MARSALIS IN WONDERLAND
Exactly a year before the COVID shutdown, the Branford Marsalis Quartet had just released their new album, The Secret Between the Shadow and the Soul. The new album finds the celebrated ensemble at a new peak, addressing a kaleidoscope of moods with inspiration and group commitment. This quartet that saxophonist Branford Marsalis has led for the past three decades has always been a model of daring, no-apologies artistry, of ever-widening musical horizons and deepening collective identity. With likeminded support from pianist Joey Calderazzo and bassist Eric Revis (each with 20 years of service to the group) and drummer Justin Faulkner (the “rookie” who has been aboard since 2009), the band has long been a model of how to sustain and enlarge a musical outlook that is both historically and stylistically inclusive. The Secret Between the Shadow and the Soul captures a new emphasis on both how to express and how to document the music.
This Thursday, October 28 at 8pm, one of the world’s best-known saxophonists and his quartet returns to The Soraya, with its astounding acoustics, exploring this album and more. His quartet represents what is great about jazz: great musical dialog, intellectual and emotional ideas and, of course, the highest level of improvisation one is going to hear. He has continued to challenge himself and explore new ideas. Marsalis demonstrates another degree of virtuosity — and the thing about it is that every one of these guys is a stellar musician. The rhythms are complex and provocative, the solos energetic as well as thoughtful. Check it out!
The quartet was formed in 1986, but many Americans first met Marsalis on the small screen when he served as Musical Director of The Tonight Show with Jay Leno. Growing up in the rich environment of New Orleans as the oldest son of the late pianist and educator Ellis Marsalis, Branford was drawn to music along with siblings Wynton, Delfeayo, and Jason. He is highly sought after as a collaborator on tour with celebrated musicians including Sting, the Grateful Dead, and Bruce Hornsby.
An Evening with Branford Marsalis
The Soraya Signature Series
Younes and Soraya Nazarian Center for the Performing Arts (The Soraya)
18111 Nordhoff Street, Northridge, CA 91330
Thursday, October 28 at 8pm
for tickets ($41 to $86), call (818) 677-3000 or visit The Soraya
