| Marcus Roberts | |
|---|---|
| Born | August 7, 1963 Jacksonville, Florida |
| Instruments | Piano |
Marcus Roberts (born August 7, 1963, in Jacksonville, Florida) is an American jazz pianist who has achieved fame as a stride pianist committed to celebrating classic standards and jazz traditions. Roberts has also distinguished his solos by accompanying himself with walking basslines. He thus creates a more two-fisted style than is found elsewhere in modern jazz, and his basslines are also convincingly spontaneous. Roberts interprets Thelonious Monk, bringing creative dissonances to Monk's compositions.[1]
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Blind since his youth, he attended the Florida School for the Deaf and the Blind in St. Augustine, Florida, alma mater of another distinguished musician, Ray Charles. Roberts began playing piano at an early age and then studied the instrument with world-renowned pianist Leonidas Lipovetsky, while attending Florida State University. In 1985, he got his big break when famed trumpeter Wynton Marsalis chose him as his new sideman. He became a close friend and disciple of Marsalis, and collaborated with him on many projects during the ensuing years.
With Marsalis' support and soon after joining him, Roberts began cutting his own records. His albums tend to be homages to past jazz greats. However, his playing ability and technique have always been highly regarded and his music has added to the vocabulary of modern jazz piano and the piano trio.
On a piece such as "Nebuchadnezzar" Roberts uses the traditional harmonies and chords, then builds an expansive tonal and melodic structure. He is renowned as an interpreter of Monk, Ellington, Morton and Gershwin, among others. He provided the soundtrack to the 1999 film Guinevere.[2]
Roberts serves as Assistant Professor of Jazz Studies in the music program at Florida State University.
WIth Wynton Marsalis