{"id":7461,"date":"2012-09-24T01:28:59","date_gmt":"2012-09-24T08:28:59","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/mmusicmag.com\/m\/?p=7461"},"modified":"2012-09-24T01:28:59","modified_gmt":"2012-09-24T08:28:59","slug":"branford-marsalis","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/mmusicmag.com\/m\/2012\/09\/branford-marsalis\/","title":{"rendered":"BRANFORD MARSALIS"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"<\/h1>\n

BRANFORD MARSALIS\u00a0<\/strong><\/h1>\n

Some call it magic but for this sax genius it\u2019s just \u201cplayin\u2019 tunes\u201d\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n

By Jeff Tamarkin\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n

Branford Marsalis has never been one to hold back. The 52-year-old tenor and soprano saxophonist freely says and plays what he wants. So the title of his quartet\u2019s new release Four MFs Playin\u2019 Tunes<\/em> shouldn\u2019t shock anyone\u2014but it does. \u201cA writer came to the session and asked my least favorite question: \u2018What\u2019s the concept of this record?\u2019\u201d recalls Marsalis. \u201cI told him, \u2018Records don\u2019t have concepts.\u2019 He said, \u2018A lot of guys wouldn\u2019t agree with that.\u2019 And I said, \u2018OK, you know what the concept is? It\u2019s four MFs playin\u2019 tunes.\u2019 He went, \u2018What? That\u2019s it?\u2019 I said,\u00a0\u2018Yeah. We\u2019re just playin\u2019 tunes.\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n

For the eldest of pianist Ellis Marsalis\u2019 five jazz-playing sons, \u201cjust playin\u2019 tunes\u201d has been an ever-evolving journey of discovery. Since the Louisiana-born artist\u2019s early days performing with younger brother Wynton and apprenticing with legendary drummer\u00a0Art Blakey, Branford\u2019s approach to music has pushed boundaries, even when exiting jazz for the worlds of rock (a Sting band member for more than a decade), classical (a composer since 2000), and TV\u00a0(The Tonight Show<\/em> bandleader from 1992-95). Marsalis has recorded more than a dozen albums and won three Grammys, and also serves as an artist-in-residence at North Carolina Central University.<\/p>\n

Four MFs Playin\u2019 Tunes<\/em> was recorded at the Hayti Center in Durham, N.C., the city Marsalis has called home since 2002\u2014and was created with longtime Branford Marsalis Quartet members Joey Calderazzo (piano) and Eric Revis (bass), and newest addition, 20-year-old drummer Justin Faulkner. \u201cOur whole thing is to play tunes with emotional effect,\u201d says Marsalis. The outspoken artist gave us his take on the new album and what he\u2019s learned from John Coltrane, Art Blakey, Miles Davis and The Tonight Show<\/em>.<\/p>\n

Why the provocative title?<\/strong><\/p>\n

I actually didn\u2019t want to call the record that. Every time I make an album, I never come up with a title, and my management company presses me for one. To buy time, I come up with the stupidest title I can think of. So when they asked this time, I told them. They said, \u201cThat\u2019s great!\u201d I said, \u201cNot great. You can\u2019t use that!\u201d Yes, I\u2019ve got a potty mouth, but I don\u2019t just put it out there. But they ran with it. Usually they\u2019re telling me, \u201cYou can\u2019t use that.\u201d But this time they loved it, so I said, \u201cMaybe I should just shut up.\u201d<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

The title pretty much says it all.<\/strong><\/p>\n

When you think about the history of jazz recordings, they\u2019d call a session, dudes would play some tunes and they\u2019d put it out. Then John Coltrane did A Love Supreme<\/em>, which is the ultimate concept record. Sonny Rollins did Freedom Suite<\/em> and Max Roach did the Freedom Now Suite<\/em>. But I reject the idea that every record is a concept.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

What about your version of 2002\u2019s\u00a0<\/strong>A Love Supreme<\/em>?\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n

I didn\u2019t do it as a concept record. A Love Supreme<\/em> for me was a challenge for the band, and we got out of it what we needed to get out of it.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Why remake such an iconic album?<\/strong><\/p>\n

Because of the rewards. One of the things for me was the fear factor\u2014everyone is afraid of it. But Bach and Mozart wrote masses. There are all these tributes to God that are played ad infinitum today\u2014Handel\u2019s Messiah<\/em>, Bach\u2019s Christmas<\/em> Oratorio<\/em>\u2014yet for some reason, the one record dedicated to God by a jazz musician should never be played again? That\u2019s BS. It gives musicians an out, and they don\u2019t have to deal with the fact that they can\u2019t play it. There are tons of guys who listen to Coltrane, so how come they don\u2019t sound like Coltrane? Because they did not do the work that Coltrane did to get to where he was.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

So you weren\u2019t afraid of the work.<\/strong><\/p>\n

One of the things I knew the band would benefit from was the challenge of having to play music with sustained levels of intensity for 40 minutes or more. Who does that anymore? The first time we played it, in Paris in 2001, we were huffing and puffing when it was over. I bit through my lip\u2014there was blood all over my mouthpiece. I\u2019m blessed that I don\u2019t have a fear of sounding bad in front of people. When I listen to early jazz and read about it, there wasn\u2019t a fear of failure. Cats would just go out and play. Now guys practice, practice, practice, then they rehearse for six days, then they make the record and it sounds like a bulwark against the possibility of something spontaneous actually happening.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

How did you approach the new album?<\/strong><\/p>\n

We took the same approach we always take. But we\u2019re years better\u2014better musicians, better instrumentalists, and we listen to many different styles of music so songs can be more versatile. And Justin brings a fresh attitude, a youthful energy. It wasn\u2019t like we played badly, but then the kid comes in and starts changing up the songs and direction. We looked at each other and said, \u201cWe became the old married couple\u00a0and didn\u2019t even realize it.\u201d<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

How do you stay interested in projects?<\/strong><\/p>\n

I have a love of music\u2014that helps. You can always find music that kicks your ass. There are some musicians who prefer to use music as a vehicle to validate their position. A magazine from years ago would ask musicians what they\u2019re listening to. The rap guys would name 10 rap records, metal guys would name 10 metal albums. But my listening taste was much wider than 10 jazz records. I\u2019m more inclined to listen\u00a0to dead classical guys now.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

How do you benefit from playing\u00a0<\/strong>other genres?<\/strong><\/p>\n

You bring something back every time you play with someone. I didn\u2019t play jazz as a kid; I didn\u2019t like it. I was geared toward popular music growing up. My dad had a firm belief that any music is hard enough to play if you like it. But if you don\u2019t like it, you\u2019ve got no shot. He wasn\u2019t interested in pushing me in any specific direction.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

What did you learn from Art Blakey?<\/strong><\/p>\n

That I didn\u2019t know anything about jazz. He never felt the need to let me know how much he actually knew. But when he would talk about things he liked, you\u2019d get a sense of how much he knew. It was mind-blowing how much information he had. I wasn\u2019t one of his favorite guys\u2014he didn\u2019t like me very much. I have a strong personality, and when I came into the band I had a couple of confrontations with some guys after about six weeks of putting up with their BS. But the stuff I learned from him musically I still use on the bandstand now. It wasn\u2019t until he was dying that he was kind of nice to me.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

What was it like working with the\u00a0<\/strong>innovating legend Miles Davis?<\/strong><\/p>\n

He gave me some chord changes and said, \u201cPlay the changes.\u201d I started playing them and he said, \u201cGood, now stop playing them.\u201d I remember thinking, \u201cWhat the \u2026?\u201d I get it now\u2014the chord changes were a point of reference, not the actual thing. He could have just said, \u201cNow that you understand the structure of the song, go make music.\u201d But that wasn\u2019t his way. I didn\u2019t know the song, so he let me go a couple of times before saying, \u201cOK, this is the take,\u201d as he crumbled up the sheet music and threw it across the room. I was forced to rely on my ears and react to what was going on.\u00a0That\u2019s what his genius was.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

What did you take away from\u00a0<\/strong>The Tonight Show<\/em>?<\/strong><\/p>\n

I learned a lot about myself, about entertainment and how much it\u2019s changed. I\u2019m better off now. What matters to me in music is what I think about it, not what the people who buy records think about it. In entertainment today, the viewer gets the final say\u2014and look where we are now. I want them to like it, but they don\u2019t get the final say.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

What\u2019s next?<\/strong><\/p>\n

We\u2019re going on the road. We\u2019ll play, learn new tunes, and when I get a sense the band is moving in the direction in which we\u00a0should record, we\u2019ll record.<\/p>\n

<\/div>\n


\n<\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

BRANFORD MARSALIS\u00a0 Some call it magic but for this sax genius it\u2019s just \u201cplayin\u2019 tunes\u201d\u00a0 By Jeff Tamarkin\u00a0 Branford Marsalis has never been one to hold back. The 52-year-old tenor and soprano saxophonist freely says and plays what he wants. So the title of his quartet\u2019s new release Four MFs Playin\u2019 Tunes shouldn\u2019t shock anyone\u2014but […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[23],"tags":[4928,4936,4931,4927,4925,4933,4930,4929,4932,4935,4538,4934,4926,2121,4938,970,4937],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/mmusicmag.com\/m\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7461"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/mmusicmag.com\/m\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/mmusicmag.com\/m\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mmusicmag.com\/m\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mmusicmag.com\/m\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=7461"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/mmusicmag.com\/m\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7461\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":7463,"href":"https:\/\/mmusicmag.com\/m\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7461\/revisions\/7463"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/mmusicmag.com\/m\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=7461"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mmusicmag.com\/m\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=7461"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mmusicmag.com\/m\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=7461"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}