Playing It Cool: Marcus Roberts Trio Jazz Concert Feb. 10

Story posted January 28, 2010

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A highly innovative and original piano style, creative imagination, philosophy of jazz improvisation, and deep respect for the great masters of jazz and classical music, all combine to make Marcus Roberts one of the most diverse and acclaimed artists in jazz.

The Marcus Roberts Trio, which also features Rodney Jordan on bass and Jason Marsalis on drums, will perform at Bowdoin College at 7:30 p.m. Wednesday, February 10, 2010, in Kanbar Auditorium, Studzinski Recital Hall.

The concert is free to Bowdoin students, faculty, staff and members of the Association of Bowdoin Friends. Admission is $15 for the general public. Tickets are required and are available at the David Saul Smith Union information desk on campus, 207-725-3375.

Marcus Roberts grew up in Jacksonville, Florida, where his early exposure to his mother's gospel singing and the music of the local church left a lasting impact on his own musical style. Roberts lost his sight at age five and he began to teach himself to play piano three years later. Soon thereafter, he began playing every Sunday at the local Baptist church. When he was twelve, he had his first formal piano lessons and around that same time, he decided to be a jazz pianist after hearing the music of Duke Ellington, Benny Goodman, Mary Lou Williams and other jazz greats on the radio.

Roberts attended Florida State University (FSU) where he won his first of many awards and competitions (the young artist's competition at the 1982 National Association of Jazz Educators annual conference). The next year he won the Great American Jazz Piano Competition, followed by first prize at the Thelonious Monk International Jazz Competition in 1987. He was honored to receive a National Academy of Achievement award in 1995 and in 1998 he received the award that he considers his highest honor, the Helen Keller Award for Personal Achievement.

Roberts joined Wynton Marsalis' band at age 21 and toured and recorded with the trumpeter for the next six years. Roberts signed his first recording contract with BMG/Novus in 1988 and completed six recordings for them before signing with Columbia Records early in 1994. All of his recordings have been critically acclaimed, and several have reached the No. 1 spot on Billboard's traditional jazz chart. Roberts' recording legacy reflects his tremendous versatility as an artist-with recordings that include solo piano, duets, and trio arrangements of jazz standards, original suites of trio music, large ensemble works, and symphony orchestra, including his Grammy-nominated recording of Gershwin's signature classic, "Rhapsody in Blue" (Portraits in Blue, 1996).

In the spring of 2009, after a self-imposed hiatus that found him concentrating on teaching, Roberts released newest trio recording, New Orleans Meets Harlem, Volume 1, on his own label. The recording continues to receive rave reviews, and was considered one of 2009's best jazz albums.

Roberts is also a prolific composer and arranger and a tireless educator. He regularly provides master classes, workshops, school shows, and residency programs all over the world in an effort to expose as many young people as possible to jazz. There is a long history of mentoring in the jazz tradition, going all the way back to King Oliver and Louis Armstrong. "It's essential that we build on that tradition not just to keep the music alive but to move it ahead to the next level," says Roberts.

"Every time I sit down at the piano, I draw spontaneously from all of that history of great music that I have at my fingertips," he notes. "That's why I never stop studying great artistic achievement in music. It just gives me more to draw from in my improvisations. When I play, I play for the people. There's no requirement that they know anything specific about jazz to enjoy my music. It's important that we as artists embrace the people-jazz music is not an elite art form. It was created by and grew from the soil of our rich and, at times, difficult American experience, and its resonance will continue as long as our democratic structure exists."

The Marcus Roberts Trio's Bowdoin appearance is sponsored by the Donald M. Zuckert Visiting Professorship Fund.

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