Marcus Roberts releases new CD, Deep in the Shed: A Blues Suite
December 5th, 2012J-Master Music is pleased to announce the release of Marcus Roberts’ new recording, Deep in the Shed: A Blues Suite, featuring a nonet of Roberts’ close musician friends, including regular trio members Rodney Jordan (bass) and Jason Marsalis (drums).
Deep in the Shed was originally written and released in 1989. After completely revising and re-arranging the suite, Marcus re-recorded it (in Tallahassee, FL) for the current release on his own label, J-Master Music. The story of the new recording can be found in the liner notes posted here on the website.
This new release, Deep in the Shed: A Blues Suite, will make a perfect addition to your holiday gift list for all your jazz aficionados! And while you are adding to your list don’t forget the Marcus Robert’s Trio’s 2011 holiday CD release Celebrating Christmas.
Celebrating Christmas was praised by reviewers, a best seller on Amazon’s Holiday CD list, and the song “The Twelve Days of Christmas” was selected by USA Today for their Holiday Playlist. Both CDs are available either through our web store or Amazon.
Downbeat Magazine Interview
August 30th, 2012The September 2012 issue of Downbeat magazine includes an interview with Marcus Roberts and Béla Fleck about their current tour, Across the Imaginary Divide. The interview includes comments on the evolving chemistry of performing together on tour. You’ll find the article on page 18 of the magazine. Click here for the online version, and visit the calendar page of www.marcusroberts.com for a performance near you.
Hail to the Queen
August 4th, 2012I’ve been hearing a lot about Queen Elizabeth II lately (after her gutsy video performance at the Olympics). It inspired me to listen to Ellington’s “The Queen’s Suite” – he wrote it for her majesty over 50 years ago. Quite a lady! And some great music. Here is a recording of Duke’s The Single Petal of a Rose I did a little while ago and will be included in a future solo release.
Interview with The Marcus Roberts Trio and Béla Fleck
July 23rd, 2012While the Trio and Béla Fleck were performing in June at the Blue Note Jazz Club in NYC, Béla, Marcus, Rodney, and Jason visited the WBGO studios to talk with Gary Walker about the new CD, Across the Imaginary Divide. In a wide-ranging conversation which includes several songs from the CD, they talk about playing together, composing the songs, their instruments and musical influences, the evolution of American music from its roots in Ragtime and Blues, NBA basketball playoffs, and much more! Click here to listen.
“Across the Imaginary Divide”
July 19th, 2012The first tour of Across the Imaginary Divide for Béla Fleck with the Marcus Roberts Trio in May and June of this year has been a huge success. Many fans (and critics) have been surprised by what they first thought to be an “unlikely pairing” but in the words of Nate Chinen of The New York Times, “the music sounds disarmingly fresh.” Describing the collaboration between Roberts and Fleck during their performances at the Blue Note Jazz Club in NYC, The New York Times writes, “the seemingly effortless rapport has a lot to do with both musicians’ adaptability, but it also reflects the attentiveness of Mr. Roberts’s working trio, with Rodney Jordan on bass and Jason Marsalis on drums.”
As Roberts said in an interview with the Florida Times-Union before the Jacksonville Jazz Festival, he knows that “people’s initial reaction to the pairing tends to provoke some head-scratching.” “There does seem to be a little bit of shock,” he said. “A little bit of, ‘What? You’re playing with Bela? What in the world could you be playing?’ … But always in a friendly way, you know, not in a bad way.” They may come from different styles, but they share a musical vision as well as a passion for their instruments. Roberts said he appreciates that Fleck is a virtuoso who is intimate with every aspect of the banjo, just as he is with the piano. Ten years ago, though, if you had asked if he could imagine himself playing with a banjoist and stopping at bluegrass festivals, he probably would have said, “No.” “It just goes to show, until you know people and play with them, you don’t know,” he said. The history of American music inspires them both, he said, and they wanted the album to have a feeling of their soul and blues roots.
The tour started this spring with the release of the collaborative CD, Across the Imaginary Divide (Rounder Records). Since then there has been lots of great reviews and lots of incredible music made out there on the road! The tour has stopped in places as far-ranging as a wonderful 200-seat music hall in Brownfield, Maine to a crowd of 10,000 at the Telluride festival. It’s been great fun. After a stop at the Caramoor Festival in early August, the group will resume their tour in late summer. Check the calendar at www.marcusroberts.com for a date near you. Across the Imaginary Divide is available both as a MP3 download and CD album.
Marcus Roberts Trio in the UK
March 17th, 2012Saturday March 17, 2012 is not only St. Patrick’s Day, it’s also the day the Marcus Roberts Trio heads off to London again. So for those of you in the UK, they hope to see you at one of the shows. Check the calendar page on the web site for details. If you miss the trio this time, they will be back in November for the London Jazz Festival. See you soon!
Savannah Music Festival’s Swing Central Jazz 2012 is coming up!
January 30th, 2012Each year at the end of March, Marcus Roberts gets ready to head to Savannah for the world-renowned Savannah Music Festival. Certainly, it’s a fantastic place to hear great music every year but for Roberts, it’s also the home of “Swing Central Jazz” – where twelve great high school bands are selected each year to come to perform, learn and compete. Marcus Roberts is the Associate Director for Jazz Education at Swing Central. This year, 19 other great jazz musicians will join him on the Swing Central Jazz faculty and re-connecting with these other clinicians each year is a lot of fun and makes for some great music. But Roberts’ favorite part of the Swing Central program is the opportunity to work with so many talented and hard-working young musicians. The future of jazz is very bright in their hands.
Related show
Marcus Roberts Trio releases new Christmas CD, Celebrating Christmas
November 8th, 2011Jacksonville, FL – Today, J-Master Records announces the release of its newest Marcus Roberts Trio recording, Celebrating Christmas, featuring bassist Rodney Jordan and drummer, Jason Marsalis, alongside Roberts at the piano. In the liner notes of the new CD, Roberts comments, “I have been considering doing another Christmas recording for a few years. I have been blessed in my career so far to be able to do so many things, and since Christmas is a time for reflection and sharing with others, I decided that this was the right time for this recording. I have chosen some of my favourite holiday melodies to share with you. These are all new arrangements and I think that those of you who are familiar with our trio’s unique style and sound will recognize it here.”
