Joey Calderazzo News

Marsalis pianist Calderazzo to make a welcome return

Publication: Kansas City Star
By: Joe Klopus
Date: December 1, 2010

 

One good turn deserves another. So, less than a month after he was in town with the Branford Marsalis Quartet, pianist Joey Calderazzo is back on Saturday at the helm of his own trio.

Calderazzo, appearing this time at the Blue Room, has spent 12 years in the Marsalis quartet and has been associated with the saxophonist for upward of 20 years. But, as he’ll prove Saturday, he’s no mere sideman.

A native New Yorker, he’s one of those “young lions” who emerged in the 1980s. A lot of people first heard him with tenor saxophonist Michael Brecker about 1987.

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Submitted by Bobby on December 16th, 2010 — 01:20pm

Two Stars, Two Assertive Drummers

Publication: New York Times
Author: Ben Ratliff
Date: October 3, 2010

The trumpeter Terence Blanchard and the saxophonist Branford Marsalis, in back-to-back sets at Rose Theater on Friday, played what sounded like new music.

Branford and TerenceIn truth some of it was old. (And some of it was really old.) But the flexible musical rhetoric of the sets felt like the right move for the main theater at Jazz at Lincoln Center, where jazz is often presented with an overarching theme, program notes and a set list published in advance.

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Submitted by Ben on October 4th, 2010 — 09:15am

Detroit International Jazz Festival wrap-up: A fiery final day

Publication: MLive.com
Author: Mike Stratton
Date: September 7, 2010

The theme of this year’s Detroit International Jazz Festival was Flame Keepers, and the heritage and jazz history on display at the festival shows the music to be very much alive and in good hands.

Where else can you see Barry Harris watching Mulgrew Miller from a front row seat? Or young Tia Fuller grab a chair to make sure to catch Roy Haynes’ burning set? Or watch Gerald Wilson grow young before our eyes leading a dynamic big band through some punchy arrangements?

Highlights of the last day of the festival included an amazing set of music by Branford Marsalis Quartet. Caught backstage and asked, “What’s your personal highlight of the festival?” Wess “Warmdaddy” Anderson answered, “This right here.” When questioned what he thought of Branford he answered immediately and authoritatively: “Branford Marsalis is the greatest living saxophonist.”
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Submitted by Ben on September 8th, 2010 — 12:44pm

Branford Marsalis Quartet At The Queen Elizabeth Hall

Date: 11.15.2009
Publication: Sebastian Scotney’s Telegraph Blog
Author: Sebastian Scotney

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Submitted by Ben on November 15th, 2009 — 12:00am

The NEW BMQ in Boston doesn’t miss a beat

Date: 09.25.2009
Publication: The Boston Globe
Author: Steve Greenlee

 

Though center stage belonged to one of jazz’s most heralded saxophonists, all eyes and ears were on the drummer, Justin Faulkner. After two decades with the band, Jeff “Tain’’ Watts - jazz’s most explosive drummer - left the Branford Marsalis Quartet this year to focus on his own projects. His replacement is Faulkner, an 18-year-old who is just starting his secondary education at the Berklee College of Music.
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Submitted by Ben on September 24th, 2009 — 11:00pm