Michael Marcus Bio

Michael Marcus

Michael Marcus is is a true practitioner in exploring the many voices of the woodwind/saxophone family. He is one of the few saxophonists to record with the straight tenor & alto and saxello. A sound searcher !!

Michael has been an active member of the New York jazz scene since 1982. In addition to leading groups of his own, he has a considerable reputation as an instrumentalist, composer and arranger lending his talents to diverse projects. He has played and recorded with the likes of Albert King, Bobby Blue Bland, Sonny Rhodes, Sonny Simmons, Billy Higgins and Eddie Henderson. Recent associations include a three year stint with the Makanda Ken McIntyre Ensemble, performances with the Grachan Moncur Big Band, Ted Daniel and Energy, Zane Massey and the Liberation Suite, as well as performing the title track in the tribute album to Rashaan Roland Kirk "Haunted Melodies" on Metropolitan Records.

Michael Marcus has performed with his tentet at New York's Knitting Factory. With his quartet, Michael played in the 1993 "What is Jazz" festival, and again in 1995 with his new quartet featuring guitarist Bruce Edwards, where he was, according to Downbeat "one of the highlights of the festival". In both 1996 and 1997, Michael performed to capacity crowds as part of the Blue Note's Monday night series.

Michael has performed in Europe at both the Tampere and Eindhoven Jazz Festival, and at the Ottawa Jazz Festival in July 1995 with Bob Cunningham on bass and Denis Charles on drums. In June 1995, he participated in the first Roland Kirk Memorial Festival at The Cooler, NYC, playing solo. In addition, Michael performed in a duo concert with Joseph Bowie at the 1996 Eddie Moore Jazz Festival in Berkeley, California. He also played with the Sonny Simmons Quartet at the Saalfelden Festival in Austria with Reggie Workman and Charles Moffett coinciding with Sonny Simmons' new releases on the C.I.M.P. label; "Transcendence" and "Judgement Day" on which Michael participated. Also of note, The Michael Marcus Organ Trio (with Donald Smith on Hammond B-3 and drummer Gene Jackson) at The 1998 Texaco Jazz Festival in New York City.

One of the last individuals to receive a performance grant from the NEA (National Endowment of the Arts), Michael has completed the work of composing string arrangements to his original music. These compositions were performed for the first time with a string quartet in November 1998 during a concert at the University of Memphis which was part of a Southern US tour and again in September 1999 at New York City's Museum Of Modern Art.

Since 2000, Michael Marcus has continued to be part of the cutting edge of American jazz music. In October 2001 he toured Europe with his new trio with Tarus Mateen and Jay Rosen and recorded that trio for Black Saint/Soul Note in Milano for a 2002 release titled "Blue Reality."

He has continued his long collaboration with sax giant Sonny Simmons and they have come together under a co-led group called THE COSMOSAMATICS. This group has two releases on Boxholder Records and is doing performances (including a taping for BET to be aired Fall 2002) and various festivals (Vision Festival 2002, Eddie Moore Festival, and others) around the United States and Europe.

Michael will celebrate his first release "Speakin' Out" on an American label, Drimala Records. This is a solo recording representing many of the instruments Michael performs on.

Michael Marcus' Interview with AllAboutJazz.