Bass clarinetist, composer, and bandleader Todd Marcus is one of the few jazz artists worldwide to focus exclusively on the bass clarinet as a solo instrument.
While use of bass clarinet in jazz typically tends to lean heavily towards avant-garde and free-jazz styles, Marcus’ playing presents the instrument with a modern straight-ahead jazz approach. His music swings hard with both fiery and introspective intensity but also maintains a strong lyrical sensibility.
Based in Baltimore, MD, Marcus actively leads small ensembles such as the Todd Marcus Quartet, Trio, and Duo as well as his nonet - The Todd Marcus Jazz Orchestra which features his compositions and arrangements for six horns, piano, bass, and drums.
Self taught in jazz theory and composition, Marcus’ compositions draw largely on straight-ahead jazz and classical influences but over recent years have also increasingly explored the Middle-Eastern sounds from his Egyptian-American heritage. His work includes international performances, clinics, and radio play and he has worked with other jazz artists such as Bennie Maupin, Don Byron, Larry Willis, Ralph Peterson, Odean Pope, Tim Warfield, Sean Jones, George Colligan, Orrin Evans, Joel Frahm, Xavier Davis, Mike Formanek, and Gary Thomas.
Marcus was also a featured guest at the 1st World Bass Clarinet Convention in Rotterdam, Holland where his work was recognized for both his compositions and unique solo voice.
Marcus balances his music career by running Newborn Holistic Ministries, a nonprofit addressing poverty related issues in his Baltimore, Maryland neighborhood. The organization runs an art program providing children and adults with alternatives to drugs and violence in the community, a recovery program for women overcoming drug addiction and homelessness, and has achieved significant community revitalization by renovating abandoned buildings and vacant lots.
Awards
2014 Baker Artist Award winner
“Mr. Marcus is probably the most inventive bass clarinetist working in straight-ahead jazz today…[and] lives in
Baltimore, where he is a guiding light on the city’s jazz scene who doubles as an activist and organizer.”
—- New York Times, August 2017
"This is music that is smart, heartfelt and alive with ardent conviction."
—- The New York City Jazz Record, January 2016
"Marcus...is clearly what the jazz polls call a "rising star" - as a composer-arranger and as a bass clarinetist. In
Marcus' hands, the bass clarinet is no longer a specialty instrument. Its unique timbral richness becomes
incisive, fully capable of forceful expression."
JazzTimes, August 2015
"Baltimore-based Todd Marcus, the virtuoso bass clarinetist and composer, is a master of straight-ahead jazz.”
Baltimore Sun, January 2014
Voted a Rising Star in the 2017, 2016, 2015, 2014 & 2013 Annual Critics Poll for “clarinet” and “miscellaneous
instrument” categories.
Downbeat Magazine
Primary Instrument
Clarinet, bass
Location
Baltimore
Willing to teach
Advanced only
Credentials/Background
addition to feature performances, the Todd Marcus ensembles are all also available for clinics, workshops, and masterclasses. These education programs can be tailored for children or adults and both musicians and nonmusicians alike. These sessions are designed to expose participants to jazz and cultivate understanding and appreciation for the music. Todd Marcus education projects can be offered as one-time sessions or as a series of sequential events or residencies. Common topics featured include how to listen to jazz, coaching on ensemble and solo performing and improvisation, incorporation of different styles of music, and discussion of how to pursue a career as a professional jazz musician.
Clinic/Workshop Information
Read more
Primary Instrument
Clarinet, bass
Location
Baltimore
Willing to teach
Advanced only
Credentials/Background
addition to feature performances, the Todd Marcus ensembles are all also available for clinics, workshops, and masterclasses. These education programs can be tailored for children or adults and both musicians and nonmusicians alike. These sessions are designed to expose participants to jazz and cultivate understanding and appreciation for the music. Todd Marcus education projects can be offered as one-time sessions or as a series of sequential events or residencies. Common topics featured include how to listen to jazz, coaching on ensemble and solo performing and improvisation, incorporation of different styles of music, and discussion of how to pursue a career as a professional jazz musician.
Clinic/Workshop Information
The Todd Marcus Jazz Orchestra, Quartet, Trio, or Duo are all available for clinics with participants ranging from middle school to college level participants.
Clinics by Todd Marcus ensembles utilize an approach designed to expose participants to jazz through listening, discussion and application of improvisation, sectional coaching, and music business education. Topics include:
1. Listening
- exposure to classic jazz recordings played as participants arrive to provide exposure of the music and initiate conversations about key musicians
2. Performance
- clinic sessions open with a live performance by the specified Todd Marcus ensemble with a selection that allows students to observe live ensemble and solo playing and the material participants will in turn learn work to perform themselves
3. Rehearsal of selection/music business education
- following the ensemble’s performance, participants are provided with sheet music and rehearse the selection
- as necessary participants breakout into smaller groups by instruments for coaching on their parts by the respective instrumentalist from within the Todd Marcus Jazz ensemble to provide specialized instruction.
- as applicable on selected clinics, music business will be discussed (in place of rehearsal). This type of education is critical information yet regularly lacking for participants considering careers in music. Subjects include self-marketing, working with private venues, engaging audiences, accounting practices, grant writing, and obtaining health insurance.
4. Improvisation study
- members of the ensemble coach participants on improvisation as appropriate to the skill level of the participants. Content focuses on harmony, rhythm, time, and theory. Handouts are also provided for participants to utilize in home practice.
5. Participants performance
- participants perform selected work again to incorporate the sectional, improvisation coaching, and soloing elements covered.
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