from The Seattle Times:
Branford Marsalis is one of the biggest names in jazz, a midcareer master who’s maintained an enviable level of visibility for nearly three decades.
But the sardonic tenor and soprano saxophonist isn’t much impressed by personal accolades. As a musician, he’s devoted to a group concept that puts a premium on free-flowing interaction, a powerfully kinetic sound marked by breakneck tempo shifts and odd meters. It’s the kind of approach that can only be developed through long hours on the bandstand--and his band has clearly put in the time.
Marsalis’ quartet opens a four-night run at Jazz Alley on Thursday.
“The American ethos praises the individual,” says Marsalis, 47, from his home in Durham, N.C. “In music it translates into an obsession with being a genius, inventing a style, all those things. I’ve always been blessed with the marvelous gift of not being too ambitious. The hard part is to get everyone to embrace the idea that the music’s not about them. We’re just a bunch of conduits.”
Branford Marsalis is one of the biggest names in jazz, a midcareer master who’s maintained an enviable level of visibility for nearly three decades.
But the sardonic tenor and soprano saxophonist isn’t much impressed by personal accolades. As a musician, he’s devoted to a group concept that puts a premium on free-flowing interaction, a powerfully kinetic sound marked by breakneck tempo shifts and odd meters. It’s the kind of approach that can only be developed through long hours on the bandstand--and his band has clearly put in the time.
Marsalis’ quartet opens a four-night run at Jazz Alley on Thursday.
“The American ethos praises the individual,” says Marsalis, 47, from his home in Durham, N.C. “In music it translates into an obsession with being a genius, inventing a style, all those things. I’ve always been blessed with the marvelous gift of not being too ambitious. The hard part is to get everyone to embrace the idea that the music’s not about them. We’re just a bunch of conduits.”
