Branford Marsalis Quartet

THE SECRET BETWEEN THE SHADOW AND THE SOUL

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T his music could not arrive at a more auspicious time. By my calculation,
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2018 marks the 75th anniversary of the saxophone/piano/bass/drum
quartet as a definitive configuration. No doubt such ensembles performed
before 1943, but it was at the close of that year that Lester Young and
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Coleman Hawkins made their
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Branford Marsalis
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Marsalis’s musical interests and nurturing his strengths has been reinforced
exponentially by the complementary skills and uncommon loyalty of his
partners. The present collection captures a band where everyone contributes
and everyone serves.
B assist Eric Revis has been a member since 1997, and provides the
underpinning that spurs and tethers the quartet’s explorations. His deep
sound and melodic daring have been present from the start of his tenure,
but in recent years he has made leaps as a composer and leader of his
own projects. He has contributed “Dance of the Evil Toys,” a synchronized
speed-walk that explodes into free expression, and “Nilaste,” a ballad with
a sustained aura of mystery and one of many examples of elevated group
dynamics. Revis also introduced the band to “Snake Hip Waltz,” Andrew
Hill’s quirky puzzle with both three beats to the bar and three bars to the
melodic phrases.

P ianist Joey Calderazzo joined in 1998, though he had first played in

sessions with Marsalis nearly two decades earlier while barely a
teenager. At the time, Calderazzo was recognized as a technical wizard
whose mastery of the burnout was second to none. After two decades
with Marsalis, Calderazzo has become a more complete musician, with
a new range and vulnerability in his music and a newfound skill for
producing indelible melodies like the seductive “Cianna” and the more
delicate “Conversation Among the Ruins.”
D rummer Justin Faulkner came aboard in 2009, as he was about to
graduate high school. Another virtuoso, he has the ability to propel
without overwhelming. Faulkner reveals, in both his solo at the close of
“The Windup” and in his support throughout, that he possesses a keen
sense of the weight and color that each musical moment demands.

A s always, Marsalis establishes an elevated sense of sound (on both

soprano and tenor saxophones) and musical narrative. His technique
is superb yet never self-serving, his rhythmic attack fluid but true, and the
dramatic coherence of his solos is refreshing at a time when the ability
to tell a story threatens to become a lost art. The performance Marsalis
delivers on his own “Life Filtering from the Water Flowers,” which begins in
haunted rumination before rising through the misty shadings of the rhythm
section, has the focus and impact of an operatic aria. On other tracks,
whether funky, consoling or fierce, he remains unwavering in his focus on
the specifics of the underlying material.
A band with this much history knows how to sound good. The superior
audio quality that Marsalis demands and longtime engineer Rob Hunter
delivers is part of the reason, but it would mean little without a collective sense
of how to let loose individually while remaining tethered to the gyroscopic center
of each performance. This is music both meant to be and capable of being heard
and appreciated in all of its parts. It is always serious yet never academic, and if it
has levels of information that reward study, each track conveys a direct message
audible to even the uninitiated. If you catch the nod to Ornette Coleman at the end
of Marsalis’s tenor solo on Jarrett’s “The Windup,” that’s great yet hardly essential.
You don’t have to be a jazz scholar to appreciate the magic of saxophone, piano,
bass and drums when played by those defining the current state of the art.

— Bob Blumenthal
Produced by Branford Marsalis
Recorded and mixed by Rob “Wacko!” Hunter
Recorded May 28-30, 2018 at Alexander Theatre at Monash University, Clayton,
VIC Australia
Mixed August 3-10, 29-31, 2018 at Studio in the Country, Durham, NC
Mastered September 28, 2018 by Greg Calbi at Sterling Sound, Edgewater, NJ

Art Direction and Design by Steven Jurgensmeyer

Photography by Eric Ryan Anderson

BRANFORD WOULD LIKE TO THANKǡNicole, Reese, Peyton, Thaïs, Ellis, Wynton, Ellis III, Delf, Mboya, Jason, Anita,
Fiona, Ann Marie, Kathey, Brian, Bobby, Nancy and all the folks at Wilkins Management, Rod, Janet Morton, Matthew
and friends at Opus 3, Katherine McVicker and the crew at MWI, Wulf Müller and the team at Okeh/Sony, David Gould
and Andrew Hadro at Vandoren, Paul Grabowsky, Phil Noy, Russel Proud and our mates
at Alexander Theatre, César Rodrigues, and Ern Rose

JOEY WOULD LIKE TO THANK his family and friends, especially his son William,
and also Gille Amaral, Dr. Christian at Blüthner-Haessler, and Bill & Amy Cotter

ERIC WOULD LIKE TO THANK Maximina, Miles, Xiomara, Rio and Allana, his friends
and family

JUSTIN WOULD LIKE TO THANK God for the gift of music, Carol Faulkner, Elmer Mitchell, Nazir Ebo, Gerald
Pickett, friends, family and mentors for their continual support.
He dedicates this album to his late father, Gerald Faulkner

Joey endorses Blüthner Pianos

Justin endorses Tama Hardware and Pedals, Craviotto Drums, Zildjian Cymbals, and Vic Firth Drumsticks
High Definition Microphones on this session were provided courtesy of Earthworks

© & P 2019 Marsalis Music, LLC. Under exclusive license to Sony Music Entertainment. / OKeh is a registered
trademark of Sony Music Entertainment. / OKeh is an imprint of Sony Music Masterworks.
This album is dedicated to the memories of Matvey Shirling, Hamiett Bluiett,
Jerry Gonzalez, Sonny Fortune, Roy Hargrove, and Gerri Allen

Life Filtering from the Water Flowers is in memory of Dolores Marsalis