Branford Marsalis

Branford Marsalis – born in Breaux Bridge, Louisiana on August 26, 1960 - is an American composer, bandleader and saxophonist who is well known in both jazz and classical circles but mostly for his work with his own ensemble the Branford Marsalis Quartet. He was born in 1960 and after growing up as part of a large musical family in Louisiana attended Berklee College of Music in Boston, Massachusetts. While still a student at the college, Marsalis honed his performing skills by touring Europe in a band led by the legendary drummer Art Blakey. During this period his musical experience was further enhanced by appearing with Lionel Hampton and Clark Terry and later on by joining his brother Wynton in Blakey's famous Jazz Messengers. In 1985, he was drafted into a new band formed by Sting and became a regular alongside Omar Hakim, Darryl Jones and Kenny Kirkland forming the backbone of Sting's solo project. During his varied career, Marsalis has gone on to become one of the most respected musicians of his generation who is equally at home playing playing jazz, rock or classical music. His sax playing has been featured on more than 60 albums by artists as diverse as Grateful Dead, Harry Connick Jr., Angelique Kidjo and Bruce Hornsby whilst his own recording repertoire as a bandleader extends to more than 30 recorded works. He made his debut as a leader on Fathers & Sons (1982), which featured his brother Wynton Marsalis, his father Ellis Marsalis, and saxophonist Von Freeman and his son Chico Freeman. His catalog included albums such as Random Abstract (1988), The Beautyful Ones Are Not Yet Born (1991), Footsteps of Our Fathers (2002), Romances for Saxophone (2013), and The Secret Between the Shadow and the Soul (2019). Branford Marsalis composed the soundtrack to the Netflix motion picture Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom, released in December 2020.

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