Jazz Police - Delfeayo Marsalis Quintet Adds Local Touch, at the Dakota September 19th

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Saturday, 25 May 2013

Delfeayo Marsalis Quintet Adds Local Touch, at the Dakota September 19th

Written by Andrea Canter, Contributing Editor

Saturday, 15 September 2012

Delfeayo Marsalis©Andrea Canter

“One of the best, most imaginative and musical of the trombonists of his generation.”

-- Philip Elwood, San Francisco Examiner

Once the Marsalis in the background as a successful record producer, trombonist Delfeayo Marsalis has emerged in the past few years as a stellar performer and bandleader. Over the past five years, Marsalis has performed at the Dakota and Orchestral Hall, as guest artist/clinician with the local student ensemble, the Dakota Combo, and most recently as headliner for the 2012 Twin Cities Jazz Festival. On Wednesday, September 19, Marsalis returns, this time boasting a quintet that features both his recent touring cohorts (Sean Jones and Winard Harper) and two locally-based talents, pianist Richard Johnson and bassist Jeremy Boettcher. Johnson, a recent transplant, appeared here with Marsalis in 2009.

Winard Harper©Andrea Canter

A middle brother of the Marsalis Clan, Delfeayo largely stayed in the background through the first part of the new century, playing sideman to the late Elvin Jones and others, and concentrating on an impressive career as a Grammy-nominated record producer. Growing up in New Orleans, Delfeayo initially “dabbled with drums a little and it wasn’t my thing, and then the bass, but it hurt my fingers.” When he settled on the trombone at age 13, it was a perfect fit. “The trombone was meant for me,” says Delfeayo, “it fit my personality. The job of the trombone is to make sure everyone gets along, that the trumpet and sax get along. The trumpet is the lead in a New Orleans band, and the sax’s job is to make the trumpet sound good; and the trombone makes sure both of them sound good!” After attending high school at the New Orleans Center for Creative Arts, Marsalis went on to the Berklee College of Music to study performance and production. He received additional classical training through the Eastern Music Festival and Tanglewood Institute; and he earned an MA degree in jazz performance from the University of Louisville and a doctorate from New England College.

In addition to the strong influences of older brothers Wynton and Branford, Delfeayo cites J.J. Johnson in particular among trombonists (“his clarity of attack”), but also Al Grey, Tyree Glynn, Jack Teagarden, Tommy Dorsey and Curtis Fuller. Fuller’s flexibility inspired Delfeayo, who also notes that Fuller “was responsible for providing the trombone sound in modern context. J.J. led his own groups, so he dictated what he would play, while Curtis would walk into a session and get the music down.” Marsalis’ early touring experiences included stints with Ray Charles, Art Blakey's Jazz Messengers, Max Roach, and Abdullah Ibrahim, as well as Elvin Jones' Jazz Machine. More recently he has appeared with Branford and on Monty Alexander’s Concrete Jungle. Yet he only released two recordings as leader prior to his 2006 Minion’s Dominion (Troubadour Jazz), including Pontius Pilate’s Decision in 1992 (RCA) and Musashi (King Records) in 1997.

Richard Johnson©Andrea Canter

Unlike many musicians who turn to production later in their careers, often to gain more control over their music, Delfeayo’s first priority for many years was producing music for others, and he was already heading projects at 17. Producing over 100 releases since the 1980s (including projects for Wynton and Branford, and for Harry Connick, Terence Blanchard, Marcus Roberts, Eric Reed and Nicholas Payton), he’s garnered several Grammy awards and nominations. In 2011, with father Ellis and brothers Wynton, Branford and Jason, Delfeayo was named an NEA Jazz Master.

Delfeayo Marsalis is also an accomplished composer and educator. Among music scores, his works have included the backdrop for the ABC mini-series, Moon Over Miami, the documentaries Streetcar Mysteries and 112th & Central, an off-Broadway production, Girl Gone, and the New Orleans Ballet presentations of Tennessee Williams’ Streetcar Named Desire and Glass Menagerie. And the majority of tracks on Minion’s Dominion are original compositions. In 2009, Marsalis released Sweet Thunder: Duke & Shak, a reorchestration of Duke Ellington’s dramatic, Shakespeare-inspired work, scored for octet. Starting in 2011, he has been touring with an original theatrical production of Sweet Thunder. As a committed jazz educator, Delfeayo has served as Director of the Foundation for Artistic and Musical Excellence summer program in Lawrenceville, NJ, and founded the Uptown Music Theatre, created specifically to provide 8th-12th grade youth with musical theater training. He has written over 80 works to help introduce youngsters to jazz.

Sean Jones©Andrea Canter

Ohio native Sean Jones, raised on gospel music, was attracted to the trumpet as a fifth grader when he encountered the music of Miles Davis. But it was classical training in high school and college that solidified his technique and the experience of teaching elementary school music that inspired him to want to share his music. As a student he won two awards from DownBeat as well as a scholarship to Rutgers. With five acclaimed recordings (including his latest release, No Need for Words on Mack Avenue), Jones now finds himself atop a growing list of young trumpet masters, holding a professorship in jazz studies at Duquesne University in Pittsburgh. He had a 5-year stint as lead trumpet of the Jazz at Lincoln Center Orchestra, and recently toured with Marcus Miller as well as an ensemble with Miller, Herbie Hancock and Wayne Shorter. Jones and his quintet headlined the Twin Cities Jazz Festival in 2010.

Pittsburgh native Richard Johnson was introduced to gospel piano by his father when he was five. Living in Massachusetts, Richard formed his first piano trio as a high school junior. For two consecutive years, he won the state’s “best jazz soloist” award. Richard pursued jazz studies at Berklee in Boston, completing his degree in two years, then continued on for a master’s degree at the Boston Conservatory. The following year, while studying at the Thelonious Monk Institute at the New England Conservatory, he toured South America with the Monk Institute, playing with Herbie Hancock; he also performed with the Monk Institute Sextet, directed by Ron Carter. Richard joined the Wynton Marsalis Septet in 1999, also playing with Russell Malone, Irvin Mayfield and Bobby Watson, with whom he appeared at the Twin Cities Jazz Festival in 2010. Relocating to the Twin Cities about a year ago, Johnson has taught at Jazz at Lincoln Center and the Brooklyn Academy. He’s been presenting theme-based concerts nearly monthly throughout the Twin Cities.

University of Wisconsin – Eau Claire graduate Jeremy Boettcher studied bass with John Clayton and has played with such artists as Benny Green and Lewis Nash. After a year in New York, he returned to the Twin Cities, where he has played with Zacc Harris, Bryan Nichols, the John Raymond Project, Aaron Hedenstrom Quintet, Laura Caviani Trio, and his own quartet with Josh Gallagher, Brandon Wozniak and Sean Carey.

Baltimore native Winard Harper made an early impression as drummer in the 1980s with Dexter Gordon, Johnny Griffin and Betty Carter. Later collabortors included Wycliffe Gordon as well as brother, trumpeter Philip Harper, with whom he formed the Harper Brothers. In more recent years he has led his own sextet and played with Avery Sharpe and Billy Taylor, as well as Delfeayo Marsalis.

This will be a new configuration for the Delfeayo Marsalis Quintet, although all but Boettcher have worked with Marsalis in the past. The band will perform 2 shows only September 19th at 7 and 9 pm.

The Dakota is located at 1010 Nicollet Mall in downtown Minneapolis; reserved tickets recommended at 612-332-5299 or www.dakotacooks.com

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