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Duke Arts Presents

Branford Marsalis & Joey Calderazzo

Friday, January 13, 2017 | 8:00 pm

Baldwin Auditorium


Jazz titan Branford Marsalis is a famous son of New Orleans, and scion of that city’s first family of music. For the last fifteen years this definitive American saxophonist, who plays “with the technical mastery and emotional maturity that produces great music” (San Francisco Chronicle), has called Durham home, teaching at NC Central University and recording albums here. Virtuoso pianist Joey Calderazzo first met Marsalis almost thirty years ago, when the young prodigies worked together in Michael Brecker’s combo. Calderazzo also lives in Durham, having spent two decades as a featured artist in GRAMMY-winner Marsalis’ quartet and releasing his own acclaimed albums on Marsalis’ label.

These two longtime collaborators return to Duke Performances, bringing a sly irreverence to their hometown concerts in a presentation perfectly sized to Baldwin Auditorium. Together, they play everything from blues to ballads, excelling in both swinging standards and angular experimentation. JazzTimes said of their 2011 duo album Songs of Mirth and Melancholy, “both musicians shine, but there’s no strutting going on here, no cutting contest, only a singular vision.”