Branford Marsalis - In My Solitude (Live At Grace Cathedral) (2014) Lossless

Branford Marsalis continues to prove that there is no context too large or small to contain his gifts. A reigning master of the jazz quartet format, dedicated champion of the duo setting, in-demand soloist of classical ensembles both chamber and orchestral, and session-enhancing special guest on an array of rock, roots and pop performances over the course of his career, his ever-broadening creativity and instrumental command have created the profile of a multi-dimensional musician with few peers among contemporary performers.

Grace Cathedral is a San Francisco landmark: the site of Duke Ellington’s Sacred Concerts in the Sixties and, since 1983, home to recitals at the centerpiece of the annual San Francisco Jazz Festival.

Marsalis presents a programme spanning early and post-bop jazz, baroque and contemporary classical music and spontaneous improvisation. Marsalis also balances the program with four improvisations, each of which sustains the mood of deep feeling and melodic coherence.

“Musical spontaneity, like spontaneity in any language, has to be within a context to be meaningful and the more music you know, the more spontaneous you can be. So I went out on stage with spaces intentionally left in the program, where I could create improvisations clearly based both on what I had just played and the feeling of the room and the audience.”
Marsalis, on his new album.