bassist of rock band the Police, on his first solo project, ‘The Dream of the Blue Turtles’, alongside jazz and session musicians Omar Hakim on drums, Darryl Jones on the bass and Kenny Kirkland on keyboards. Branford made his mark and became a regular in Sting’s line-up both in the studio and live up until the release of Brand New Day in 1999.

Branford Marsalis AIDS Awareness

In 1994, Marsalis appeared on the Red Hot Organization’s compilation CD, Stolen Moments: Red Hot + Cool. The album, meant to raise awareness of the AIDS epidemic in African American society, was named Album of the Year by Time.

Branford Marsalis & Spike Lee

In 1988, Marsalis co-starred in the Spike Lee film School Daze, also rendering several horn-blowing interludes for the music in the film. His witty comments have pegged him to many memorable one-liners in the film.

Branford Marsalis & Jay Leno |Branford Marsalis Tonight Show

Jay Leno, the show’s host, chose Mr. Marsalis as his band leader after succeeding Johnny Carson in 1992.From 1992 to 1995, Branford was the leader of the Tonight Show Band on ‘The Tonight Show with Jay Leno’. Initially, he turned down the offer, but later reconsidered and accepted the position. He was succeeded as bandleader by guitarist Kevin Eubanks. Hayley Sumner, a spokeswoman for Mr. Leno, said that Mr. Marsalis had decided to “take a hiatus.”

Branford Marsalis Grateful Dead

Between 1990 and 1994, Branford played with the Grateful Dead several times which was termed as one of the most memorable and successful collaborations that the Grateful Dead facilitated during their storied career. Branford made his debut with the Dead at the Nassau Coliseum in Uniondale, New York on March 29 1990.Holding the second show of three-night stand at the arena, Marsalis emerged for the penultimate song of the first set, doing a rendition of “Bird Song.” He then returned to sit-in for the entire second set, including the exquisite opening “Eyes Of The World” which was later issued on the 1990 live LP Without A Net and an exploratory performance of “Dark Star.” The entire performance was recently officially released by Rhino Records as ‘Wake Up to Find Out’.

Branford Marsalis Quartet

The Branford Marsalis Quartet, first formed in 1986, remains Branford’s primary means of expression. In its virtually uninterrupted three-plus decades of existence, the Quartet has established a rare breadth of stylistic range and a continuity of personnel. The Secret Between the Shadow and the Soul, recorded in Melbourne, Australia in the midst of an international tour in the Spring of 2018, contains the mix of challenging original and classic compositions, and the range of moods from the tender to the explosive, that has defined the group. With its focus on melodic strength and extrasensory interaction, the album confirms that the Branford Marsalis Quartet remains a paragon of uncompromising jazz excellence.

Branford Marsalis Quartet Members

Current members

  • Branford Marsalis – saxophones
  • Joey Calderazzo – piano (1999–Present)
  • Eric Revis – bass (1997–Present)
  • Justin Faulkner – Drums (2009–Present)

Past members

  • Jeff “Tain” Watts – Drums (1986–2009)
  • Kenny Kirkland – Piano (1987–1998)
  • Robert Hurst – Bass

Branford Marsalis Aco

In May 12 2019,Branford will be performing with the Australian Chamber Orchestra in Melbourne fusing Latin American jazz alongside the Australian Chamber Orchestra.The show will be Marsalis’s first collaboration with the ACO.

The show will include Brazilian composer Heitor Villa-Lobos’s Fantasia for Saxophone and Orchestra, Sally Beamish’s Under the Wing of the Rock, Astor Piazzolla’s Four Seasons of Buenos Aires and Ginastera’s Concerto for Strings.

Branford Marsalis Renaissance

Renaissance is a jazz themed CD album that was released by Branford in 1987 with seven tracks. They include

1.Just One Of Those Things
2 .Lament
3 .The Peacocks
4 .Love Stone
5 .Citadel
6 .The Wrath (Structured Burnout)
7 .St. Thomas

Branford Marsalis Berta Berta

Berta is a woman’s name. The song is basically an inmate in a prison work farm telling his sweetheart Berta not to wait for him, but when she remarries to marry a man of means so she can live at ease

Branford Marsalis Tour

Click Here to view Branford’s upcoming tour dates and musical concerts

Branford Marsalis Discography

  • 1984 Scenes in the City
  • 1986 Romances for Saxophone – some little pieces of classical evergreens
  • 1986 Royal Garden Blues
  • 1987 Renaissance – on “The Peacocks”: Herbie Hancock – Piano, Buster Williams – Bass
  • 1988 Random Abstract
  • 1989 Trio Jeepy – an album of standards featuring Milt Hinton (bass) and Jeff Watts (drums)
  • 1989 Do the Right Thing – music composed and conducted by Bill Lee
  • 1990 Crazy People Music
  • 1990 Mo’ Better Blues – soundtrack to the movie
  • 1990 The Russia House – soundtrack to the movie
  • 1991 The Beautyful Ones Are Not Yet Born – with guests Wynton Marsalis (trumpet) and Courtney Pine (tenor saxophone)
  • 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
  • 1992 Sneakers – soundtrack to the film
  • 1993 Bloomington – live recording
  • 1994 Buckshot LeFonque
  • 1996 Loved Ones – a duet with his father Ellis Marsalis (piano)
  • 1996 The Dark Keys
  • 1997 Music Evolution – the second Buckshot LeFonque project
  • 1999 Requiem – recorded days before the death of and dedicated to pianist Kenny Kirkland
  • 2000 Contemporary Jazz – Grammy Winner in category Best Jazz Instrumental Album, Individual or Group
  • 2001 Creation – 20th century French compositions for saxophone and orchestra
  • 2002 Footsteps of Our Fathers – Branford again revisits the works of past masters, interpreting the tunes from his own angle
  • 2003 Romare Bearden Revealed – CD Issued in Conjunction with The Art of Romare Bearden (American painter)
  • 2004 Eternal
  • 2004 Performs Coltrane’s A Love Supreme Live In Amsterdam – DVD at the Bimhuis Jazz Club in Amsterdam on March 30, 2003.
  • 2005 A Duo Occasion – DVD with Harry Connick, Jr.
  • 2006 Braggtown
  • 2008 American Spectrum – with North Carolina Symphony and Grant Llewellyn
  • 2009 Metamorphosen
  • 2011 Songs of Mirth and Melancholy (duo album with pianist Joey Calderazzo)
  • 2012 Four MFs Playin’ Tunes (Apple iTunes Best of 2012 Instrumental Jazz Album of the Year)
  • 2014 In My Solitude: Live at Grace Cathedral
  • 2016 Upward Spiral (Branford Marsalis Quartet with special guest Kurt Elling)

Branford Marsalis Twitter

Branford Marsalis Youtube

Branford Marsalis Interview

When asked by Style Weekly how he manages to keep the audience engaged,Branford had this to say:

”My dad told me when I was 15 and playing in an R&B band, that most audiences are the same, they hear with their eyes. It was entertainment. It was the ’80s, so we had costumes and I had to learn dance steps. That is something I am not good at. I always tried to hide behind the better dancers.

It’s the same now. After a show people come up and say that they didn’t understand what we played, but they loved seeing us have so much fun playing it.

They could tell there was information flying back and forth. But they can’t tell you what the information is, but my argument is that they shouldn’t have to. It may always be a challenging listen, but we will always play a couple of songs that everyone can totally relate to.”

Source: www.styleweekly.com

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