“The band’s just getting better. It comes from the growth of each individual, which you can hear. I know that my tone is more focused on both tenor and soprano saxophones, and my technique is vastly improved. And you can hear the same kind of development in Joey, Revis and `Tain’.” –Branford Marsalis

Branford Marsalis

If the Marsalis Family of New Orleans had only one son to give to jazz, it would have been enough. But each of the four musical offspring of pianist Ellis Marsalis (Branford, Wynton, Delfeayo and Jason) has found his place as a performer, recording artist, educator, and producer. While trumpeter Wynton’s leadership with Jazz at Lincoln Center and profile in Ken Burns’ documentary give him the most visibility, eldest brother, saxophonist Branford, may prove to be the most eclectic and creative Marsalis. Certainly his most recent recordings and production projects give ample evidence that there is far more to this musician than film scores and Jay Leno arrangements. Touring in support of their new release, Braggtown, the Branford Marsalis Quartet (with Joey Calderazzo on piano, Eric Reavis on bass, and Jeff “Tain” Watts on drums) will perform at Yoshi's in Oakland, February 12-15.

BranforscMarsalis at Berklee College of Music© Phil Farnsworth

Despite the purity of his southern jazz roots, 45-year-old Branford Marsalis has extended his reach far beyond Crescent City’s native music. As the director of Jay Leno's Tonight Show band and as saxophonist on Sting's tours, he has sometimes been viewed more as a pop than bop artist. This has been reinforced by his career as a composer of popular film scores and prolific recording artist of a far ranging array of jazz, funk and pop through the 1980s and well into the 1990s. Marsalis’ jazz career took off early, when in his 20s he released Scenes in the City for Columbia Jazz (1984), yet he also found success working with The Grateful Dead, Sting, and Bruce Hornsby. He won his first Grammy (Best Jazz Instrumental Performance, Individual or Group) in 1993 for I Heard You Twice the First Time, and another in 1994 (Best Pop Instrumental Performance) for the single, “Barcelona Mona,” recorded with Bruce Hornsby for the Barcelona Olympics. Of his 1993 trio album, Bloomington, Bill Kohlhasse (Los Angeles Times) praised it as “revealing and beautiful in ways only the best improvisational music can be.” Recording in the mid-90s under the alias “Buckshot LeFonque,” Marsalis fused jazz and hip-hop, again proving to be a modern pioneer not easily classified by genre. In 1995 he was nominated for another Grammy (Best Pop Instrumental Performance) for his rendition of “The Star-Spangled Banner” with (again) Bruce Hornsby, on the soundtrack of Ken Burns’ PBS series, Baseball. He released another jazz album, Dark Keys (1996), as well as a second Buckshot album, Music Evolution, in 1997.

Joey Calderazzo © Andrea Canter

In 2000, Marsalis and his touring quartet released what many considered to be his best recording yet, Contemporary Jazz, winner of the Grammy Award for the year’s Best Jazz Instrumental Album; Howard Reich of the Chicago Tribune noted that Marsalis had “achieved a new level of emotional intensity and instrumental brilliance.” Indeed, this recording seemed to usher in a new era of commitment to jazz and an epiphany of sorts for Marsalis, as his subsequent projects reflect a musician who has truly found his jazz calling.

One sure sign of a new sense of direction is Branford Marsalis’ new label, Marsalis Music, giving him ultimate artistic control and the opportunity to explore new musical galaxies as well as preserve jazz traditions. His inaugural release, Footsteps of Our Fathers (2002), is an ambitious tribute to the legends of modern saxophone (Ornette Coleman, John Coltrane, Sonny Rollins), highlighted by the quartet’s performance of the full A Love Supreme suite, which was later recorded live at the Bottom Line in Amsterdam for DVD (2004). Of Footsteps, Doug Collette (All About Music) writes, “Notwithstanding its solemn tone, Marsalis and his quartet plunge into the music with an abandon that displays reverence for the authors and their music but a full-bodied confidence in their own abilities.” Marsalis has furthered his career as a producer, with artists such as Dávid Sanchez (whose albums Obsesión and Melaza were Grammy nominees for Best Latin Jazz Performance), Frank McComb, and Joey Calderazzo. In 2003, Marsalis released Romare Bearden Revisited, a series of vignettes inspired by Bearden’s paintings. Noted critic Bob Blumenthal, “The result is a rollicking session full of the jubilance of New Orleans jazz, climaxing with the curveball of guitarist Doug Wamble slippin’ and slidin’ on bottleneck guitar.”

Jeff 'tain' Watts © Andrea Canter

With the release of Eternal in 2004, Branford Marsalis extended his reach into the realm of modern balladry, the result worthy of inclusion on many “Best of the Year” lists. Nominated for a Grammy and five Jazz Journalist Association awards, Eternal covered “lots of ground stylistically, from near-retro sounds to more floating, contemporary playing…always strong while conveying sensitivity and vulnerability” (Peter Hum, Ottawa Citizen). This past fall, the quartet released what may be its most expansive recording yet, Braggtown. Covering a wide swath of music from a 17th Century English composer, an Indian Warrior and a Japanese horror film, the recording reflects the band’s desire “to get back to that kind of high-energy music we’ve been doing when we perform.”

In addition to production and performance, Branford Marsalis, like brother Wynton, is devoting considerable energy to jazz education. The members of his quartet were recently named Artists in Residence at North Carolina Central University, and Branford has previously been involved with programs at Michigan State University and San Francisco State University. He also presents concerts and jam sessions to college and high school students through his Marsalis Jams program.

Joey Calderazzo started playing piano at age eight, eventually discovering jazz. His early career got a jump start under Michael Brecker in 1986. Since then, Calderazzo has made his mark as both leader and supporting artist, recording in the fast company of Brecker, Jerry Bergonzi, Jack DeJohnette, Dave Holland, John Patitucci, and Jeff “Tain” Watts. Another big break was the opportunity to replace the late Kenny Kirkland in Branford Marsalis’ quartet. Now 40, Calderazzo has released five recordings as leader, including his latest, a solo outing (Haiku). Noted Jazz Review, Calderazzo is “a pianist of technical precision, motivic invention, never-ending fascination with the instrument and artistic dedication.”

Eric Reavis © Andrea Canter

Coming late to jazz after listening to funk and rock, LA native Eric Revis got a degree in biology before seriously turning to music. Living in San Antonio, his friends and listening to Kind of Blue influenced his interest in jazz, and he switched from electric to acoustic bass. Moving to New Orleans to study with Ellis Marsalis, Revis was soon playing with Nicholas Payton, Brian Blade, Greg Tardy and Mark Turner. Later he joined Betty Carter’s Jazz Ahead program and relocated to New York, eventually joining forces with Branford Marsalis. His first release as a leader (Tales of the Stuttering Mime) was released in 2004 by Marsalis Music.

Columbia Records praises traps master Jeff “Tain” Watts for his “incomparable technique, sweltering sense of swing, and an extraordinary ability to imbue his music with majestic grace and elegant repose.” The Pittsburgh native followed in the footsteps of legendary hometown drummers Kenny Clarke and Art Blakey. Until age 17, he exclusively studied classical drumming, and even through college, he focused on timpani. Enrolling at Berklee, he studied jazz with Branford Marsalis, Greg Osby, and Marvin Smitty Smith. From that point, it was all jazz, and Watts had stints with Wynton Marsalis, McCoy Tyner, Betty Carter, Danilo Perez and many others. His latest recording as leader is MegaWatts (Sunnyside, 2004).

Branford Marsalis and quartet perform at Yoshi's (Jack London Square, Oakland) February 12-15; note that the first sets are already sold out! Tickets and information at www.yoshis.com