Tag Archives: Lexington

in performance: jason marsalis vibes quartet

by Walter Tunis
LexGo
November 14, 2014

Jason Marsalis at Ruths Cozy CornerThe most immediately arresting aspect of last night’s performance by Jason Marsalis at the Phelps-Stokes Auditorium of Berea College was the profoundly cool sound he summoned from the instrument before him. Known through area concerts over the past two decades as a drummer (including a 2005 show on this very stage), the youngest sibling of New Orleans’ famed Marsalis family favored the vibraphone and the melodically lustrous but sonically reserved tone it conjured.

On the opening bars of Blues Can Be Abstract, Too, the vibraphone’s notes hung liked chilled colors in the air that grew more expansive when Marsalis chose to add pedal induced sustain. The tune served as a beautiful introduction not only to the instrument but to what the bandleader chose to do with it.

Fronting what he aptly calls his Vibes Quartet, Marsalis flirted with jazz tradition and tried out more than a few progressive ideas. But that hardly translated into the big band majesty Lionel Ham\pton brought to the instrument from the 1930s onward or the scholarly combo improvisations defined a generation later by Gary Burton. Aside from a few fleeting passages where Burton’s innovations in playing the vibes with four mallets instead of the usual two surfaced, Marsalis followed his own muses, including a few from his native New Orleans.

On Blues for Now, one of eight com positions performed from the Vibes Quartet’s second and newest album, The 21st Century Trad Band, a rugged Marsalis solo on the vibes led into a tight trio run instigated by pianist Austin Johnson. The music became noticeably more playful during the checklist of conflicting grooves that set the stage for The Man with Two Left Feet and its jovial percussive breakdown from drummer David Porter. And for pure Southern melody, nothing beat the curiously titled 18th Letter of Silence where a sunny vibes stride by Marsalis quickly served as a contrast to the dynamics of his rhythm section. Johnson got the lion’s share of the solo spotlight but Potter and bassist Will Goble drove the tune.

Ultimately, it was the show-closing title composition to The 21st Century Trad Band that defined the performance with a mash-up of familiar melodies (When the Saints Go Marching In was the most detectable), twisted bits of swing and some furious syncopation. The elements may have been rooted in the past but the end results brought the music into the here and now with the tonal splendor of the vibes leading the charge.

Youngest Marsalis brother brings his jazz vibes and quartet to Berea

by Walter Tunis
LexGo
November 8, 2014 

Jason MarsalisJason Marsalis received his formal introduction to the drums at the age of 3. That’s when his parents, the household heads of the famed Marsalis family that changed the face of jazz beginning in the early ’80s, bought him a toy kit.

He also studied violin at 5 years old. But Marsalis’ current instrument of choice, the supremely cool vibraphone, was still years away from making an entrance into his life.

“I first got a set of vibes while in high school but I didn’t seriously start to do performances on it until around 2000,” said the youngest of the Marsalis brothers, who performs a free convocation concert with his Vibes Quartet on Thursday at Berea College. “It’s an instrument I’ve worked on bit by bit.

“The first appeal, honestly, was the fact that there have not been a lot of vibraphonists in jazz music compared to the number of horn players. The second appeal was that there were a lot of possibilities that just haven’t been explored with the instrument. Also, there’s the fact that it’s a percussion instrument, just like drums. But now we’re dealing with an instrument that produces actual notes and melody.

“Since I had already studied violin and already studied music to that level, I thought it would be great to play an instrument that expresses my understanding of melody and harmony.”

One would think jazz music of any style would have surrounded Marsalis during childhood, especially with older siblings Branford (a saxophonist), Wynton (a trumpeter) and Delfeayo (a trombonist) in the house. But the reality is that for much of his upbringing, they weren’t around.

“Because I was born so late, they were all out of the house by the time I was 6 years old. My brothers were all musicians who were serious about their craft and learning as much as they could. So what I learned from my brothers and my father (veteran New Orleans pianist Ellis Marsalis) was to learn all the music I could to become a better musician as well as a more knowledgeable one.”

Although the youngest Marsalis had racked up considerable roadwork experience by the age of 9, it was his role as drummer in the trio of pianist Marcus Roberts beginning in 1994 that garnered attention from jazz audiences around the world. Marsalis still plays regularly with Roberts around his own band projects.

“I met Jason when he was 7 or 8,” said Roberts prior to his September concert at the Opera House. “He started working with me, I think, in November of ’94, so it’s now been 20 years. So I just think the world of Jason. He is a brilliant mind. He’s also a fantastic drummer, in my opinion, the greatest in a generation.

“Jason represents what you want to see when you mentor somebody. What you really want to see is that one day they end up knowing more about what you thought you taught them than you do. In other words, at this point, he’s teaching me about drums.”

Of course, on Thursday, Marsalis won’t be playing drums. He will be manning the vibes for the sleek new tunes from his quartet’s new album, The 21st Century Trad Band.

“Really the sound and concept of the group started to gel about six years ago and has been evolving ever since. But the reason why the group spirit is so strong is really quite simple. It’s because the musicians want to play this music. They believe in working together and achieving the highest level possible to play music. But they also just love to play live.”