Jason Marsalis Vibes Quartet to Play Harris Center, 11/7-8

As the youngest sibling of New Orleans venerable first family of jazz, musical expectations tend to be high. Fortunately for Jason Marsalis, he has what it takes to be great, even from a tender young age. Now the 2013 rising star winner in the Downbeat Magazine annual critics poll brings his Jason Marsalis Vibes Quartet to the very intimate 95-seat Scott-Skillman Recital Hall at the Harris Center of the Arts in Folsom.

Jason is the son of pianist and music educator Ellis Marsalis and his wife Dolores, and the youngest sibling of Wynton, Branford and Delfeayo. Together, the four brothers and their patriarch Ellis, are recipients of the National Endowment for the Arts 2011 Jazz Masters awards.

Jason Marsalis Vibes Quartet performs on Friday, November 7, 2014 at 7:30 pm and Saturday, November 8, 2014 at 2 & 7:30 pm in Stage 3: Scott-Skillman Recital Hall. Tickets are priced at $45; Students with ID $12 (Limited number available). Tickets are available online at www.harriscenter.net or from the Harris Center Ticket Office at 916-608-6888 from 10 am to 6 pm Monday through Saturday, and two hours before show time. Parking is included in the price of the ticket. Harris Center is located on the west side of Folsom Lake College campus in Folsom, CA, facing East Bidwell Street.

Ellis and Delores began to cultivate Jason's interest in music at age three, with the purchase of a toy set of drums. Jason is fond of telling the story of a game he and his parents would play with the drums. "When I was three, my parents bought me a toy drum set and the used to introduce me to an imaginary audience. They would say, 'Ladies and gentleman introducing the fabulous Jason!' and I would come out and start banging away much to my parents delight. I too enjoyed it to the point that I started to go up to my parents unsolicited and say, 'Dad, introduce me again!'"

By age six, not only had Jason gotten his first real drum set, but he was also taking lessons from the legendary New Orleans drummer James Black. At age seven he was sitting in with his father's jazz group, as well as playing with his trombonist brother Delfeayo. Jason was progressing so rapidly as a drummer that in 1984 his father started using him consistently on engagements. Jason was starting to become a seasoned road veteran before the age of nine, even traveling to the prestigious Berklee School of Music in Boston for Delfeayo's senior recital.

Fast forward to 2000. Jason has been a mainstay on the New Orleans scene as a bandleader from the vibraphone chair. More recently, Jason formed the current incarnation of his Vibes Quartet in the summer of 2007, and has spent the last several years touring and developing repertoire and rapport with his young quartet. The quartet's sophomore release In A World Of Mallets was released in February, 2013, on Basin Street Records, and features Jason's original music, songs from his band mates, and more. Marsalis also plays marimba, glockenspiel, tubular bells, vibraphone and xylophone on the album as he expands on his "discipline" overdubs of recent years .The sense of style and tastefulness that Marsalis exhibits in his playing explains why is a highly sought after musician. This style has been well documented on recordings with artists such as the Lincoln Center Jazz Orchestra, Marcus Printup and Marcus Roberts to name but a few. He produced two albums under his own name, Year of the Drummer (1998) and Music in Motion (2000), as well as producing a reissue of his father's earlier recorded work, Syndrome (1996). In addition, Marsalis is a respected clinician and an endorser of Fibes drums and Zildjian cymbals.

With each passing year Jason Marsalis continues to grow and develop as both a composer and performer. With a fire in his heart and a passion for the music, his will to swing has never been more resolute. Jason also continues to invest in education and outreach as he conducts clinics, workshops, and remains an active instructor at the New Orleans Center for the Creative Arts.

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