saxophonist
Personal Information
Born August 26, 1960, in Breaux Bridge, LA; son of Ellis (a jazz pianist and teacher) and Dolores (a jazz singer and teacher) Marsalis; married Teresa Reese (an actress), 1985 (divorced); married Nicole; children: Reese Ellis, Peyton
Education: Attended Southern University; attended Berklee School of Music.
Career
Jazz saxophonist. Member of Art Blakey's Jazz Messengers, 1980-81; member of Wynton Marsalis quintet, 1982-85; toured with Herbie Hancock's V.S.O.P. II., 1983; recorded with Miles Davis on Decoy, 1984; formed own quartet, released Scenes in the City, 1984; performed with numerous artists, including Miles Davis, Dizzy Gillespie, Tina Turner, Public Enemy, and the Neville Brothers, 1984-; toured and recorded with Sting, 1985-89; released Romances for Saxophone and Royal Garden Blues, 1986; formed own group, released Trio Jeepy, 1989; The Beautiful Ones Are Not Yet Born, 1991; I Heard You Twice the First Time, 1992; formed Buckshot LeFonque, 1994; released The Dark Keys, 1996; Music Evolution with Buckshot LeFonque, 1997; appeared in films: Throw Momma From the Train, 1987; School Daze, 1988; musical director, The Tonight Show With Jay Leno, NBC, 1992-94; professor of Music, Michigan State University, San Francisco State University, c. 2000-; launched Marsalis Music, 2002; host, JazzSet, National Public Radio.
Life's Work
Grammy award winning saxophonist Branford Marsalis was born into one of America's most distinguished musical families. He is best known as a jazz musician, but is as comfortable in a classical music hall as he is in a jazz club. He won a Grammy award for his 12th jazz recording, Contemporary Jazz, but also has released pop, blues, and classical music recordings. "Marsalis may be the most eclectic musician of any time period," critic Tom Erdmann wrote in Saxophone Journal. Many credit Marsalis for reviving the popularity of contemporary jazz in the early 1980s, but some critics lament that he has spread his musical talents in too many directions. Late-night television viewers know him for his turn as the leader of Jay Leno's Tonight Show band, a position he held for two years in the early 1990s.
Branford Marsalis was born August 26, 1960, in Breaux Bridge, Louisiana, the eldest of six sons to Dolores, a former jazz singer and teacher, and Ellis Marsalis, a jazz pianist who supported his family as a music teacher at a performing arts high school. He started playing piano at the age of four, but rejected his father's teaching methods. He experimented some with the clarinet, and began playing alto saxophone at 15. Ellis Marsalis avoided any competition between his children by insisting they play different instruments; Wynton picked up the trumpet, Delfeayo played trombone, and Jason played drums.
Warmed up to Jazz
Branford had natural talent and earned a spot on the all-state band after playing the sax only six months. His father wanted his children to follow in his musical footsteps, but did not push them. "The pride factor wanted us to be musicians, but there was no taciturn expectation," Branford said in an interview online at the ASCAP website. "We lived in New Orleans. Everybody played instruments." Marsalis claimed that teenage rebellion was not part of the household dynamic. "We didn't have the kind of house where, as a 15 year old kid, you would lock your door and put a Keep Out sign on it, because you'd be dead. Forget it. We were a family and we all lived together," he said in the ASCAP interview.
Naturally, considering his parents' musical background, music was a central part of the Marsalis household, but music was not what Branford aspired to. He wanted to become a football player, lawyer, or historian. It was only when these professions started to seem unlikely that he considered a future in music. Though his parents came from a jazz background--his father was a well known bop pianist--Marsalis could not stand jazz until his late teens. Instead, he preferred the sound of 1970s rock, funk, and disco. He was a fan of Led Zeppelin, Parliament/Funkadelic, Donna Summer, Aretha Franklin, and Elton John. It may have been these diverse beginnings that gave Marsalis the flexibility to later crossover and push the envelope of conventional jazz.
After high school graduation in 1978, Marsalis studied under jazz clarinetist Alvin Batiste at Southern University, a black college in Baton Rouge, Louisiana. By then, Marsalis had developed a passion and talent for jazz, and Batiste pushed him to enroll at the prestigious Berklee School of Music in Boston. He refined his technical chops at Berklee and got jobs playing with Clark Terry and Lionel Hampton. It wasn't until 1980, when he saw Art Blakey's Jazz Messengers play, that he committed to a career in jazz. Younger brother Wynton had joined the Jazz Messengers a year before, after leaving the Juilliard School in New York City. As revered as the Juilliard School is for music, the Jazz Messengers was renown as a training ground for thriving up-and-comers in jazz. Branford didn't hesitate when he was asked to play baritone sax in the band, which he did for five months. Younger brother Delfeayo was honing his skills as a producer, and the Marsalis family was becoming known as the "First Family of Jazz."
Found Breakout Success with Brother's Band
In 1982 Wynton formed his own quintet with Branford and Branford's Berklee classmate Jeff Watts on drums, Kenny Kirkland on piano, and a series of bassists. At a time when few young musicians were playing hard bop, the quartet revived interest in the sound. When Branford switched to playing alto sax, comparisons to Lester Young, John Coltrane, Sonny Rollins, and Wayne Shorter began. He also played tenor and soprano sax with his brother's group. But the spotlight remained firmly focused on Wynton, who, outspoken about his commitment to traditional jazz, was fast becoming the most popular jazz trumpeter since Miles Davis. He became a celebrity and was the first artist to win a Grammy award for both jazz and classical works in the same year. As long as he felt the music they were making was strong, Branford was happy to let his brother bask in the spotlight. He toured with Herbie Hancock's V.S.O.P. II. in 1983 and recorded with Miles Davis on Decoy, released in 1984.
Branford Marsalis struck out on his own, forming his own quartet in 1984, to little success. His group, with pianist Larry Willis, drummer Marvin Smith, and bassist Charnett Moffett, was noted for its live shows, but critics were unimpressed by their 1984 release, Scenes in the City. Unlike his brother, Branford was curious to look beyond the realm of pure jazz, and explore other forms of music. He found the perfect opportunity to experiment when rock musician Sting asked him to collaborate on his 1985 release, Bring on the Night, and later on Dream of the Blue Turtles. Sting was impressed as much by Marsalis' literacy of jazz as he was his fluency beyond the traditional constricts of it.
Jazz purists lamented that Marsalis, by working with Sting, was lost to jazz forever. Even Marsalis' father criticized the decision. Branford believed the move was sound. "Anybody can get a saxophone and get a jazz band, but the music won't sound like mine," he told ASCAP. "And not anybody can pick up the saxophone and play with Sting and have that kind of sound." Marsalis' crossover also fueled rumors of an epic falling out between the Marsalis brothers--not only had Branford flaunted his brother's belief in the superiority of traditional jazz over other music forms, he had taken pianist Kirkland with him when he did it. "He's my brother. I love him unconditionally," Branford told Ebony. "It was time [to leave]. I had played in Wynton's band longer than I had done anything in my life."
Branched Out Into Film Work
Marsalis' contribution to Bring on the Night was considered by some critics one of the album's few strengths, and the saxophonist continued to work and tour with the rock star for the next three years. He even stole the show in Sting's documentary film Bring on the Night. Tina Turner, Public Enemy, the Neville Brothers, the Grateful Dead, and many others began to call on Marsalis, who was fast becoming well known as a pop star. He branched out even further with acting roles in the movies Throw Momma From the Train, Spike Lee's School Daze, and he wrote the score for Lee's Mo' Better Blues. He has also worked as soloist or composer on the soundtracks for Malcolm X, Clockers, Sneakers, Mr. & Mrs. Loving, Single Dad, Once In the Life, and The Russia House.
In 1986 Marsalis proved he was not lost to pop by releasing two non-pop albums. The first, Romances for Saxophone, was a classical album that featured Marsalis playing with the English Chamber Orchestra. The second, Royal Garden Blues, was a collaboration between Marsalis and his father, and was nominated for a Grammy award. He formed his own quartet with Kirkland, Watts, and bassist Bob Hurst. The 1989 release from the group, Trio Jeepy, failed to wow critics, some of whom felt that it was not a fully realized recording.
Critics felt Marsalis came into his own in 1990, after the release of Crazy People Music. He followed it up with The Beautiful Ones Are Not Yet Born in 1991, which featured him dueling with brother Wynton on a song called "Cain and Abel." Marsalis' 1992 release, I Heard You Twice the First Time, earned him a Grammy award for Best Jazz Instrumental Performance, Individual or Group, in 1993. He continued in a jazz vein with his 1993 trio album, Bloomington. He earned another Grammy the next year for Best Pop Instrumental Performance for "Barcelona Mona," a single he recorded with Bruce Hornsby for the 1994 Summer Olympics in Spain. In 1994 he unveiled Buckshot LeFonque, but some critics found the group's fusion of jazz and hip-hop sound confusing. Again, they just could not understand where the elder Marsalis was headed. "Somewhere along the way it became very uncool in certain alternative jazz circles to like Branford Marsalis," Ezra Gale of the San Francisco Weekly noted.
Content to Wait For Own Sound
For all of his experimentation, critics often accused Marsalis of not having his own sound. When he was younger, he was seen as copying Coltrane, Rollins, and Shorter. Later, he was seen as going off the musical deep end in search of himself. Early in his career, Marsalis agreed with his critics. "I don't have my own sound," he recalled saying in the ASCAP interview. "There's nothing I can do about it. I'm going to listen to the music that I listen to, keep imitating the guys that I imitate, and I figure by the time I'm 30 or 31, I'll have a sound." Herbie Hancock and Dizzie Gillespie told Marsalis he had the right idea; great jazz musicians start by imitating others, then go on to find themselves. The challenge for Marsalis was that he had received so much attention so early in his career. "One of the great things about jazz is that it pays reverence to its legacy," he told ASCAP. "In order to excel, there is a certain body of work that you must absorb."
The saxophonist became a bonafide celebrity in 1992, when he signed a five year deal to lead Jay Leno's Tonight Show band. Again, he was railed for forsaking jazz, but countered his critics by assuring them they could come hear him play pure jazz in Los Angeles jazz clubs after the taping of each show. On the show, he and his band backed musical guests such as Tori Amos, Neil Diamond, Peter Gabriel, and Vince Gill. He capitalized on his position by regularly asking musicians from the jazz community to sit in with the band. He earned another Grammy nomination in 1995 for his rendition of "The Star Spangled Banner" which he recorded with Bruce Hornsby for Ken Burns' PBS series, Baseball. The Dark Keys, released in 1996, was a further step forward in jazz, while a second Buckshot album, Music Evolution, was released in 1997.
Following in his father's footsteps, Marsalis took jazz into the classroom. He taught at Michigan State University, first as a visiting scholar, and then as a part-time faculty member through the spring of 2000. He also held a part-time position at San Francisco State University as part of the music faculty. In 2002 he announced the launch of his independent record company, Marsalis Music. "The consolidation of the record industry into major conglomerates had turned the business into a mega-hit pop music machine with a very short-term focus," he said in a press release. "Artists who want to be musicians, not marketing creations, have very few places to record anymore."
Contemporary Jazz, a straight-ahead jazz album which won the Grammy Award for Best Jazz Instrumental Album in 2001, seemed to clear up any confusion about Marsalis' direction. "During the past couple of years, Marsalis has been recommitting himself to a music that places considerable demands on himself and his audience," Howard Reich wrote in the Chicago Tribune. "Recent performances have shown him working hard to regain his focus, sharpen his technique, and expand his repertoire." Marsalis admitted he had become more focused. "My career is back where I like it," he told the New York Post. "I'm just playing music now."
Awards
Grammy Award , Best Jazz Instrumental Performance by an Individual or Group for I Heard You Twice the First Time, 1993; Grammy Award, Best Pop Instrumental Performance for "Barcelona Mona" with Bruce Horsby, 1994; Grammy Award, Best Jazz Instrumental Album for Contemporary Jazz, 2001.
Works
Selected discography
- (With Ellis Marsalis) Fathers and Sons, Columbia, 1981.
- (With the Jazz Messengers) Keystone 3, Concord, 1981.
- (With Wynton Marsalis) Wynton Marsalis, Columbia, 1982.
- Think of One, Columbia, 1983.
- Hot House Flowers, Columbia, 1984.
- Scenes in the City, Columbia, 1984.
- (With Miles Davis) Decoy, Columbia, 1984.
- Black Codes (From the Underground), Columbia, 1985.
- (With Sting) Bring on the Night, A&M, 1985.
- (With Sting) Dream of the Blue Turtles, A&M, 1985.
- (With the English Chamber Orchestra) Romances for Saxophone, 1986.
- Royal Garden Blues, Columbia, 1986.
- Nothing Like the Sun, A&M, 1987.
- Renaissance, Columbia, 1987.
- Random Abstract, Columbia, 1988.
- Trio Jeepy, Columbia, 1989.
- Crazy People Music, Columbia, 1990.
- Music From Mo' Better Blues, 1990.
- The Beautiful Ones Are Not Yet Born, Columbia, 1991.
- I Heard You Twice the First Time, Columbia, 1992.
- (Contributor) Weird Nightmare: Meditations on Mingus, Columbia, 1992.
- Bloomington, Columbia, 1993.
- Dark Keys, Sony, 1996.
- Requiem, Columbia, 1999.
- Contemporary Jazz, Columbia, 2000.
- Creation, Sony, 2001.
- Buckshot LeFonque, Phantom.
- (With Dizzy Gillespie) Closer to the Source, Atlantic.
- New Faces, GRP.
- Live at Montreux and Northsea, Timeless.
Further Reading
Periodicals
- Billboard, October 19, 1991, p. 29.
- Boston Globe, October 20, 2000.
- Chicago Tribune, November 3, 2000.
- Down Beat, February 1994, p. 42.
- Ebony, February 1989, p. 66.
- New York Post, August 19, 2001.
- San Francisco Weekly, October 4, 2000.
- Saxophone Journal, September/October 2001, p. 16.
On-line- All Music Guide Online, http://www.allmusic.com (March 13, 2002).
- ASCAP Homepage, http://www.ascap.com/playback/1996/summer/branford.html (March 13, 2002).
- Branford Marsalis Homepage, http://www.branfordmarsalis.com (March 13, 2002).
- Sony Classical Online, http://www.sonyclassical.com/artists/marsalis_branford/bio.h tml (March 13, 2002).
Other- Additional material was provided by Annie Ohayon Media Relations, 2002.
— Brenna Sanchez
