Renowned saxophonist Branford Marsalis will perform with his jazz Quartet March 1 in North Central College’s Wentz Concert Hall.
“An Evening with Branford Marsalis” begins at 8PM Friday, March 1, in North Central College’s Wentz Concert Hall at the Fine Arts Center, 171 E. Chicago Ave. Tickets are $60 and $50; call the North Central College Box Office at 630-637-SHOW (7469) or visit northcentralcollege.edu/showtix.
Marsalis is a three-time Grammy Award-winner and a Tony Award-nominee. He is revered among the most forward instrumentalists of his time who continues to exercise and expand his skills as a composer and performer. As head of Marsalis Music—the label he founded in 2002—he is able to produce both his own projects and those of the jazz world’s most promising new and established artists.
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 collaborated with such diverse artists as Sting, the Grateful Dead and Bruce Hornsby.
In 2011, the National Endowment for the Arts conferred the prestigious Jazz Masters Fellowship on the Marsalis family, a celebration and acknowledgment of a family described by the New York Times as “jazz’s most storied living dynasty” who has made an indelible mark, collectively and individually, on the history and the future of jazz.
As leader of the Branford Marsalis Quartet and a frequent soloist with classical ensembles, he recently released the album “Four MFs Playin’ Tunes” with his quartet. The band members bring their considerable musical expertise to bear as they focus on each tune as an important musical entity unto itself and not merely a vehicle for showcasing individual talent. Their live performances match their approach to recording.
Dedicated to changing the future of jazz education, Marsalis is bringing a new approach to student musicians and listeners in colleges and high schools through Marsalis Jams. Whether on stage, in the recording studio, in the classroom or in the community, Marsalis embodies a commitment to musical excellence and a determination to keep music at the forefront.