Branford Marsalis
Encyclopedia
Branford Marsalis is an American
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...

 saxophonist, composer
Composer
A composer is a person who creates music, either by musical notation or oral tradition, for interpretation and performance, or through direct manipulation of sonic material through electronic media...

 and bandleader
Bandleader
A bandleader is the leader of a band of musicians. The term is most commonly, though not exclusively, used with a group that plays popular music as a small combo or a big band, such as one which plays jazz, blues, rhythm and blues or rock and roll music....

. While primarily known for his work in jazz
Jazz
Jazz is a musical style that originated at the beginning of the 20th century in African American communities in the Southern United States. It was born out of a mix of African and European music traditions. From its early development until the present, jazz has incorporated music from 19th and 20th...

 as the leader of the Branford Marsalis Quartet
Branford Marsalis Quartet
-Current members:*Branford Marsalis – saxophones*Joey Calderazzo - piano*Eric Revis - bass*Justin Faulkner - Drums -Past members:*Jeff "Tain" Watts - Drums *Kenny Kirkland - Piano *Robert Hurst - Bass...

, he also performs frequently as a soloist with classical ensembles and has led the group Buckshot LeFonque
Buckshot LeFonque
Buckshot LeFonque was a musical group project of Branford Marsalis. The name Buckshot LeFonque was a pseudonym used by jazz saxophonist Julian "Cannonball" Adderley for contractual reasons on the album Here Comes Louis Smith...

.

Biography

Marsalis was born in Breaux Bridge, Louisiana
Breaux Bridge, Louisiana
Breaux Bridge is a city in St. Martin Parish, Louisiana, United States. The population is 8,139 as of the 2010 census. It is part of the Lafayette Metropolitan Statistical Area....

. His brothers Jason Marsalis
Jason Marsalis
-External links:* from Basin Street Records* from Jazzweekly.com...

, Wynton Marsalis
Wynton Marsalis
Wynton Learson Marsalis is a trumpeter, composer, bandleader, music educator, and Artistic Director of Jazz at Lincoln Center. Marsalis has promoted the appreciation of classical and jazz music often to young audiences...

, Ellis Marsalis III, and Delfeayo Marsalis
Delfeayo Marsalis
Delfeayo Marsalis is an American jazz trombonist and record producer.He is a member of the Marsalis family of jazz musicians: father Ellis Marsalis, Jr. , and brothers Branford Marsalis , Wynton Marsalis , and Jason Marsalis...

, and father Ellis Marsalis, Jr.
Ellis Marsalis, Jr.
Ellis Marsalis is an American musician. He can usually be seen performing on Fridays at Snug Harbor jazz bistro in New Orleans.- Life and career :...

 are also jazz musicians.

In the summer of 1980, while still a Berklee College of Music
Berklee College of Music
Berklee College of Music, located in Boston, Massachusetts, is the largest independent college of contemporary music in the world. Known primarily as a school for jazz, rock and popular music, it also offers college-level courses in a wide range of contemporary and historic styles, including hip...

 student, Marsalis toured Europe playing alto and baritone saxophone
Baritone saxophone
The baritone saxophone, often called "bari sax" , is one of the largest and lowest pitched members of the saxophone family. It was invented by Adolphe Sax. The baritone is distinguished from smaller sizes of saxophone by the extra loop near its mouthpiece...

 in a large ensemble led by drummer Art Blakey
Art Blakey
Arthur "Art" Blakey , known later as Abdullah Ibn Buhaina, was an American Grammy Award-winning jazz drummer and bandleader. He was a member of the Ahmadiyya Muslim Community....

. Other big band
Big band
A big band is a type of musical ensemble associated with jazz and the Swing Era typically consisting of rhythm, brass, and woodwind instruments totaling approximately twelve to twenty-five musicians...

 experience with Lionel Hampton
Lionel Hampton
Lionel Leo Hampton was an American jazz vibraphonist, pianist, percussionist, bandleader and actor. Like Red Norvo, he was one of the first jazz vibraphone players. Hampton ranks among the great names in jazz history, having worked with a who's who of jazz musicians, from Benny Goodman and Buddy...

 and Clark Terry
Clark Terry
Clark Terry is an American swing and bop trumpeter, a pioneer of the fluegelhorn in jazz, educator, NEA Jazz Masters inductee, and recipient of the 2010 Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award...

 followed over the next year, and by the end of 1981 Marsalis, on alto saxophone
Alto saxophone
The alto saxophone is a member of the saxophone family of woodwind instruments invented by Belgian instrument designer Adolphe Sax in 1841. It is smaller than the tenor but larger than the soprano, and is the type most used in classical compositions...

, had joined his brother Wynton in Blakey’s Jazz Messengers. Other performances with his brother, including a 1981 Japan
Japan
Japan is an island nation in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean, it lies to the east of the Sea of Japan, China, North Korea, South Korea and Russia, stretching from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea and Taiwan in the south...

ese tour with Herbie Hancock
Herbie Hancock
Herbert Jeffrey "Herbie" Hancock is an American pianist, bandleader and composer. As part of Miles Davis's "second great quintet," Hancock helped to redefine the role of a jazz rhythm section and was one of the primary architects of the "post-bop" sound...

, led to the formation of his brother Wynton’s first quintet
Quintet
A quintet is a group containing five members.It is commonly associated with musical groups, such as a string quintet, or a group of five singers, but can be applied to any situation where five similar or related objects are considered a single unit....

, where Marsalis shifted his emphasis to soprano and tenor saxophones. He continued to work with Wynton until 1985, a period that also saw the release of his own first recording, Scenes in the City, as well as guest appearances with other artists including Miles Davis
Miles Davis
Miles Dewey Davis III was an American jazz musician, trumpeter, bandleader, and composer. Widely considered one of the most influential musicians of the 20th century, Miles Davis was, with his musical groups, at the forefront of several major developments in jazz music, including bebop, cool jazz,...

 and Dizzy Gillespie
Dizzy Gillespie
John Birks "Dizzy" Gillespie was an American jazz trumpet player, bandleader, singer, and composer dubbed "the sound of surprise".Together with Charlie Parker, he was a major figure in the development of bebop and modern jazz...

.

In 1985 he joined Sting, singer and bassist of pop band The Police
The Police
The Police were an English rock band formed in London in 1977. For the vast majority of their history, the band consisted of Sting , Andy Summers and Stewart Copeland...

, on his first solo project, The Dream of the Blue Turtles
The Dream of the Blue Turtles
The Dream of the Blue Turtles is the first solo album by British pop singer-songwriter Sting, released in the United States on 1 June 1985, a year after The Police had unofficially disbanded...

, alongside notable jazz and session musicians Omar Hakim
Omar Hakim
Omar Hakim is an American jazz, jazz fusion and pop music drummer.Hakim credits jazz vibraphonist Mike Mainieri with giving him his first break in 1980; Hakim appeared in a video with Mainieri called The Jazz Life and began working with singer Carly Simon through Mainieri...

 on drums, Darryl Jones
Darryl Jones
Darryl Jones , also known as "The Munch", is an American bass guitarist. Jones began his notable career as a session musician, where he gained the experience and confidence to play with some of the most highly regarded recording artists, in jazz, blues, and rock music...

 on the bass and Kenny Kirkland
Kenny Kirkland
Kenneth David “Kenny” Kirkland was an American pianist/keyboardist. He is most often associated with Sting, Branford Marsalis, Wynton Marsalis, and Kenny Garrett....

 on keyboards. He became a regular in Sting's line-up both in the studio and live up until the release of Brand New Day' in 1999.

In 1994, Marsalis appeared on the Red Hot Organization
Red Hot Organization
Red Hot Organization is a not-for-profit, 501 3, international organization dedicated to fighting AIDS through pop culture.Since its inception in 1989, over 400 artists, producers and directors have contributed to over 15 compilation albums, related television programs and media events to raise...

's compilation CD, Stolen Moments: Red Hot + Cool. The album, meant to raise awareness of the AIDS epidemic in African American society was named "Album of the Year" by Time Magazine.

In 1988, Marsalis co-starred in Spike Lee's movie, "School Daze," also rendering several horn-blowing interludes for the music in the film. His witty comments have pegged him to many memorable one-liners in the film.

From 1992 - 1995 Branford was the leader of the Tonight Show Band, on The Tonight Show with Jay Leno
The Tonight Show with Jay Leno
The Tonight Show with Jay Leno is an American late-night talk show hosted by Jay Leno that initially aired from May 25, 1992 to May 29, 2009, and resumed production on March 1, 2010. The fourth incarnation of the Tonight Show franchise made its debut on May 25, 1992, three days following Johnny...

. Initially he declined the offer but later reconsidered and accepted the position. He was succeeded as band leader by guitarist Kevin Eubanks.

Unfortunately, with the decline of live music venues and with dwindling jazz audiences, session work has been gradually replaced with computer-based synthesized music. As a result, while Marsalis would release a second Buckshot LeFonque
Buckshot LeFonque
Buckshot LeFonque was a musical group project of Branford Marsalis. The name Buckshot LeFonque was a pseudonym used by jazz saxophonist Julian "Cannonball" Adderley for contractual reasons on the album Here Comes Louis Smith...

 recording in 1997, his primary focus since 1996 has been on his own quartet, classical performance and education.

With original member Jeff "Tain" Watts still on drums, bassist Eric Revis
Eric Revis
Eric Revis is a jazz bassist and composer. Revis came to prominence as a jazz bassist with the legendary Betty Carter in the mid-1990s and since 1997 has been a solid member of Branford Marsalis's ensemble...

 replaced Hurst in 1997, while pianist Joey Calderazzo
Joey Calderazzo
Joey Calderazzo is a jazz pianist.Inspired by a friend who lived next door, Calderazzo began his piano studies at age seven. He progressed rapidly in a house where other family members were also playing drums and singing, and at 14 became the youngest member of brother Gene Calderazzo's rock band...

 became a member after Kirkland’s death the following year. The Branford Marsalis Quartet
Branford Marsalis Quartet
-Current members:*Branford Marsalis – saxophones*Joey Calderazzo - piano*Eric Revis - bass*Justin Faulkner - Drums -Past members:*Jeff "Tain" Watts - Drums *Kenny Kirkland - Piano *Robert Hurst - Bass...

 has toured and recorded extensively, receiving a Grammy in 2001 for its album Contemporary Jazz. After a two-decade association with Columbia Records
Columbia Records
Columbia Records is an American record label, owned by Japan's Sony Music Entertainment, operating under the Columbia Music Group with Aware Records. It was founded in 1888, evolving from an earlier enterprise, the American Graphophone Company — successor to the Volta Graphophone Company...

, where he served as Creative Consultant
Creative consultant
Creative consultant is a credit that has - particularly in the past - been given to screenwriters who have “doctored” a movie screenplay. It is often given by producers in lieu of official credit. Those given this credit in the television field work closely with an Executive Producer, Head...

 and producer for jazz recordings between 1997 and 2001, Marsalis founded his own Marsalis Music
Marsalis Music
Marsalis Music is a Cambridge, Massachusetts-based record label founded in 2002 by saxophonist Branford Marsalis, one of the most celebrated jazz musicians of the past 30 years. The label was formed to allow Marsalis and other musicians to document their music free of the commercial constraints...

 label in 2002. With Marsalis as the label’s primary producer, Marsalis Music
Marsalis Music
Marsalis Music is a Cambridge, Massachusetts-based record label founded in 2002 by saxophonist Branford Marsalis, one of the most celebrated jazz musicians of the past 30 years. The label was formed to allow Marsalis and other musicians to document their music free of the commercial constraints...

 has issued audio and video discs that feature Marsalis’ quartet, the instrumental music of Harry Connick, Jr.
Harry Connick, Jr.
Joseph Harry Fowler Connick, Jr. is an American singer, big-band leader/conductor, pianist, actor, and composer. He has sold over 25 million albums worldwide. Connick is ranked among the top 60 best-selling male artists in the United States by the Recording Industry Association of America, with...

, new artists Miguel Zenón
Miguel Zenon
Miguel Zenón is an alto saxophonist, composer and bandleader.-Biography:Miguel Zenón was born in San Juan, Puerto Rico. While studying at the Escuela Libre de Musica in San Juan, he won a scholarship to the “Berklee in Puerto Rico” program of the Berklee College of Music and a scholarship to...

 and Doug Wamble
Doug Wamble
Doug Wamble is a North American vocalist, guitarist, and composer.-Biography:...

, and (under the Honors Series logo) veterans Alvin Batiste
Alvin Batiste
Alvin Batiste was an avant garde jazz clarinetist born in New Orleans, Louisiana. He taught at his own jazz institute at Southern University in Baton Rouge...

, Michael Carvin
Michael Carvin
Michael W. Carvin is an American jazz drummer. He has performed with Mickey Bass, Charles Davis, Freddie Hubbard, B. B. King, Jackie McLean, Pharoah Sanders, Lonnie Liston Smith, and Clive Stevens.- Notes :...

, Jimmy Cobb
Jimmy Cobb
-External links:* - includes full discography* * * * * * *...

 and Bob French
Bob French
Robert "Bob" French is a United States jazz drummer and a former radio show host at WWOZ, from New Orleans, Louisiana.French has led The Tuxedo Jazz Band since 1977. -Career:As a child French took drumming lessons from Louis Barbarin...

. Claudia Acuña
Claudia Acuña
Claudia Acuña is a Chilean vocalist. Born in Santiago and raised in Concepcion, she was inspired as a child to perform a variety of music, including folk, pop and opera, by Victor Jara and Violetta Parra. Her attention turned to American popular music and jazz at the age of 15, when she first...

 has also been signed by the label, with a disc forthcoming.

Marsalis placed greater emphasis on classical music
Classical music
Classical music is the art music produced in, or rooted in, the traditions of Western liturgical and secular music, encompassing a broad period from roughly the 11th century to present times...

 since the 2001 release of his album Creation. Performances with symphony orchestras and chamber ensembles worldwide have become a significant part of his itinerary, with his most intense period of classical playing scheduled for October and November 2008, when Marsalis tours the United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...

 with Philarmonia Brasileira.

Marsalis has also become involved in education at the university level, with appointments at Michigan State (1996–2000), San Francisco State (2000–2002) and North Carolina Central University
North Carolina Central University
North Carolina Central University is a public historically black university in the University of North Carolina system, located in Durham, North Carolina, offering programs at the baccalaureate, master’s, professional and doctoral levels....

 (2005–present). After Hurricane Katrina
Hurricane Katrina
Hurricane Katrina of the 2005 Atlantic hurricane season was a powerful Atlantic hurricane. It is the costliest natural disaster, as well as one of the five deadliest hurricanes, in the history of the United States. Among recorded Atlantic hurricanes, it was the sixth strongest overall...

 devastated New Orleans in 2005, Marsalis and Harry Connick, Jr.
Harry Connick, Jr.
Joseph Harry Fowler Connick, Jr. is an American singer, big-band leader/conductor, pianist, actor, and composer. He has sold over 25 million albums worldwide. Connick is ranked among the top 60 best-selling male artists in the United States by the Recording Industry Association of America, with...

 created the concept of a Musicians’ Village in the city’s Upper Ninth Ward, with the Ellis Marsalis
Ellis Marsalis
Ellis Marsalis is the name of two people, father and son:*Ellis Marsalis, Sr., New Orleans, Louisiana businessman*Ellis Marsalis, Jr., jazz pianist...

 Center for Music as the Village’s centerpiece. This project, undertaken by New Orleans Area Habitat for Humanity with Marsalis’ and Connick’s active participation, has proven to be one of the most successful recovery efforts in the region, and has already provided dozens of musicians of modest means with the opportunity to own decent, affordable housing.

Marsalis was nominated for and won a 2010 Drama Desk Award
Drama Desk Award
The Drama Desk Awards, which are given annually in a number of categories, are the only major New York theater honors for which productions on Broadway, Off-Broadway, Off-Off-Broadway compete against each other in the same category...

 in the category "Outstanding Music in a Play" and was also nominated for a 2010 Tony Award
Tony Award
The Antoinette Perry Award for Excellence in Theatre, more commonly known as a Tony Award, recognizes achievement in live Broadway theatre. The awards are presented by the American Theatre Wing and The Broadway League at an annual ceremony in New York City. The awards are given for Broadway...

 in the category of "Best Original Score (Music and/or Lyrics) Written for the Theatre" for his participation in the Broadway revival of August Wilson
August Wilson
August Wilson was an American playwright whose work included a series of ten plays, The Pittsburgh Cycle, for which he received two Pulitzer Prizes for Drama...

's "Fences
Fences
Fences is a 1983 play by American playwright August Wilson. Set in the 1950s, it is the sixth in Wilson's ten-part Pittsburgh Cycle. Like all of the Pittsburgh plays, Fences explores the evolving African-American experience and examines race relations, among other themes...

."

Marsalis, with his father and brothers, are group recipients of the 2011 NEA Jazz Masters Award
NEA Jazz Masters
The National Endowment for the Arts , every year honors up to seven jazz musicians with Jazz Master Awards. The National Endowment for the Arts Jazz Masters Fellowships are the highest honors that the United States bestows upon jazz musicians...

.

In June 2011, after working together for over 10 years in a band setting, Branford Marsalis and Joey Calderazzo released their first duo album titled Songs of Mirth and Melancholy, on Branford's Marsalis Music label. Their world premiere performance was on June 29, 2011 in Koerner Hall at the 2011 TD Toronto Jazz Festival.

Instruments & Setup

  • Soprano: Selmer
    Selmer
    Selmer can refer to:People*Elisabeth Schweigaard Selmer, Norwegian judge and politician*Ernst S. Selmer, Norwegian mathematician*Ernst W. Selmer, Norwegian phoneticist*Christian August Selmer, Norwegian lawyer and statesmanOther...

     Mark VI with a Selmer
    Selmer
    Selmer can refer to:People*Elisabeth Schweigaard Selmer, Norwegian judge and politician*Ernst S. Selmer, Norwegian mathematician*Ernst W. Selmer, Norwegian phoneticist*Christian August Selmer, Norwegian lawyer and statesmanOther...

     D mouthpiece and Vandoren
    Vandoren
    Vandoren is a well known manufacturer of mouthpieces and reeds for clarinet and saxophone. Vandoren's products are used by professionals and amateurs around the world.-History:...

     V12 reeds
    Reed (instrument)
    A reed is a thin strip of material which vibrates to produce a sound on a musical instrument. The reeds of most Woodwind instruments are made from Arundo donax or synthetic material; tuned reeds are made of metal or synthetics.-Single reeds:Single reeds are used on the mouthpieces of clarinets...

  • Alto: Cannonball
    Cannonball Musical Instruments
    Cannonball Musical Instruments is a manufacturer of saxophones, clarinets, trumpets, and musical instrument accessories. The company was founded in 1996 by musicians Tevis and Sheryl Laukat, and is based in Sandy, Utah...

     Vintage Series (model AV/LG-L) with a Selmer
    Selmer
    Selmer can refer to:People*Elisabeth Schweigaard Selmer, Norwegian judge and politician*Ernst S. Selmer, Norwegian mathematician*Ernst W. Selmer, Norwegian phoneticist*Christian August Selmer, Norwegian lawyer and statesmanOther...

     Classic C* mouthpiece and Vandoren
    Vandoren
    Vandoren is a well known manufacturer of mouthpieces and reeds for clarinet and saxophone. Vandoren's products are used by professionals and amateurs around the world.-History:...

     #5 reeds
    Reed (instrument)
    A reed is a thin strip of material which vibrates to produce a sound on a musical instrument. The reeds of most Woodwind instruments are made from Arundo donax or synthetic material; tuned reeds are made of metal or synthetics.-Single reeds:Single reeds are used on the mouthpieces of clarinets...

  • Tenor: Selmer
    Selmer
    Selmer can refer to:People*Elisabeth Schweigaard Selmer, Norwegian judge and politician*Ernst S. Selmer, Norwegian mathematician*Ernst W. Selmer, Norwegian phoneticist*Christian August Selmer, Norwegian lawyer and statesmanOther...

     Mark VI/ Super Balanced Action with a Fred Lebayle size 8 mouthpiece and a 3.5 Alexander Superial Reeds
    Reed (instrument)
    A reed is a thin strip of material which vibrates to produce a sound on a musical instrument. The reeds of most Woodwind instruments are made from Arundo donax or synthetic material; tuned reeds are made of metal or synthetics.-Single reeds:Single reeds are used on the mouthpieces of clarinets...

     (7.0)

Other appearances

  • Marsalis performed alongside Sting and Phil Collins
    Phil Collins
    Philip David Charles "Phil" Collins, LVO is an English singer-songwriter, drummer, pianist and actor best known as a drummer and vocalist for British progressive rock group Genesis and as a solo artist....

     at the London Live Aid
    Live Aid
    Live Aid was a dual-venue concert that was held on 13 July 1985. The event was organized by Bob Geldof and Midge Ure to raise funds for relief of the ongoing Ethiopian famine. Billed as the "global jukebox", the event was held simultaneously in Wembley Stadium in London, England, United Kingdom ...

     concert in Wembley Stadium on June 13, 1985.
  • Featured as saxophonist on "Fight the Power
    Fight the Power
    "Fight the Power" is a single by American hip hop group Public Enemy. First released on the soundtrack for the film 1989 Do the Right Thing, a different version was released on the group's third studio album, Fear of a Black Planet . The single reached number one on Hot Rap Singles and number 20 on...

    " (1989) by Public Enemy.
  • Wait Wait... Don't Tell Me!
    Wait Wait... Don't Tell Me!
    Wait Wait... Don't Tell Me! is an hour-long weekly radio news panel game show produced by Chicago Public Radio and National Public Radio. It is distributed by NPR in the United States, internationally on NPR Worldwide and on the Internet via podcast, and typically broadcast on weekends by member...

     Guest on the "Not My Job" section of the show. On this performance he claimed the saxophone was the sexiest instrument, then insults the accordion. In a later episode of the show, "Weird Al" Yankovic
    "Weird Al" Yankovic
    Alfred Matthew "Weird Al" Yankovic is an American singer-songwriter, music producer, accordionist, actor, comedian, writer, satirist, and parodist. Yankovic is known for his humorous songs that make light of popular culture and that often parody specific songs by contemporary musical acts...

     stands up for the accordion; later guest Yo-Yo Ma
    Yo-Yo Ma
    Yo-Yo Ma is an American cellist, virtuoso, and orchestral composer. He has received multiple Grammy Awards, the National Medal of Arts in 2001 and the Presidential Medal of Freedom in 2011...

     claimed the saxophone was in fact the sexiest.
  • Interviewed on Space Ghost Coast to Coast
    Space Ghost Coast to Coast
    Space Ghost Coast to Coast is an American animated parody talk show hosted by the 60s Hanna-Barbera cartoon character Space Ghost. The show premiered on April 15, 1994 on Cartoon Network...

     Episode 10: "Gum, Disease" (aired November 11, 1994). Although the Coast to Coast crew said, "He was the most pleasant, and well mannered guest we had ever interviewed", he didn't sign a release for merchandising rights, so the episode couldn't be on the Space Ghost Coast to Coast Volume One DVD.
  • Marsalis was featured in Shanice
    Shanice
    Shanice Lorraine Wilson-Knox , better known as Shanice, is a Grammy-nominated American R&B/soul singer-songwriter. She scored two Top 5 Billboard hit single's "I Love Your Smile" in 1991, and "Saving Forever for You" in 1993. In 1999, Shanice scored another top hit song, "When I Close My Eyes"...

    's 1992 hit "I Love Your Smile
    I Love Your Smile
    "I Love Your Smile" is a song recorded by R&B singer Shanice and released in 1991 as the first single from her album Inner Child. The song features saxophonist Branford Marsalis. It met success in many countries, including U.S., where it reached #2 on the Billboard Hot 100 and number one on the...

    ". In the second half of the song, he has a solo and Shanice says "Blow, Branford, Blow."
  • He played the role of Lester in the movie Throw Momma from the Train
    Throw Momma from the Train
    Throw Momma from the Train is a 1987 American black comedy film. It was inspired by the 1951 Alfred Hitchcock thriller Strangers on a Train, which also plays a role in the film...

     (1987) and the role of Jordam in Spike Lee
    Spike Lee
    Shelton Jackson "Spike" Lee is an American film director, producer, writer, and actor. His production company, 40 Acres & A Mule Filmworks, has produced over 35 films since 1983....

    's 1988 musical-drama film School Daze
    School Daze
    School Daze is a 1988 American musical-drama film, written and directed by Spike Lee, and starring Laurence Fishburne, Giancarlo Esposito, and Tisha Campbell-Martin...

    .
  • Cameo as a repair man who asks Hillary on a date in the episode "Stop Will! In the Name of Love", and as himself in the episode "Sleepless in Bel-Air]] on the sitcom "The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air
    The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air
    The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air is an American television sitcom that originally aired on NBC from September 10, 1990 to May 20, 1996. The show stars Will Smith as a fictionalized version of himself, a street-smart teenager from West Philadelphia who is sent to move in with his aunt and uncle in their...

    " (1994).
  • Interviews with Marsalis are featured prominently in the documentary Before the Music Dies
    Before the Music Dies
    Before the Music Dies is a 2006 documentary film that criticizes the American music industry and the increasing commercialization of the art of music over the past thirty years...

     (2006).
  • Branford was a guest judge on the final episode of the fifth season of Top Chef
    Top Chef (season 5)
    Top Chef: New York is the fifth season of American reality television series Top Chef and was filmed first in New York City, New York, and concluded in New Orleans, Louisiana...

     which took place in New Orleans, Louisiana.
  • On April 28 and 29, 2009 Branford played with The Dead
    The Dead (band)
    The Dead is an American rock band composed of some of the former members of the Grateful Dead.After the death of Jerry Garcia in 1995, Bob Weir, Phil Lesh, Mickey Hart, and Bill Kreutzmann formed a band called The Other Ones. They performed concert tours in 1998 , 2000 , and 2002, and released one...

     (The remaining members of the Grateful Dead
    Grateful Dead
    The Grateful Dead was an American rock band formed in 1965 in the San Francisco Bay Area. The band was known for its unique and eclectic style, which fused elements of rock, folk, bluegrass, blues, reggae, country, improvisational jazz, psychedelia, and space rock, and for live performances of long...

    ) at the IZOD Center in East Rutherford, New Jersey, rekindling a relationship started when he performed with them at a legendary set at Nassau Coliseum March 29, 1990 during which, according to Dead aficionados, one of the greatest renditions of "Eyes of the World", was performed.
  • On July 21, 2010, Branford guested with Dave Matthews Band
    Dave Matthews Band
    Dave Matthews Band, sometimes shortened to DMB, is a U.S. rock band formed in Charlottesville, Virginia in 1991. The founding members were singer-songwriter and guitarist Dave Matthews, bassist Stefan Lessard, drummer/backing vocalist Carter Beauford and saxophonist LeRoi Moore. Boyd Tinsley was...

     on the songs "Lover Lay Down," "What Would You Say
    What Would You Say
    "What Would You Say" is a song by the Dave Matthews Band, released as a single in 1994, taken from their album Under the Table and Dreaming. It reached #11 on the Modern Rock Tracks chart. It is also featured on Dave Matthews Band's first compilation album, The Best of What's Around Vol. 1. The...

    " and "Jimi Thing" at the Verizon Wireless Amphitheater in Charlotte, NC. This was the first time Branford had guested with Dave Matthews Band, although he had previously played with Dave Matthews
    Dave Matthews
    David John "Dave" Matthews is a South African–born American musician and occasional actor, best known as the lead vocalist, songwriter, and guitarist for the Dave Matthews Band...

     and Gov't Mule
    Gov't Mule
    Gov't Mule is a Southern rock jam band formed in 1994 as an Allman Brothers Band side project by Warren Haynes and Allen Woody.The band released their debut album Gov't Mule in 1995...

     on a cover of Bob Dylan's
    Bob Dylan
    Bob Dylan is an American singer-songwriter, musician, poet, film director and painter. He has been a major and profoundly influential figure in popular music and culture for five decades. Much of his most celebrated work dates from the 1960s when he was an informal chronicler and a seemingly...

     "All Along the Watchtower
    All Along the Watchtower
    "All Along the Watchtower" is a song written and recorded by American singer-songwriter Bob Dylan. The song, which has been included on most of Dylan's greatest hits compilations, initially appeared on his 1967 album John Wesley Harding. Over the past 35 years, he has performed it in concert more...

    " on December 16, 2006 in Asheville, NC.

As leader

  • 1984 Scenes in the City
  • 1985 Royal Garden Blues
  • 1986 Romances for Saxophone - some little pieces of classical evergreens
  • 1987 Renaissance - on "The Peacocks": Herbie Hancock - Piano, Buster Williams - Bass
  • 1988 Random Abstract
  • 1989 Trio Jeepy - an album of standards featuring Milt Hinton (bass) and Jeff Watts (drums)
  • 1989 Do the Right Thing - music composed and conducted by Bill Lee
  • 1990 Mo' Better Blues
    Mo' Better Blues
    Mo' Better Blues is a 1990 drama film starring Denzel Washington, Wesley Snipes, and Spike Lee, who also directed. It follows a period in the life of a fictional jazz trumpeter Bleek Gilliam as a series of bad decisions result in his jeopardizing both his relationships and his playing career...

     - soundtrack to the movie
  • 1990 Crazy People Music
  • 1991 The Beautyful Ones Are Not Yet Born - with guests Wynton Marsalis (trumpet) and Courtney Pine (tenor saxophone)
  • 1992 I Heard You Twice the First Time - Branford's quartet pairs up with some Jazz and Blues greats (including B.B.King, John Lee Hooker, Rip Tip Johnson) for a romp through the history of African-American music. Grammy Winner in category Best Jazz Instrumental Performance, Individual Or Group
  • 1992 Sneakers
    Sneakers (film)
    Sneakers is a 1992 caper film directed by Phil Alden Robinson, written by Robinson, Walter F. Parkes, and Lawrence Lasker and starring Robert Redford, Dan Aykroyd, Ben Kingsley, Mary McDonnell, River Phoenix, Sidney Poitier and David Strathairn...

     - soundtrack to the movie
  • 1993 Bloomington - live recording
  • 1994 Buckshot LeFonque
  • 1996 Loved Ones - a duet with his father Ellis Marsalis
    Ellis Marsalis, Jr.
    Ellis Marsalis is an American musician. He can usually be seen performing on Fridays at Snug Harbor jazz bistro in New Orleans.- Life and career :...

     (piano)
  • 1996 The Dark Keys
  • 1997 Music Evolution - the second Buckshot LeFonque project
  • 1999 Requiem - recorded days before the death of and dedicated to pianist Kenny Kirkland
  • 2000 Contemporary Jazz - Grammy Winner in category Best Jazz Instrumental Album, Individual or Group
  • 2001 Creation - some classical music rearranged for saxophone and orchestra
  • 2002 Footsteps of Our Fathers - Branford again revisits the works of past masters, interpreting the tunes from his own angle
  • 2003 Romare Bearden Revealed - CD Issued in Conjunction with The Art of Romare Bearden
    Romare Bearden
    Romare Bearden was an African American artist and writer. He worked in several media including cartoons, oils, and collage.-Education:...

     (American painter)
  • 2004 Eternal
    Eternal (Branford Marsalis album)
    Eternal is an album by saxophonist Branford Marsalis recorded at Tarrytown Music Hall, Tarrytown, New York in October 2003. It peaked at number 9 on the Top Jazz Albums chart....

  • 2004 A Love Supreme Live - (DVD/CD)
  • 2006 Braggtown
    Braggtown
    Braggtown is an album released by The Branford Marsalis Quartet in 2006.The album, following the 2004 Grammy-nominated Eternal, draws upon a world of inspirations, including John Coltrane, a 17th Century English composer, an American Indian Warrior and a Japanese horror film...

  • 2009 Metamorphosen
  • 2011 Songs of Mirth and Melancholy (duo album with pianist Joey Calderazzo
    Joey Calderazzo
    Joey Calderazzo is a jazz pianist.Inspired by a friend who lived next door, Calderazzo began his piano studies at age seven. He progressed rapidly in a house where other family members were also playing drums and singing, and at 14 became the youngest member of brother Gene Calderazzo's rock band...

    )

As sideman

  • 1982 Keystone 3 - Art Blakey & The Jazz Messengers
  • 1982 Wynton Marsalis - Wynton Marsalis
    Wynton Marsalis
    Wynton Learson Marsalis is a trumpeter, composer, bandleader, music educator, and Artistic Director of Jazz at Lincoln Center. Marsalis has promoted the appreciation of classical and jazz music often to young audiences...

  • 1983 Think of One - Wynton Marsalis
    Wynton Marsalis
    Wynton Learson Marsalis is a trumpeter, composer, bandleader, music educator, and Artistic Director of Jazz at Lincoln Center. Marsalis has promoted the appreciation of classical and jazz music often to young audiences...

  • 1984 "Decoy
    Decoy (album)
    Decoy is a 1984 album by jazz musician Miles Davis, recorded in 1983.It features keyboardist Robert Irving III and guitarist John Scofield contributing most of the compositions and the other solos...

    " - Miles Davis
    Miles Davis
    Miles Dewey Davis III was an American jazz musician, trumpeter, bandleader, and composer. Widely considered one of the most influential musicians of the 20th century, Miles Davis was, with his musical groups, at the forefront of several major developments in jazz music, including bebop, cool jazz,...

  • 1984 Hot House Flowers - Wynton Marsalis
    Wynton Marsalis
    Wynton Learson Marsalis is a trumpeter, composer, bandleader, music educator, and Artistic Director of Jazz at Lincoln Center. Marsalis has promoted the appreciation of classical and jazz music often to young audiences...

  • 1985 Black Codes (From the Underground) - Wynton Marsalis
    Wynton Marsalis
    Wynton Learson Marsalis is a trumpeter, composer, bandleader, music educator, and Artistic Director of Jazz at Lincoln Center. Marsalis has promoted the appreciation of classical and jazz music often to young audiences...

  • 1985 Opening Night - Kevin Eubanks
    Kevin Eubanks
    Kevin Tyrone Eubanks is an American jazz guitarist and composer who was the leader of the Tonight Show Band with host Jay Leno from 1995 to 2010. He also led The Primetime Band on the short-lived The Jay Leno Show.- Personal background :Eubanks was born into a musical family...

  • 1985 The Dream of the Blue Turtles
    The Dream of the Blue Turtles
    The Dream of the Blue Turtles is the first solo album by British pop singer-songwriter Sting, released in the United States on 1 June 1985, a year after The Police had unofficially disbanded...

     - Sting
  • 1985 With Sting at Live Aid
    Live Aid
    Live Aid was a dual-venue concert that was held on 13 July 1985. The event was organized by Bob Geldof and Midge Ure to raise funds for relief of the ongoing Ethiopian famine. Billed as the "global jukebox", the event was held simultaneously in Wembley Stadium in London, England, United Kingdom ...

  • 1986 Break Every Rule
    Break Every Rule
    Break Every Rule is the sixth solo album by Tina Turner, released on Capitol Records in 1986.-Overview:The album's predecessor, Private Dancer, set high commercial standards, yet Break Every Rule sold very well worldwide. It reached #4 on the Billboard 200, #2 on the UK albums chart and #1 in...

     - Tina Turner
    Tina Turner
    Tina Turner is an American singer and actress whose career has spanned more than 50 years. She has won numerous awards and her achievements in the rock music genre have led many to call her the "Queen of Rock 'n' Roll".Turner started out her music career with husband Ike Turner as a member of the...

    . Branford plays on the track "Paradise Is Here"
  • 1986 Bring on the Night
    Bring On the Night
    Bring on the Night is a 1986 live album by Sting recorded over the course of several live shows in 1985 and released in 1986. The title is taken from a song by The Police from their 1979 album Reggatta de Blanc. The songs performed include Sting's early solo material from the studio album The Dream...

     - Sting (live album)
  • 1987 ...Nothing Like the Sun
    ...Nothing Like the Sun
    …Nothing Like the Sun is a 1987 album by Sting. The title comes from Shakespeare's Sonnet #130 , which Sting used in the song "Sister Moon"...

     - Sting
  • 1990 We Are in Love
    We Are in Love
    We Are in Love is an album by American artist Harry Connick, Jr., released in 1990. The multi-platinum album features Connick on piano & vocal, Russell Malone on guitar, Shannon Powell on drums, Benjamin Jonah Wolfe on double bass, and Branford Marsalis on saxophone. Joining the quartet, is...

     - Harry Connick, Jr.
    Harry Connick, Jr.
    Joseph Harry Fowler Connick, Jr. is an American singer, big-band leader/conductor, pianist, actor, and composer. He has sold over 25 million albums worldwide. Connick is ranked among the top 60 best-selling male artists in the United States by the Recording Industry Association of America, with...

  • 1990 Without a Net
    Without a Net
    Without a Net is a recording of the Grateful Dead performing live in concert. It was released in 1990. The album is dedicated to Clifton Hanger, a name keyboardist Brent Mydland used to sign in hotel guestbooks. Mydland died during this album's post-production of a drug overdose...

     - Grateful Dead
    Grateful Dead
    The Grateful Dead was an American rock band formed in 1965 in the San Francisco Bay Area. The band was known for its unique and eclectic style, which fused elements of rock, folk, bluegrass, blues, reggae, country, improvisational jazz, psychedelia, and space rock, and for live performances of long...

    . Branford plays on "Eyes of the World" (live album)
  • 1990 You Won't Forget Me - Shirley Horn
    Shirley Horn
    Shirley Valerie Horn was an American jazz singer and pianist.-Biography:Encouraged by her grandmother, who was an amateur organist, Horn began piano lessons at the age of four. At twelve, Horn studied piano and composition at Howard University and later majored from there in classical music...

    . Branford appears on the track "It Had to be You"
  • 1990 Live It Up - Crosby, Stills & Nash. Branford plays on tracks 5 Yours And Mine and on track 9 Arrows
  • 1990 The Soul Cages
    The Soul Cages
    The Soul Cages is the third full length studio album released by Sting. Released in 1991, it became his second No. 1 album in the United Kingdom. It spawned four singles: "All This Time", "Mad About You", "Why Should I Cry For You" and "The Soul Cages"...

     - Sting
  • 1991 Karma - Robin Eubanks
    Robin Eubanks
    Robin Eubanks is an American jazz and jazz fusion slide trombonist, the brother of guitarist Kevin Eubanks and trumpeter Duane Eubanks.-Biography:...

    . On track 7 The Yearning and track 10 Remember When
  • 1992 Pontius Pilate's Decision - Delfeayo Marsalis
    Delfeayo Marsalis
    Delfeayo Marsalis is an American jazz trombonist and record producer.He is a member of the Marsalis family of jazz musicians: father Ellis Marsalis, Jr. , and brothers Branford Marsalis , Wynton Marsalis , and Jason Marsalis...

  • 1993 Three Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest
    Three Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest
    Three Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest is the fourth album released by Béla Fleck and the Flecktones, released in 1993. It is the band's only release as a trio, after the departure of Howard Levy but before the arrival of Jeff Coffin.- Reception :...

     - Béla Fleck and the Flecktones
    Béla Fleck and the Flecktones
    Béla Fleck and the Flecktones is a primarily instrumental group from the United States, that draws equally on bluegrass, fusion and jazz, sometimes dubbed "blu-bop". The band formed in 1988, initially to perform once on the PBS series Lonesome Pine Specials. The Flecktones have toured extensively...

  • 1993 Harbor Lights
    Harbor Lights (album)
    Bruce Hornsby's fourth album is titled Harbor Lights. This is his first album credited solely to Bruce Hornsby, without his previous backing band, The Range.The album cover uses Edward Hopper's 1951 painting "Rooms By The Sea".-Track listing:...

     - Bruce Hornsby
    Bruce Hornsby
    Bruce Randall Hornsby is an American singer, pianist, accordion player, and songwriter. Known for the spontaneity and creativity of his live performances, Hornsby draws frequently from classical, jazz, bluegrass, folk, Motown, rock, blues, and jam band musical traditions with his songwriting and...

     Grammy Winner for song, "Rainbow's Cadillac"
  • 1993 Jazzmatazz, Vol. 1
    Jazzmatazz, Vol. 1
    Guru's Jazzmatazz, Vol. 1 is a jazz rap album by alternative hip hop artist Guru, released on May 18, 1993 on Chrysalis Records. This album is one of the first albums to combine a live jazz band with hip hop production and rapping. It is the first such project to feature established rappers...

     - Guru
    Guru (rapper)
    Keith Edward Elam , better known by his stage name Guru, was an American emcee and member of the hip-hop duo Gang Starr, along with DJ Premier. He was born in Roxbury, Massachusetts...

    . Features on track four, "Transit Ride" along with Zachary Breaux
    Zachary Breaux
    Zachary Charles Breaux was an American jazz guitarist, influenced by George Benson and Wes Montgomery and best remembered for his soul-jazz work...

    .
  • 1993 It's Got to Be Funky
    It's Got to Be Funky
    It's Got to Be Funky is an album by jazz pianist Horace Silver, his first release on the Columbia label since Silver's Blue , featuring performances by Silver with Oscar Brashear, Ron Stout, Bob Summers, Bob McChesney, Maurice Spears, Suzette Moriarty, Eddie Harris, Branford Marsalis, Red Holloway,...

     - Horace Silver
    Horace Silver
    Horace Silver , born Horace Ward Martin Tavares Silva in Norwalk, Connecticut, is an American jazz pianist and composer....

  • 1994 Stones In The Road - Mary-Chapin Carpenter. On track 9, "John Doe No. 24."
  • 1994 JLW - Joe Louis Walker
    Joe Louis Walker
    Joe Louis Walker, also known as JLW is an American musician, best known as a electric blues guitarist, singer, songwriter and producer. A feature of his work is his recourse to older material or playing styles, which revealed his knowledge of blues history.-Career:Joe Louis Walker was born in San...

    . On track 4 Inner City Man.
  • 1994 Rob Wasserman: Trios With Bruce Hornsby
    Bruce Hornsby
    Bruce Randall Hornsby is an American singer, pianist, accordion player, and songwriter. Known for the spontaneity and creativity of his live performances, Hornsby draws frequently from classical, jazz, bluegrass, folk, Motown, rock, blues, and jam band musical traditions with his songwriting and...

     on "White-Wheeled Limousine"
  • 1994 "With the Tenors of Our Time" - Roy Hargrove
    Roy Hargrove
    Roy Anthony Hargrove is an American jazz trumpeter. He won worldwide notice after winning two Grammy Awards for differing types of music, in 1997, and in 2002...

    . On track 3, "Valse Hot."
  • 1995 Tales from the Acoustic Planet - Béla Fleck
    Béla Fleck
    Béla Anton Leoš Fleck is an American banjo player. Widely acknowledged as one of the world's most innovative and technically proficient banjo players, he is best known for his work with the bands New Grass Revival and Béla Fleck and the Flecktones.-Early life and career details:Fleck was born in...

  • 1995 Hot House - Bruce Hornsby
    Bruce Hornsby
    Bruce Randall Hornsby is an American singer, pianist, accordion player, and songwriter. Known for the spontaneity and creativity of his live performances, Hornsby draws frequently from classical, jazz, bluegrass, folk, Motown, rock, blues, and jam band musical traditions with his songwriting and...

  • 1995 Joe Cool's Blues - Ellis & Wynton Marsalis
    Wynton Marsalis
    Wynton Learson Marsalis is a trumpeter, composer, bandleader, music educator, and Artistic Director of Jazz at Lincoln Center. Marsalis has promoted the appreciation of classical and jazz music often to young audiences...

    . Branford plays on the track "Little Birdie"
  • 1996 Live Art
    Live Art
    Live Art is the fifth album released by Béla Fleck and the Flecktones and their first non-studio album. It was recorded live at various concerts between 1992 and 1996 and features ten guest musicians....

     - Béla Fleck and the Flecktones
    Béla Fleck and the Flecktones
    Béla Fleck and the Flecktones is a primarily instrumental group from the United States, that draws equally on bluegrass, fusion and jazz, sometimes dubbed "blu-bop". The band formed in 1988, initially to perform once on the PBS series Lonesome Pine Specials. The Flecktones have toured extensively...

  • 1996 Mercury Falling
    Mercury Falling
    Mercury Falling is the fifth studio album released by Sting. The album was marked by its tight studio production and use of brass reminiscent of recordings made at FAME Studios in the 1960s. This release was considered by many fans to signal the beginning of Sting's transition from heavier...

     - Sting
  • 1999 Brand New Day - Sting
  • 2003 Little Worlds
    Little Worlds
    Little Worlds is the tenth album by Béla Fleck and the Flecktones, released in 2003. The album was released as a 3-disc set. Ten tracks from the set were also released on a single disc called Ten from Little Worlds....

     - Béla Fleck and the Flecktones
    Béla Fleck and the Flecktones
    Béla Fleck and the Flecktones is a primarily instrumental group from the United States, that draws equally on bluegrass, fusion and jazz, sometimes dubbed "blu-bop". The band formed in 1988, initially to perform once on the PBS series Lonesome Pine Specials. The Flecktones have toured extensively...

  • 2003 The Marsalis Family: A Jazz Celebration - A showing for four brothers- Branford, Delfeayo Marsalis
    Delfeayo Marsalis
    Delfeayo Marsalis is an American jazz trombonist and record producer.He is a member of the Marsalis family of jazz musicians: father Ellis Marsalis, Jr. , and brothers Branford Marsalis , Wynton Marsalis , and Jason Marsalis...

    , Jason Marsalis
    Jason Marsalis
    -External links:* from Basin Street Records* from Jazzweekly.com...

    , Wynton Marsalis
    Wynton Marsalis
    Wynton Learson Marsalis is a trumpeter, composer, bandleader, music educator, and Artistic Director of Jazz at Lincoln Center. Marsalis has promoted the appreciation of classical and jazz music often to young audiences...

    , and their father, Ellis Marsalis
    Ellis Marsalis, Jr.
    Ellis Marsalis is an American musician. He can usually be seen performing on Fridays at Snug Harbor jazz bistro in New Orleans.- Life and career :...

  • 2005 Occasion : Connick on Piano, Volume 2
    Occasion : Connick on Piano, Volume 2
    Occasion: Connick on Piano, Volume 2 is an instrumental album recorded in 2005, presenting Harry Connick, Jr. on piano and Branford Marsalis on saxophone, playing their own jazz compositions....

     - A duo album with Harry Connick, Jr.
    Harry Connick, Jr.
    Joseph Harry Fowler Connick, Jr. is an American singer, big-band leader/conductor, pianist, actor, and composer. He has sold over 25 million albums worldwide. Connick is ranked among the top 60 best-selling male artists in the United States by the Recording Industry Association of America, with...

  • 2006 Intersections (1985-2005)
    Intersections (1985-2005)
    Bruce Hornsby's Intersections is a 4 CD / 1 DVD retrospective boxed set. The tracks are a mixture of previously unreleased live recordings, unreleased studio recordings, and album cuts...

     - Bruce Hornsby
    Bruce Hornsby
    Bruce Randall Hornsby is an American singer, pianist, accordion player, and songwriter. Known for the spontaneity and creativity of his live performances, Hornsby draws frequently from classical, jazz, bluegrass, folk, Motown, rock, blues, and jam band musical traditions with his songwriting and...

  • 2007 Marsalis Music Honors Bob French
    Marsalis Music Honors Bob French
    In 2007 the album Marsalis Music Honors Bob French was released, as part of the Marsalis music Honors series. The album's musicians include Harry Connick, Jr...

     (2007) - Bob French
    Bob French
    Robert "Bob" French is a United States jazz drummer and a former radio show host at WWOZ, from New Orleans, Louisiana.French has led The Tuxedo Jazz Band since 1977. -Career:As a child French took drumming lessons from Louis Barbarin...

  • 2007 ID - Anna Maria Jopek
    Anna Maria Jopek
    Anna Maria Jopek is a Polish musician and singer. She represented her country in the 1997 Eurovision Song Contest, with the song "Ale jestem" and finished 11th out of 25 participating acts; and in 2002, she collaborated on an album with jazz guitarist Pat Metheny...

    . Branford plays on the track 3 - Zrób, co mozesz (Do What You Can) and on track 11 - Niepojete i ulotne (Incomprehensible & Elusive)
  • 2009 Your Songs
    Your Songs
    Your Songs is a studio album by American multi-platinum selling recording artist Harry Connick, Jr., released by Columbia Records.It was released first in the United States on a 2 disc limited edition vinyl LP on August 25, 2009, then released on CD on September 22.The album is a collaboration with...

     - Harry Connick, Jr.
    Harry Connick, Jr.
    Joseph Harry Fowler Connick, Jr. is an American singer, big-band leader/conductor, pianist, actor, and composer. He has sold over 25 million albums worldwide. Connick is ranked among the top 60 best-selling male artists in the United States by the Recording Industry Association of America, with...

  • 2009 Watts - Jeff "Tain" Watts

External links

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