New Orleans-born Branford Marsalis is an award-winning saxophonist, band leader, featured classical
soloist, and a film and Broadway composer. In the process, he has become a multiaward-winning artist
with three Grammys, a citation by the National Endowment for the Arts as a Jazz Master and an avatar of
contemporary artistic excellence.
The Branford Marsalis Quartet, formed in 1986, remains his primary means of expression. In its virtually
uninterrupted three-plus decades of existence, the Quartet has established a rare breadth of stylistic
range and has long been recognized as the standard to which other ensembles of its kind must be
measured. The Quartet recently made it's Blue Note Records debut with the release of Belonging, a full
album interpretation of Keith Jarrett's 1974 ECM album of the same name. But Branford has not
confined his music to the jazz quartet context. He recently composed a classical suite
commissioned by the Kalamazoo Symphony Orchestra. A frequent soloist with classical ensembles,
Branford has become increasingly sought atier as a featured soloist with acclaimed orchestras around the
world, performing works by composers such as Copeland, Debussy, Glazunov, Ibert, John Williams,
Mahler, Milhaud, Rorem, Vaughan Williams and Villa-Lobos. And his legendary guest performances
with the Grateful Dead and collaborations with Sting have made him a fan favorite in the pop arena.
Branford’s screen credits as a composer include original music for: Rustin starring Colman Domingo, the
History Channel’s documentary Tulsa Burning: The 1921 Race Massacre, Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom
starring Viola Davis and the late Chadwick Boseman, The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks starring Oprah
Winfrey, and Spike Lee’s Mo’ Better Blues. He received a 2021 EMMY nomination for the original
music he composed and produced for Tulsa Burning in the Outstanding Music Composition for a
Documentary Series or Special (Original Dramatic Score) category. His work on Broadway has garnered
a Drama Desk Award and a Tony nomination for the acclaimed revival of Fences. He recently arranged
and orchestrated the music for a new Broadway production on Louis Armstrong, A Wonderful World. His
previous Broadway efforts include music for the revivals of Children of a Lesser God and A Raisin in the
Sun, as well as The Mountaintop, which starred Angela Basset and Samuel L. Jackson.
