Branford Marsalis Quartet at The Triple Door

Branford Marsalis Quartet
The Triple Door
Seattle, WA
December 7, 2024

Gone are the days when the Branford Marsalis Quartet would take residence at Seattle's iconic Jazz Alley, and play nine sets over six nights—a true high point of the annual jazz calendar in the Emerald City. Of course Marsalis is a man with many irons in the fire, thus curtailing to a degree, the frequency of the quartet's appearances on the west coast. It began with the elder Marsalis' original quartet with Jeff "Tain" Watts, Robert Hurst and the late, great Kenny Kirkland, and continued with Joey Calderazzo and Eric Revis joining alongside Watts. As the 2000s came to a close, Watts left and was replaced by the then young upstart, Justin Faulkner.

Calderazzo and Revis brought a different vibe to the collective spirit of the quartet, a relationship that now exceeds a quarter century. Faulkner has grown into one of the most influential and dynamic drummers in the genre, all leaving the bandleader with his trademark ebullience in plain view. No matter what Marsalis decides on in terms of a set list, he knows the constant involved is a sensationally talented band with sound focus and a group mind that has stood up to the rigors, on the road, of Father Time.

The past three appearances of the BM4 in Seattle have been at The Triple Door, a smallish vaudeville era theater turned into a nightclub, with an adjoining bar dubbed the Musiquarium due to a two-thousand-gallon aquarium in the room. The previous appearance was in February of 2019, with vocalist Kurt Elling featured. The "third door" is the source of the club's culinary fare, the widely acclaimed Asian-fusion restaurant, Wild Ginger. The building went through a long period as a porn house and peep show, before the city's tenderloin district was transformed by the construction of Benaroya Hall, the home of the Seattle Symphony, directly across Union Street from "The Door." The club hosts jazz, burlesque and an assortment of indie bands from multiple genres. The quartet traveled with its own sound engineer, someone more acquainted with the nuance of jazz sound management. That would prove to be a wise decision, as his work, and the wonderful acoustics of the room, connected the musicians and the audience seamlessly throughout the weekend's four-set engagement.

The house was full for the Friday-night late set, with the quartet opening in vamp mode and an extended interpretation of Keith Jarrett's "Spiral Dance." From the outset, it was plain that the quartet, now five years removed from their last recording, was in sterling form, with Marsalis' uniquely rhythmic approach on tenor front and center. Calderazzo, one of the true standard bearers of modern jazz piano, worked in beautiful synchronization with the pulling bottom end provided by Revis and the thundering presence of Faulkner. The pieces were all still there, coming together with a splendid precision and grace that can only be accrued over time. As forementioned, the sound in the room was superb in every way.

The quartet has a marvelous ability to express the entirety of the jazz tradition with a sort of explorative modernism, encapsulated by the evening's second offering, a wide open version of the 1928 Fred Fisher tune, "There Ain't No Sweet Man That's Worth The Salt Of My Tears." Marsalis' long opening solo was supported in trio mode, with Calderazzo sitting out the first few verses. Revis' bass solo brought the audience to a collective frenzy with its stunning technical brilliance and harmonic precision.

The quartet dropped into the Jarrett ballad "Blossom," next, another dive into the pianist's compositions from his European quartet of the 1970s, and specifically from the album Belonging (ECM, 1974). During the relative quiet of Revis' opening bass solo, the hum of the room grew progressively quieter, with the clinking of glasses and dishes somehow descending into a hushed silence to allow Calederazzo's offering to rise and Marsalis' deep, resonant melodic work to engage the room in full embrace.

The bandleader's switchover to soprano saxophone was an immersion into Thelonious Monk's "52nd Street Theme," a foundational bebop tune written loosely on rhythm changes in C, and widely interpreted by a plethora of bebop pioneers save the master Monk himself. Marsalis is one of a handful of soprano players one might put in an elite category on the instrument, along with contemporaries Wayne Shorter and John Coltrane. His beautiful tone and whimsical melodicism put into context that we were in the presence of something with great connectivity to the historic jazz masters of the past, while gaining an understanding of the ever-enduring qualities that make this art form the most original and identifiable form of Black American expressionism that has been shared on a global scale. It was all right there in front of us.

An homage of sorts was next, taking on Kenny Kirkland's "Steepian Faith," a tune requiring an almost orchestral approach from pianist Calderazzo. His bouncy solo led by a hammer-like left hand and Marsalis' snappy, daringly articulated choruses were interrupted by a minor casualty, with Revis having to disengage momentarily due to cramping in his right arm and hand. In modern times, bassists cannot readily travel with their valuable instruments, having to seek out a different instrument at every tour stop. While one can never be sure that is the culprit, logic sees it as an ultimate contributor. Nevertheless, the bassist was able to recover and jump into the evening's finale, a take on the Hoagy Carmichael classic, "Cheek to Cheek." Revis' subtle, swinging bass line worked in beautiful unison with Faulkner's resonant brush work to blaze a trail for Calerazzo's flourishing solo, and Marsalis' return to the tenor.

Marsalis' switch from soprano to tenor brought to mind the subtle and not-so-subtle differences to his playing on each. Together, it creates a tapestry of original sound that counts the New Orleans-born saxophonist as one of the best to ever come down the pike. With his recent move back to the Crescent City and his upcoming relationship with Blue Note on the horizon, it would seem that the international jazz scene is about to experience Marsalis and his now historic quartet in generous portions moving forward. Let's hope that includes ample time on tour.

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