Marsalis, Wynton
Marsalis Branford, *26th August 1960 Braux Bridge (Louisiana), American saxofonist (alto, soprano, tenor) and jazz composer. He comes from a well-known family of jazz musicians. In 1978 he took clarinet lessons from A. Batiste at Southern University in Baton Rouge, and then at Berklee School of Music in Boston (1979–81). In 1981 he began working with A. Blakeley’s Jazz Messengers, and later with his brother Wynton’s band. Since then, his main instruments have been the soprano and tenor saxophone. In 1983, together with Wynton, he took part in H. Hancock’s concert tour and performed (with his brother’s band) at the Jazz Jamboree in Warsaw. That same year, he recorded the album Decoy with M. Davis and released his debut album Scenes in the City. In 1985 he began his ongoing collaboration with pop star Sting (album Bring on the Night, 1986) and went on an eight-month tour with him. In 1986, together with H. Hancock’s band, he performed at the Jazz Jamboree in Poland. In 1988 he performed again with Sting (album Nothing Like the Sun); Marsalis’ solo in the song Englishman in New York went down in history. In 1987 he recorded another album (Random Abstract), and in 1988 he collaborated with the director S. Lee on the film Do the Right Thing. From 1992 to 1995 he was the leader of a band performing on NBC’s Tonight Show. In 1994 he set up the group Buckshot LeFonque, playing jazz with elements of hip-hop. In the 1990s he recorded under his own name, collaborating with T. Blanchard, B. Fleck, R. Hargrove and his brother Wynton, among others. Since 1996, he has been active as an academic teacher, lecturing at universities in Michigan, San Francisco, and North Carolina. Since 1986, he has led the Branford Marsalis Quartet, which most fully reflects his musical interests and style. The lineup has changed over the years; the current members are J. Caderazzo (piano), E. Revis (double bass) and J. Faulkner (drums). The group has recorded several studio and live albums that have been highly praised by critics, including Contemporary Jazz (2000 – Grammy Award), Braggtown (2006), Upward Spiral (with vocalist K. Elling, 2016), and The Secret Between the Shadow and the Soul (2019). Material from these albums has been presented in Poland; Marsalis has also appeared as a guest on two albums by A.M. Jopek (ID, 2008; Ulotne, 2018).
Branford Marsalis is one of the most recognisable musicians on the contemporary jazz scene. His style, sometimes described as neoclassical, draws on the finest jazz traditions – L. Young, the mid-1960s aesthetic of M. Davis, as well as S. Rollins, J. Coltrane, and W. Shorter. Unlike his brother Wynton, a declared conservative, he does not confine himself to a single convention; he continuously seeks original forms of expression, developing and recombining the most vital elements of jazz. Through his use of sophisticated melody, harmony, texture, complex rhythms, and accents (especially in improvised passages), as well as the full range of tonal and articulatory possibilities of the saxophone, he effectively breaks the post-bop mould, bringing freshness and energy to the music. He is one of the few jazz artists who has successfully crossed over into pop music, notably through collaborations with Sting and the Grateful Dead.