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Todd Marcus

Bass clarinetist, composer, and bandleader Todd Marcus is one of the few jazz artists worldwide to focus exclusively on the bass clarinet as a solo instrument. While use of bass clarinet in jazz typically tends to lean heavily towards avant-garde and free-jazz styles, Marcus’ playing presents the instrument with a modern straight-ahead jazz approach. His music swings hard with both fiery and introspective intensity but also maintains a strong lyrical sensibility. Based in Baltimore, MD, Marcus actively leads small ensembles such as the Todd Marcus Quartet, Trio, and Duo as well as his nonet - The Todd Marcus Jazz Orchestra which features his compositions and arrangements for six horns, piano, bass, and drums. Self taught in jazz theory and composition, Marcus’ compositions draw largely on straight-ahead jazz and classical influences but over recent years have also increasingly explored the Middle-Eastern sounds from his Egyptian-American heritage. His work includes international performances, clinics, and radio play and he has worked with other jazz artists such as Bennie Maupin, Don Byron, Larry Willis, Ralph Peterson, Odean Pope, Tim Warfield, Sean Jones, George Colligan, Orrin Evans, Joel Frahm, Xavier Davis, Mike Formanek, and Gary Thomas. Marcus was also a featured guest at the 1st World Bass Clarinet Convention in Rotterdam, Holland where his work was recognized for both his compositions and unique solo voice. Marcus balances his music career by running Newborn Holistic Ministries, a nonprofit addressing poverty related issues in his Baltimore, Maryland neighborhood. The organization runs an art program providing children and adults with alternatives to drugs and violence in the community, a recovery program for women overcoming drug addiction and homelessness, and has achieved significant community revitalization by renovating abandoned buildings and vacant lots.

Awards

2014 Baker Artist Award winner


Tags

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Radio & Podcasts

Mike Holober, Todd Marcus, Alex Hamburger and Others

Read "Mike Holober, Todd Marcus, Alex Hamburger and Others" reviewed by Jerome Wilson


This show features recent releases by Todd Marcus, Mike Holober, and Alex Hamburger among others as well as older music from Andrew Hill, Abdullah Ibrahim, and Jimmy Giuffre. Playlist Henry Threadgill Sextett “I Can't Wait Till I Get Home" from The Complete Novus & Columbia Recordings of Henry Threadgill & Air (Mosaic) 00:00 Quentin Angus “New Beginnings" from The State of Things (Outside In) 00:57 Mike Holober & Balancing Act “Burnin' Daylight" from Don't Let Go (Sunnyside) 7:29 ...

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Album Review

Jeff Reed: Look for the Light

Read "Look for the Light" reviewed by Geannine Reid


Bassist Jeff Reed resides in Maryland but is widely known as a sideman on over fifty albums. Reed is a schooled musician earning his Bachelor of Music from Towson University and a Master of Music from the University of Maryland, College Park. Coming full circle educationally, Reed is an adjunct faculty member at Towson University. Surprisingly, this is Reed's debut album, but one that is a welcome moment in his credits. Inspired by his son's birth, the album began its ...

Album Review

Elio Villafranca: Cinque

Read "Cinque" reviewed by Maurizio Zerbo


Questo doppio CD è dedicato alla memoria di Joseph Cinque, che nel 1839 capeggiò la rivolta degli schiavi africani imbarcati sulla nave Amistad con destinazione Cuba e le sue piantagioni di zucchero. È un progetto ambizioso sulla diaspora africana in cui la narrazione vocale delle vicende storiche ben si combina ad un sontuoso apparato musicale, articolato in una suite di cinque movimenti. A fare da trait d'union, l'ancestrale retroterra ritmico della regione congolese, su cui vengono di volta in volta ...

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Performance / Tour

Todd Marcus Jazz Orchestra To Appear At Bohemian Caverns

Todd Marcus Jazz Orchestra To Appear At Bohemian Caverns

Source: Liz Fixsen

The Todd Marcus Jazz Orchestra formed 10 years ago by bass clarinetist Todd Marcus, features outstanding musicians from many states. Its rich sound incorporates straight-ahead jazz with other influences from classical to Middle-Eastern. The orchestra explores a range of moods while swinging hard and showcasing the individual talents of each ensemble artist. The group’s Bohemian Caverns program on January 19 will pay special tribute to Martin Luther King, Jr. Jazz critics give enthusiastic kudos to Marcus: “An explosion of straight-ahead ...

Interview

Keeping the Lamp Lit in Baltimore: Todd Marcus

Keeping the Lamp Lit in Baltimore: Todd Marcus

Source: The Independent Ear by Willard Jenkins

The city of Baltimore certainly has its share of a rich jazz legacy. On the contemporary scene there is increasing jazz performance activity in Baltimore, as well as a growing cadre of exceptional young musicians who are striving to contribute. These include such talented players as vibraphonist-multi-instrumentalist Warren Wolf and alto saxophonist Tim Green. Another who fits that mold is bass clarinetist-composer-bandleader Todd Marcus, who is also contributing to the city’s social activism fabric. Following his performance at the loft ...

“Mr. Marcus is probably the most inventive bass clarinetist working in straight-ahead jazz today…[and] lives in Baltimore, where he is a guiding light on the city’s jazz scene who doubles as an activist and organizer.” —- New York Times, August 2017 "This is music that is smart, heartfelt and alive with ardent conviction." —- The New York City Jazz Record, January 2016 "Marcus...is clearly what the jazz polls call a "rising star" - as a composer-arranger and as a bass clarinetist. In Marcus' hands, the bass clarinet is no longer a specialty instrument

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Primary Instrument

Clarinet, bass

Location

Baltimore

Willing to teach

Advanced only

Credentials/Background

addition to feature performances, the Todd Marcus ensembles are all also available for clinics, workshops, and masterclasses. These education programs can be tailored for children or adults and both musicians and nonmusicians alike. These sessions are designed to expose participants to jazz and cultivate understanding and appreciation for the music. Todd Marcus education projects can be offered as one-time sessions or as a series of sequential events or residencies. Common topics featured include how to listen to jazz, coaching on ensemble and solo performing and improvisation, incorporation of different styles of music, and discussion of how to pursue a career as a professional jazz musician.

Clinic/Workshop Information

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Photos

Music

Recordings: As Leader | As Sideperson

In the Valley

Stricker Street Records
2022

buy

Look for the Light

Self Produced
2020

buy

Trio+

Stricker Street Records
2019

buy

On These Streets

Stricker Street Records
2018

buy

Cinque

ArtistShare
2018

buy

Blues for Tahrir

HiPNOTIC Records
2015

buy

Cinque + Narration 2 (Part 1)

From: Cinque
By Todd Marcus

The Adventures of Kang and Kodos

From: Inheritance
By Todd Marcus

Videos

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