Branford Marsalis to Perform With Bienen School Jazz Orchestra

EVANSTON, Ill. --- World-renowned jazz saxophonist Branford Marsalis -- the eldest of the four musical Marsalis brothers – will join clarinetist Victor Goines and the Northwestern University Jazz Orchestra on stage to launch the spring jazz season on the Evanston campus.

Presented by Northwestern’s Henry and Leigh Bienen School of Music, the 7:30 p.m. Friday, April 1 performance featuring Marsalis, Goines and the Jazz Orchestra will take place at Pick-Staiger Concert Hall, 50 Arts Circle Drive. Tickets are $30 for the general public or $10 for students with valid IDs.

• The following day, a conversation with Marsalis and Goines will be held at noon, Saturday, April 2, in the Patrick G. and Shirley W. Ryan Center for the Musical Arts’ Mary B. Galvin Recital Hall, at 70 Arts Circle Drive. The event is free and open to the general public.

• The April 1 concert will include a performance of Goines’ “Crescent City,” featuring Grammy-winning saxophonist Marsalis, accompanied by the Northwestern University Jazz Orchestra, which is comprised of students and alumni of the Bienen School’s jazz studies program. “Crescent City,” an homage to Goines’ home city of New Orleans, was commissioned by Jazz at Lincoln Center in 2013 and premiered in New York in January 2014. The program also will feature Goines as clarinetist in his 2009 ASCAP commissioned piece, “Benny: Then, Now, Forever,” a work honoring jazz clarinetist and bandleader Benny Goodman -- the “King of Swing.”

Three additional spring jazz programs featuring Northwestern jazz studies student ensembles include a program celebrating the music of Thelonious Monk. (More information on these events follows below.) 

Branford Marsalis

Branford Marsalis has gained international acclaim for his work in jazz. His quartet has been recognized for its expressive melodies and unrivaled performances, and its most recent recording was named Best Instrumental Jazz Album in 2012 by iTunes. Beyond his quartet, he has garnered a Drama Desk Award for Outstanding Music in a Play and a Tony Award nomination for Best Original Score for his work on Broadway. Marsalis also spent a period touring with Sting, collaborated with the Grateful Dead and Bruce Hornsby, served as musical director of “The Tonight Show Starring Jay Leno” and hosted National Public Radio’s widely syndicated “Jazz Set.” The range and quality of these diverse activities established Marsalis as a familiar presence beyond the world of jazz.

Victor Goines

Victor Goines, professor and director of jazz studies at the Bienen School of Music, has toured worldwide and performed on more than 20 releases with the Jazz at Lincoln Center Orchestra and the Wynton Marsalis Septet since 1993. Goines leads his own quartet and quintet, having made with them seven recordings, including “New Adventures” and “Love Dance,” both on Criss Cross Jazz, a Dutch record label specializing in American jazz. A well-recognized composer, Goines has more than 50 original works to his credit. More information on the Bienen School’s jazz studies program is available online.

Other upcoming spring jazz events at Northwestern University

Tickets to each of the following three concerts are $6 for the general public and $4 for students with valid IDs.

• The Jazz Small Ensembles will perform the music of Thelonious Monk at 7:30 p.m. Monday, April 25, in the Ryan Center’s David and Carol McClintock Choral and Recital Room.

• The Northwestern University Jazz Orchestra will perform “New Orchestral Sounds,” a program of new compositions and arrangements, at 7:30 p.m. Tuesday, May 3, at the Mary B. Galvin Recital Hall.

• And the Jazz Small Ensembles will perform original student compositions at 7:30 p.m. Monday, May 23, at the Shirley Welsh Ryan Opera Theater.

For more information, call the Bienen School of Music Concert Management Office at 847- 491-5441 or visit concertsatbienen.org. To order tickets, call the Bienen School Ticket Office at 847-467-4000 or visit concertsatbienen.org.