Perhaps the moment that said the most about saxophonist Branford Marsalis, whose quartet began a four-night run Thursday at Jazz Alley, was the moment he left the stage, disappeared and left the spotlight to his young drummer Justin Faulkner, who delivered an inspired, disciplined solo over the Thelonius Monk tune “Rhythm-a-Ning."
Even among the unsuspecting in the audience, Faulkner looked surprisingly young, a suspicion confirmed when Marsalis announced Faulkner turned 18 that day. The addition to the group of Faulkner, whom Marsalis discovered last year in Philadelphia while leading a jazz tutorial, is very telling of Marsalis' priorities these days.
Bringing jazz into the classroom with his “Marsalis Jams" program and nurturing young, promising talent — all while leading a quartet that aspires to be a standard-bearer of modern, straight-ahead jazz — is an ambitious agenda, but Marsalis seems to have accomplished that.
The young Faulkner is a substitute for the quartet's regular drummer, Jeff “Tain" Watts. The quartet, which also includes pianist Joey Calderazzo and bassist Eric Revis, has been together a remarkable 10 years and the work shows.
Even among the unsuspecting in the audience, Faulkner looked surprisingly young, a suspicion confirmed when Marsalis announced Faulkner turned 18 that day. The addition to the group of Faulkner, whom Marsalis discovered last year in Philadelphia while leading a jazz tutorial, is very telling of Marsalis' priorities these days.
Bringing jazz into the classroom with his “Marsalis Jams" program and nurturing young, promising talent — all while leading a quartet that aspires to be a standard-bearer of modern, straight-ahead jazz — is an ambitious agenda, but Marsalis seems to have accomplished that.
The young Faulkner is a substitute for the quartet's regular drummer, Jeff “Tain" Watts. The quartet, which also includes pianist Joey Calderazzo and bassist Eric Revis, has been together a remarkable 10 years and the work shows.
