Branford Marsalis Receives North Carolina Arts Award

Jazz saxophonist Branford Marsalis, author Ron Rash and artist Vollis Simpson are among six recipients of the 2011 North Carolina Award, the state’s highest civilian honor, administered by the N.C. Department of Cultural Resources.

Branford Marsalis Quartet heads into the studio to record new album

For the first time since drummer Justin Faulkner joined the band, the Branford Marsalis Quartet heads into the studio to record a new album. Released in the summer of 2012 digitally and on CD, the album was also delivered on deluxe 180-gram high-definition vinyl for Record Store Day 2012.

Branford Marsalis composes music for the Katori Hall play “The Mountaintop”

Following the success of August Wilson’s “Fences,” Marsalis composes and scores the music for the 2011 Broadway premiere of “The Mountaintop,” a fictional depiction of the eve of Reverend Martin Luther King's assassination on April 4, 1968, starring Samuel L. Jackson and Angela Bassett.

The Ellis Marsalis Center for Music officially opens in the Musicians' Village of New Orleans

On the sixth anniversary of Hurricane Katrina, one of the most positive responses to the catastrophe that devastated New Orleans was unveiled – The Ellis Marsalis Center for Music. Located at 1901 Bartholomew Street in the heart of the Musicians’ Village in the Upper Ninth Ward, and named for one of the city’s most influential pianists, educators and living legends, the Center will serve as a state of the art facility for the preservation and ongoing development of New Orleans music and culture.

Branford Marsalis & Joey Calderazzo release their first duo album, Songs of Mirth and Melancholy, after working together in the band setting for over ten years. The duo took the stage at Koerner Hall in Toronto, Ontario to present the world premiere of this project at the 2011 TD Toronto Jazz Festival on June 29, 2011.

Branford joins the Basque National Orchestra in San Sebastián and Bilbao, Spain for a series of performances. Conducted by Andrey Boreyko, Marsalis and the Orchestra performed Glazunov’s “Concert for Saxophone and Orchestra” and Schulhoff’s “Jazz Concerto for Saxophone and Orchestra.”

The official release date for Sting's new CD and DVD Live In Berlin. Branford Marsalis performs on several of the songs including "Englishman In New York," "Desert Rose," and "Mad About You."