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Today is July 31, 2010
Trio
Marcus Roberts, piano • Roland Guerin, bass • Jason Marsalis, drums
The Marcus Roberts Trio was founded in 1993 when Roberts began to study the lineage of great jazz trios, including those of Nat Cole, Oscar Peterson, Errol Garner, and Ahmad Jamal. Roberts first met young drummer Jason Marsalis during his own days in the Wynton Marsalis Septet in the 1980s. Jason was just 10 years old at that time. With the founding of the Marcus Roberts Trio, Roberts had the goal of creating a whole new style of jazz trio playing. After trying a series of drummers and bassists over a two-year period, Roberts in late 1994 asked Marsalis, then only 17 years, to join his band. A few months later, in early 1995, Roland Guerin played with Roberts for the first time and from the beginning, he made the trio sound complete. The philosophy and style of trio has steadily evolved from that point.
The Marcus Roberts Trio has truly created its own sound and style. Although the piano has traditionally been the central focus of great jazz trios, Roberts prefers to have all musicians in the group share equally in shaping the direction of the music through changing its tempo, mood, texture, or form by using a system of musical cues. This philosophy is ideally suited for this trio because both Roland Guerin and Jason Marsalis possess immense talent as individuals while sounding equally great as a unit. As a consequence, Roberts feels that the music should be arranged to showcase that talent. When the bass and drums share equally in controlling both the tempo and the mood of a piece, it creates a musical environment that sounds much bigger on the stage than a jazz trio.
Roberts, speaking of Guerin and Marsalis, says: "I've been in many bands and most of the time it feels like something is missing...like something else is needed to make the band sound whole. When I play with Roland and Jason, the music sounds complete. I don't imagine that anything else should have happened on the bandstand other than what did."
The trio plays all of their music from memory. There's never any music on the stage or in the recording studio. This allows them to focus strictly and exclusively on jazz improvisation. Their quick musical reflexes and creative imagination give the trio a style that is powerful, rhythmic, and free. They have been honored in many ways in the past few years from commissioning awards to serving as Artists-in-Residence on several occasions.
The trio will continue its strong educational focus in the coming years. Their educational programs have included a wide range of activities including elementary, middle school, and high school concerts, math and music workshops for elementary school children, residencies and concerts for and with middle school and high school bands, master classes and workshops for jazz musicians and ensembles, and lectures for college students and the public. The trio also takes great pride in teaching and inspiring young musicians. They understand the importance of developing young talent, because this keeps jazz moving forward with real force from generation to generation.
Roland Guerin (bassist) is originally from Baton Rouge, Louisiana and lives there still. 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 six-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.
Roland Guerin first worked with Marcus Roberts in 1995 after Roberts heard him play with Ellis Marsalis. Roberts needed a bassist to record Gershwin's "Rhapsody in Blue" and the "I Got Rhythm" Variations for a recording session that was less than a week away. Guerin came through with flying colors, and the final piece for the Marcus Roberts Trio fell into place. Roland Guerin brings a deep and resonant bass sound to the trio and during the past several years, he has played an important role in the development of the trio concept that was first presented on Roberts' Time and Circumstance recording.
Guerin is always hearing grooves in his head, whether he is taking a bass solo, walking a bass line, or playing the bass in some other style. He has a unique ability bring any style of music into the jazz arena. He has one of the strongest personalities on the upright bass at this time and he is not afraid to explore all genres of music for improvisational inspiration. He loves to swing and fits into just about any musical situation.
Guerin was 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), New Orleans Meets Harlem (2007), and From Rags to Rhythm (2007). Most recently, Guerin traveled to Matsumoto, Japan to perform on Roberts' newest recording with the Saito Kinen Festival Orchestra, Gershwin's "Concerto in F for Piano and Orchestra".
Guerin has already mastered and redefined the slap bass style, and always enriches any musical environment with his musical wit, melodic bass lines, strong country groove, and relaxed swing. He has several recordings out under his own name, including The Winds of the New Land, Roland Guerin Sextet Live at the Blue Note, You Don't Have to See It to Believe It, and Groove, Swing, and Harmony I and II as well as a number of recordings with other artists.
Jason Marsalis (drummer) is the youngest son of pianist and music educator Ellis Marsalis, the father of one of America's most musical families. Marsalis 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 has been an active and visible part of the New Orleans jazz scene for a number of years. He was a co-founder of the Latin jazz group, Los Hombres Calientes, and could generally be found playing somewhere around town with any number of diverse groups from his father's piano trio to the Brazilian group, Casa Samba, or a jazz fusion group (Neslort). After Hurricane Katrina devastated New Orleans, Marsalis moved to Brooklyn, NY, but with the work finally completed on his home in 2007, you will find him back in New Orleans, playing the drums or the vibraphone somewhere around town.
Jason Marsalis has been privileged to work with many jazz luminaries such as Joe Henderson and Lionel Hampton.
He has had a long association with Marcus Roberts, dating back to 1987. Marsalis began performing regularly with Roberts in November of 1994 when he was 17. To prepare for his very first gig, he had to memorize all of the music from "Gershwin for Lovers". He played all the arrangements down without making any mistakes. Roberts knew then that this young man would be an anchor for his band. 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, New Orleans Meets Harlem and From Rags to Rhythm. Most recently, he was featured on Marcus Roberts' recording of Gershwin's Concerto in F for Piano and Orchestra with the Saito Kinen Festival Orchestra.
Jason Marsalis has also been instrumental to the development of the unique philosophy and style of the Marcus Roberts Trio. His style is characterized by strong, intricate modern grooves and creative syncopation. He uses the drums as not just an accompanying rhythm instrument but an important solo voice. He learns music thoroughly, and uses rhythm to bring out other important elements, especially harmony, in the music. He has perfect pitch, so if you need him to listen for a change in the music to any specific key, he can do it. He also has perfect rhythm, which means that he can keep many different tempos and time signatures in his head at the same time without getting lost.
Marsalis 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. He has perhaps the strongest voice on his instrument in his generation. He has a strong sense of swing, a concept that is at the core of jazz music.
Marsalis has two recordings under his own name, The Year of the Drummer (1998) and Music in Motion (2000) as well as a number of recordings with other musicians. |
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