| Marcus
Roberts (Piano) |
 Marcus
Roberts is from Jacksonville, Florida and to this day his music is influenced
by the early exposure to his mother's gospel singing and the music
of the local church. A few years after losing his sight at age five,
he began to teach himself to play piano; he received his first formal
lesson when he was twelve. He soon decided to become a jazz pianist after
hearing the music of Duke Ellington and others on the radio. At 18, Roberts
went to Florida State University to study classical piano with Leonidus
Lipovetsky, a student of the noted Russian piano teacher Rosina Lhevinne.
During this period, Roberts won his first of many awards and competitions,
the young artist's competition at the 1982 National Association of
Jazz Educators annual conference. The next year he won the Great American
Jazz Piano Competition, followed by first prize at the Thelonious Monk
International Jazz Competition a few years later. He was honored to receive
a National Academy of Achievement award in 1995 and, in 1998 he received
the award that he considers his highest honor, the Helen Keller Award
for Personal Achievement. In 2003, Roberts was inducted into the Jacksonville
Jazz Hall of Fame.
At age 21, Roberts joined Wynton Marsalis' band and toured and recorded
with the trumpeter for the next six years. Roberts signed his first recording
contract with BMG/Novus in 1988 and completed six recordings for them
before signing with Columbia Records early in 1994. All of his recordings
have been critically acclaimed, and several have reached the No. 1 spot
on Billboard's traditional jazz chart. Roberts' recording legacy reflects
his tremendous versatility as an artist - with recordings that include
solo piano, duets, and trio arrangements of jazz standards, original
suites of trio music, large ensemble works, and symphony orchestra. His
recording of George Gershwin's signature classic, “Rhapsody in Blue”
(Portraits in Blue, 1996) with symphony orchestra and jazz band was nominated
for a Grammy. Roberts' most recent recording, New Orleans Meets Harlem,
is a celebration of how the early roots of jazz with its ragtime, blues,
and New Orleans' influences, can be combined with the virtuosic Harlem
styles to create an entirely new sound.
Marcus Roberts is one of the most diverse artists of our time. His deep
respect for the contributions and achievements of the great masters of
jazz and classical music has undoubtedly shaped the development of his
recognizable sound and unique style and philosophy of jazz improvisation.
When Roberts performs, the contributions of Joplin, Jelly Roll Morton,
Ellington, Monk, John Coltrane, Ahmad Jamal and others are integrated
with his own perspective to create a thoroughly modern sound. The same
could be said of the Marcus Roberts Trio, with bassist Roland Guerin
and drummer Jason Marsalis. The trio has been together for ten years
and their unity as a group is evident in their performances. Their virtuosic
individual styles combine with their finely honed group reflexes to yield
a fun and riveting evening of music for audiences of all ages.
Roberts has been instrumental to the training and development of a large
number of young musicians, including such great jazz artists as trumpeters
Marcus Printup and Nicholas Payton, trombonist Ronald Westray, and drummer
Jason Marsalis. Last year, Roberts became more involved in the formal
instruction of young musicians and composers by serving as a “Housewright
Scholar” at the School of Music at Florida State University. The experience
was such a success that this year, Roberts has joined the faculty of
the School of Music as an Assistant Professor where he teaches whenever
he is not touring. When out on tour, the trio also regularly provides
master classes, workshops, school shows, and residency programs. Roberts
and his trio work hard to expose as many young people to jazz music as
possible. They consider it their mission to help build audiences for
the music all over the world, but especially here in the United States
where jazz had its origin.
The trio has a busy year-round touring schedule, including performing
frequently with symphony orchestras around the world. In the summer of
2002, Roberts was honored to participate with his trio in the gala farewell
weekend of concerts with Maestro Seiji Ozawa and the Boston Symphony
Orchestra at Tanglewood. Other honors in recent years include a Chamber
Music America commissioning award, serving as the Artistic Director for
a Franco-American celebration of Louis Armstrong's legacy at the Opera
House of Versailles, participating in the Cultural Olympiad as an artist-in-residence
for the 2002 winter Olympic Games, and in 2003, premiering his new arrangement
of Gershwin's Concerto in F for Piano and Orchestra in Japan with the
New Japan Philharmonic and in Europe, with the Berlin Philharmonic. In
the fall of 2004, Roberts' busy schedule included performing at the grand
opening of Lincoln Center's Rose Hall in New York City and completing
a sold-out six-city tour in South Korea. His current projects include
performing with his trio at the closing of the Sundance Film Festival
in January of 2005 as well as completing two separate commission works
? one for trio and one for a larger jazz ensemble. |
| Roland
Guerin (Bass) |
| Roland
Guerin is from Baton Rouge, Louisiana. He has always had a fascination
with stringed instruments. He began his music studies with the viola
in elementary school and started playing guitar in eighth grade. He switched
to playing bass after listening to his mother play bass lines on the
instrument. While Guerin's primary instrument remains the upright
acoustic bass, he enjoys playing his five-string electric bass whenever
he has the opportunity. Guerin began his study of jazz music at Baton
Rouge High Magnet School and, in 1986, he went on to attend Southern
University in Baton Rouge to study with world-renowned jazz clarinetist,
Alvin Batiste. After graduating in May of 1991, he toured and recorded
with the Mark Whitfield Band. Marcus Roberts first called Guerin for
a show in May of 1995 after hearing him play with Ellis Marsalis. Guerin
brings a deep and resonant bass sound to the trio and during the past
six years, he has played an instrumental role in the development of the
trio concept that was first presented on Roberts' Time and Circumstance
recording. He is featured both on Roberts' Portraits in Blue record
of 1996, performing with symphony orchestra and jazz band, as well as
the 1997 big band recording, Blues for the New Millennium. He is also
featured on Roberts' trio recordings, In Honor of Duke (Columbia,
1999), Cole After Midnight (Columbia, 2001), and New Orleans Meets Harlem
(2004). Guerin has already mastered and redefined the slap bass style,
and always enriches any musical environment with his musical wit, strong
country groove, and relaxed swing. His debut recording under his own
name, The Winds of the New Land, was released by Turnipseed Music in
1998. His second recording, Roland Guerin Sextet Live at the Blue Note
was released in May of 2000 and his third, “You Don't Have
to See it to Believe It”, just a few months later. Guerin's
most recent recording, “Groove, Swing, and Harmony”, was released
in 2003. When he is not touring with Roberts, you will most likely find
him performing somewhere in the New Orleans area. |
| Jason
Marsalis (Drum) |
| Jason
Marsalis is the youngest son of pianist Ellis Marsalis, the father of
one of America's most musical families. Jason began playing drums at
the age of three but he began his formal musical training two years later
on the violin. At age six, he began studying with the legendary drummer,
James Black. After six years of studying both instruments, he finally
dropped his violin studies and focused entirely on the drums. Marsalis
spent his high school years at the New Orleans Center for the Creative
Arts, graduating in 1995. He then studied music at Loyola University
in New Orleans. Jason Marsalis and Marcus Roberts have had a long association,
but Marsalis began performing regularly with Roberts in November of 1994
when he was 17. He has held the drum chair in the Marcus Roberts Trio
since that time. Marsalis has been featured on all of Roberts' group
recordings since 1995?Portraits in Blue, Time and Circumstance, Blues
for the New Millennium, In Honor of Duke, Cole After Midnight and New
Orleans Meets Harlem. He has been instrumental to the development of
the unique philosophy and style of the Marcus Roberts Trio. He draws
heavily from drum styles that are not traditionally associated with the
jazz trio, such as Jo Jones, Max Roach, Elvin Jones, Roy Haynes, and
Tony Williams, as well as the sounds and philosophy of the great trios
of Errol Garner, Ahmad Jamal, Nat Cole, and Oscar Peterson. Marsalis'
style is characterized by strong, intricate modern grooves and creative
syncopation. He has perhaps the strongest voice on his instrument in
his generation, unafraid to celebrate swing through rhythmic tension
and release. His debut recording under his own name, The Year of the
Drummer, was released in 1998 and his second recording, Music in Motion,
was released in April of 2000. Marsalis continues to reside in New Orleans
where he performs regularly with his father and other New Orleans groups. |
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