Eric Ryan Anderson
The Branford Marsalis Quartet, from left: Joey Calderazzo, Eric Revis, Marsalis and Justin Faulkner.
At 58, sax player Branford Marsalis is the oldest sibling in America’s first family of jazz. The blue ribbon group includes father Ellis (piano), and younger brothers Wynton (trumpet), Delfeayo (trombone) and Jason (drums). Both Branford and Wynton launched their careers in the 1980s as part of drummer Art Blakey’s Jazz Messengers, and they have soared through the jazz and classical stratospheres.
The Secret Between the Shadow and the Soul, Branford Marsalis’s latest album released earlier this year, charts new territory for the veteran reed player. The recording, with a title drawn from the poet Pablo Neruda, combines the talents of longtime sidemen Joey Calderazzo (piano) and Eric Revis (bass) with newcomer Justin Faulkner (drums) to create a work that captures humanity’s emotions with an almost metaphysical voice. So far, fans are loving it.
Marsalis brings his quartet to the Overture Center April 9. Isthmus caught up with the jazz player by phone in his London hotel room after his recent European tour.
Why the saxophone?
It was pure superficiality. I already played the clarinet. At age 14 I saw some really pretty girls and followed them, stalker-style, into a dance. There was a band playing and I said, “Shit, if I played sax I could probably get some girls.” I didn’t know at the time that only guitarists and singers get the girls. But I was still better off than if I would have stayed with the clarinet.
Speaking of singers, you have accompanied Kurt Elling, Sting and others. How is that different from playing a purely instrumental piece?
If the instrumentalists are smart, they will realize they’re in third place. If not, this could make for a very bad recording. Playing support for a singer is a necessary part of the musical food chain. I don’t view musical support as a subordinate role, but there can be insecurity on either performer’s part, and insecurity is the worst thing for a musician.
Ultimately, I think my strongest attribute is a healthy ego. I love playing the saxophone and making other musicians sound great. That manifests itself with the philosophy of our group.
You’ve performed and recorded inboth classical and jazz idioms. How are the two different for a musician?
Both idioms are interested in individual expression, but jazz is more personalized. Classical music is like being an actor in a play and having to memorize pages and pages of lines, whereas jazz is like me hanging on the corner with my friends talkin’ shit.
The jazz side is hard for a classical guy because it’s all contextual. Classical is hard because you have to practice consistently. That’s why I went into it, because I needed to practice more. Two years ago I was asked to perform a saxophone piece by composer John Adams, and did I suck at that? I decided that piece would not get the best of me and that I owed it an ass-kicking. Believe me, we’re gonna play that fucker again.
What’s the most interesting thing about you that fans don’t know?
Number one, I don’t have fans. [Number two], I am a nerd. Archeology excites me. I like science fiction, violent TV series, botany, aerospace, history. But don’t try tying that shit together, man, because it won’t work. I am a facts-based person.
Is that Frank Sinatra I hear playing in the background?
You got it. Frank Sinatra Sings for Only the Lonely, which a lot of people don’t play because it’s all about heartbreak and loss. This is our Band Record for 2018. We’re all listening to it.
