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Marcus Roberts

Marcus Roberts grew up in Jacksonville, Florida where his mother's gospel singing and the music of the local church left a lasting impact on his own musical style. After losing his sight at age five, he began teaching himself to play piano a few years later. He had his first formal lessons at age twelve and ultimately went on to study classical piano at Florida State University with Leonidus Lipovetsky. While at FSU, Roberts won the first of many competitions and awards, the young artist's competition at the 1982 National Association of Jazz Educators annual conference. His many other awards include first prize at the Thelonious Monk International Jazz Competition in 1987, a National Academy of Achievement award in 1995 and the Helen Keller Award for Personal Achievement in 1998.

At age 21, Roberts began touring with Wynton Marsalis and stayed with the group for over six years. He 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 and includes solo piano, duets, and trio arrangements of jazz standards, original suites of music, large ensemble works, and symphony orchestra recordings.

Roberts first performed as a soloist with symphony orchestra in 1992 with Maestra Marin Alsop. Since that time, he has performed with orchestras all over the world, but most frequently with his long-time music mentor, Maestro Seiji Ozawa. In 2003, Roberts premiered his ground-breaking arrangement of Gershwin's “Concerto in F for Piano and Orchestra” with Ozawa in Japan with the New Japan Philharmonic and then in Europe, with the Berlin Philharmonic at their annual Wäldbuhne concert (A Gershwin Night (DVD), EuroArts 2003). Among Roberts most recent achievements was the April 2013 premiere of his first piano concerto, “Spirit of the Blues: Piano Concerto in C Minor”, with the Atlanta Symphony Orchestra under the direction of Maestro Robert Spano. That concerto was dedicated jointly to Maestro Ozawa and the late Martin Luther King, Jr.

Since beginning his own record label, J-Master Records, in 2009, Roberts' has released three CDs on the label: New Orleans Meets Harlem, Volume 1; Celebrating Christmas; and most recently, Deep in the Shed: A Blues Suite. In 2012, the Marcus Roberts Trio collaborated with Béla Fleck to record and tour Across the Imaginary Divide (distributed by Rounder Records). Two new CDs are scheduled to be released shortly on J-Master Records including a two-CD set (Together Again: Live in Concert and Together Again: In the Studio) with the Marcus Roberts Trio and special guest, Wynton Marsalis.

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7
Live Review

Marcus Roberts And The Modern Jazz Generation At The Kimmel Center

Read "Marcus Roberts And The Modern Jazz Generation At The Kimmel Center" reviewed by Victor L. Schermer


Marcus Roberts and the Modern Jazz Generation Kimmel Center for the Performing Arts Perelman Theater Philadelphia, PA October 11, 2019 Marcus Roberts is one of the great jazz pianists of his generation, coming up in the 1980s in Wynton Marsalis' band and since then more or less following Marsalis' emphasis on playing jazz classics rather than heading in new directions. He has developed a solid track record on his ...

8
Live Review

Marcus Roberts & The Modern Jazz Generation at The Flynn Center for The Performing Arts

Read "Marcus Roberts & The Modern Jazz Generation at The Flynn Center for The Performing Arts" reviewed by Doug Collette


Marcus Roberts & The Modern Jazz Generation Flynn Center for the Performing Arts Burlington, Vermont October 24, 2014 The last time pianist Marcus Roberts and his trio of bassist Rodney Jordan and drummer Jason Marsalis inhabited the MainStage of the Flynn Center, it was in the company of visionary banjo master Bela Fleck, and the four of them wasted no time in generating intense improvisation permeated with the joy of seemingly telepathic musicianly communication.

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Album Review

Marcus Roberts: Portraits in Blue

Read "Portraits in Blue" reviewed by Marc Davis


This has to be the most raucous, the most bluesy, the most improvisational “Rhapsody in Blue" ever recorded. And not all of the best improvisation is by Marcus Roberts. Wailing clarinets and wandering trumpets abound. And it is all in a spirit of the original, so much so that I believe jazz-loving George Gershwin would have approved.All of Gershwin's original music is there, but much of it is taken at unusual tempos--speeded up, slowed down or synchopated--with many ...

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New York Beat

Marcus Roberts: The Music of Jelly Roll Morton

Read "Marcus Roberts: The Music of Jelly Roll Morton" reviewed by Nick Catalano


In the midst of Jazz at Lincoln Center's May celebration of New Orleans music, Marcus Roberts and his trio, accompanied by a choir of horns, constructed a tribute to Jelly Roll Morton. The concert featured classic Morton compositions performed with some enterprising improvisations.Morton's importance as a jazz pioneer cannot be overstated, and the extent of his contributions is being studied properly under the microscope of Jazz at Lincoln Center. His breakthrough stride pianism, his introduction of Latin (tango, ...

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Interview

Marcus Roberts: Has A Lot More To Do

Read "Marcus Roberts: Has A Lot More To Do" reviewed by Tod Smith


With a foundation in the church and a passion for America's music, Marcus Roberts is easily one of the most prolific pianists of his generation. Hailing from Jacksonville, Florida and influenced by the early exposure to his mother's gospel singing, he decided that he wanted to be a jazz pianist after listening to the music of Duke Ellington, Benny Goodman, Mary Lou Williams and others on the radio. A student of classical piano at Florida State University, Roberts joined the ...

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Interview

Marcus Roberts: The Truth is Spoken Here

Read "Marcus Roberts: The Truth is Spoken Here" reviewed by Marc Minsker


Wynton Marsalis is one of the most talented trumpet players on the scene today. Unfortunately, he's also one of the most egotistical musicians out there. As an unofficial “spokesman for jazz," Wynton has helped to promote jazz throughout the world, but he's personally done very little to innovate the art form. This is unfortunate because jazz is all about transformation and change.

Perhaps his greatest contribution to the music is his support of young and upcoming musicians like Marcus Roberts. ...

298
Album Review

Marcus Roberts: Blues For The New Millennium

Read "Blues For The New Millennium" reviewed by AAJ Staff


An old saying claims that the acorn never falls far from the tree. In the world of jazz, that doesn't always hold, but more often than not, it lands at least within shouting distance. Take the case of Marcus Roberts for example. As Wynton Marsalis's pianist of choice for much of the 80's and into the early 90's, Roberts worked extensively with Marsalis until branching out on his own in the mid 90's. From there though, Roberts didn't move very ...

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Performance / Tour

The swinging art of the jazz trio - at its best

The swinging art of the jazz trio - at its best

Source: Ken Franckling's Jazz Notes

Pianist Marcus Roberts made clear his musical agenda right up front. “We believe that a jazz trio should not put you to sleep." And they certainly didn't at a Friday, April 19 concert at in downtown Fort Myers, FL. The event wrapped the 2018-19 jazz concert season at the Sidney & Berne Davis Arts Center. Roberts made sure his longtime trio mates, bassist Rodney Jordan and drummer Jason Marsalis (the youngest brother in the musical clan from New Orleans), also ...

Performance / Tour

Jazz this week: Marcus Roberts, Bethany Pickens, a tribute to Lee Morgan, and more

Jazz this week: Marcus Roberts, Bethany Pickens, a tribute to Lee Morgan, and more

Source: St. Louis Jazz Notes by Dean Minderman

This week's schedule of jazz and creative music in and around St. Louis features performances from two talented touring pianists, as well as an eclectic assortment of shows featuring local bands and musicians. Let's go to the highlights... Wednesday, February 17 Pianist Marcus Roberts and his trio will play the first of four nights continuing through Saturday at Jazz at the Bistro. After first gaining wide attention in the 1980s as a member of trumpeter Wynton Marsalis' band, Roberts has ...

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Performance / Tour

Jazz This Week: Marcus Roberts Trio, Denise Thimes with Cyrus Chestnut and Tom Braxton, Pedrosaxo, and More

Jazz This Week: Marcus Roberts Trio, Denise Thimes with Cyrus Chestnut and Tom Braxton, Pedrosaxo, and More

Source: St. Louis Jazz Notes by Dean Minderman

Although it's getting to the end of the spring presenting season for jazz and creative music here in St. Louis, this Mother's Day weekend nevertheless offers plenty of options for your listening enjoyment. Let's go to the highlights... Tonight, pianist Marcus Roberts (pictured) and his trio will be the featured performers for the tenth annual “Evening of Hope" event benefiting the Hope Center for Neurological Disorders at the Sheldon Concert Hall. Roberts last played in St. Louis in November 2012 ...

Performance / Tour

Jazz This Week: John Pizzarelli, Kirk Whalum, Marcus Roberts, Four in One, and More

Jazz This Week: John Pizzarelli, Kirk Whalum, Marcus Roberts, Four in One, and More

Source: St. Louis Jazz Notes by Dean Minderman

It's a busy weekend for jazz and creative music in St. Louis, and time is short, so let's skip the introduction and go straight to the highlights... Tonight, guitarist and singer John Pizzarelli opens a four-night engagement at Jazz at the Bistro. A longtime local favorite thanks to numerous previous appearances in St. Louis, Pizzarelli currently is on tour promoting both a book (the “musical memoir" World On A String) and a new album, Double Exposure. The album features Pizzarelli ...

Performance / Tour

The Sheldon, Metrotix Offering "Buy One, Get One Free" Discount on Tickets for Marcus Roberts Concert This Saturday

The Sheldon, Metrotix Offering "Buy One, Get One Free" Discount on Tickets for Marcus Roberts Concert This Saturday

Source: St. Louis Jazz Notes by Dean Minderman

If you've been holding off on getting tickets to see pianist Marcus Roberts and his trio (pictured) this Saturday at the Sheldon Concert Hall for budgetary reasons, you may be in luck (even if you don't win Wednesday's big Powerball drawing). That's because The Sheldon and Metrotix today announced a “buy one, get one free" offer on tickets to see Roberts, who's making his first St. Louis appearance in many years. (For more about Marcus Roberts, see this post from ...

Video / DVD

STLJN Saturday Video Showcase: Deep in the Shed with Marcus Roberts

STLJN Saturday Video Showcase: Deep in the Shed with Marcus Roberts

Source: St. Louis Jazz Notes by Dean Minderman

More so than many jazz pianists of his generation, Marcus Roberts shows the distinct influence of pre-WWII piano players such as Jelly Roll Morton, James P. Johnson, Fats Waller and others who helped shape the music's first few decades. St. Louis jazz fans will get a chance to experience Roberts' historically informed pianism in a couple of weeks when he and his trio perform on Saturday, December 1 at the Sheldon Concert Hall. ...

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Festival

Kevin Eubanks Band, Walter Trout, Bela Fleck & The Marcus Roberts Trio and more Headline 2nd RiverJazz Presented By Concannon Miller

Kevin Eubanks Band, Walter Trout, Bela Fleck & The Marcus Roberts Trio and more Headline 2nd RiverJazz Presented By Concannon Miller

Source: Mark Demko

Walter Trout & the Radicals, Preservation Hall Jazz Band, Béla Fleck and the Marcus Roberts Trio, and former Tonight Show band leader Kevin Eubanks and his band headline the second-annual RiverJazz presented by Concannon Miller, May 10-25 at the SteelStacks arts and cultural campus in Bethlehem. Tickets for these concerts, which will take place at the ArtsQuest Center at SteelStacks' Musikfest Café presented by Yuengling, 101 Founders Way, will go on sale starting Tues., Feb. 14, 10 a.m., to ArtsQuest ...

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Performance / Tour

Marcus Roberts Reprises His Seminal 1990 Release "Deep in the Shed"

Marcus Roberts Reprises His Seminal 1990 Release "Deep in the Shed"

Source: Michael Ricci

This Saturday, February 20th, award-winning jazz pianist Marcus Roberts and The Marcus Roberts Septet will perform two historic reprises of Roberts' 1990 release 'Deep in the Shed' during Tallahassee's “Seven Days of Opening Nights" concert series in Turner Auditorium at Tallahassee Community College. “The beauty of the compositions came through clearly...carefully arranged and packed with incident and contrast, “ raved the New York Times of a 2008 performance of 'Deep in the Shed' at Jazz at Lincoln Center. “This suite ...

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Performance / Tour

Warmly Balancing Mind and Heart

Warmly Balancing Mind and Heart

Source: Michael Ricci

Marcus Roberts draws few distinctions between the playful and the professorial. As a pianist, bandleader and composer-arranger he balances erudition against reserves of charisma and wit. His first set at Dizzy’s Club Coca-Cola on Tuesday night was typical: generous in its warmth and strategic in its pacing, with a wealth of serendipitous detail. Mr. Roberts filled the set largely with material from a new album, “New Orleans Meets Harlem Vol. 1” (J Master), his first in eight years. As on ...

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Performance / Tour

The Marcus Roberts Trio at Dizzy's Club Coca-Cola

The Marcus Roberts Trio at Dizzy's Club Coca-Cola

Source: All About Jazz

The Marcus Roberts Trio with Roland Guerin on bass and Jason Marsalis on drums will perform a six-night run at Dizzy's Club Coca-Cola at Jazz at Lincoln Center July 21 through the July 26. Roberts and company have a long association with Jazz at Lincoln Center and with Wynton Marsalis, dating back to Roberts' joining Marsalis' band in 1985. The Marcus Roberts Trio has spent over a decade together, a relationship perfected on the new J Master Records album 'New ...

"Glowing is the proper response to Roberts' music" —Josef Woodard, The Independent

"Mr. Roberts... plays almost completely free of cliches, and while the intellectual construct within which he works is old - the application of the modern on a foundation of tradition—his ability in all his idioms seemed startlingly thorough." —Peter Watrous, New York Times

"That the huge crowd at Orchestra Hall on Friday night responded...with an instantaneous standing ovation said a great deal about Roberts' ability to keep an audience in his spell." —Howard Reich, Chicago Tribune

"The sheer power and beauty of Roberts' creations...warrant further investigation." —Larry Blumenfeld, Jazziz

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Primary Instrument

Piano

Willing to teach

Advanced only

Credentials/Background

On the faculty at Florida State University School of Music

Clinic/Workshop Information

Does clinics and workshops in a wide range of settings. Is Director of Educational programs for Savannah Music Festival

Photos

Concerts

Apr 19 Fri
Apr 19 Fri
Apr 20 Sat
Apr 20 Sat

Music

Recordings: As Leader | As Sideperson

Portraits in Blue

Columbia Records
2014

buy

The Joy Of Joplin

Dreyfus Jazz
1998

buy

Blues For The New...

Dreyfus Jazz
1997

buy

Portraits in Blue

Columbia Records
1996

buy

Gershwin For Lovers

Dreyfus Jazz
1994

buy

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