Branford Marsalis Releases New Quartet CD, Guests with North Carolina Symphony

Date: 03.02.2009
Publication: Jazz Times
Author: Jeff Tamarkin

Saxophonist Branford Marsalis celebrates the release of two new and very different recordings this month. Metamorphosen is the title of the latest from the Branford Marsalis Quartet, due March 17 on the Marsalis Music label. The album marks the tenth anniversary of the group, which also includes pianist Joey Calderazzo, bassist Eric Revis and drummer Jeff “Tain” Watts.

In addition, Marsalis is also featured on American Spectrum, a four-work CD by the North Carolina Symphony. Marsalis guests as the soloist on one piece, John Williams’ “Escapades,” and the quartet performs on Ned Rorem’s “Lions (a Dream).” The album is the first commercial release by the North Carolina Symphony, released on the Stockholm-based BIS Records. Marsalis moved to Durham, N.C. from suburban New York in 2002.