Marcus Roberts

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Marcus Roberts (2010)

Marthaniel "Marcus" Roberts (born August 7, 1963 in Jacksonville , Florida ) is an American jazz pianist and composer.

Live and act

Roberts, the son of a gospel singer and blind since he was five, first played the saxophone . He had been taking piano lessons since he was eight and gained his first experience in church music. He studied at Florida State University in Tallahassee until 1984 . From 1985 to 1991 he was a member of the band of Wynton Marsalis , later worked with his own bands and was a member of the Lincoln Center Jazz Orchestra , of which he became musical director in 1994. In 1993 he performed his composition "Romance, Swing and the Blues" with this ensemble. Since the 1980s he has toured with Marsalis and his own groups and made guest appearances at major festivals. In 2001 he and his trio were at the center of a television program that portrayed Jazz at Lincoln Center . He also worked on Christophe Beck's film music for The Girl and the Photographer .

Roberts has been an Assistant Professor at Florida State University since 2005.

Prizes and awards

Roberts won the Association of Jazz Educators competition in 1982 . In 1987 he was the winner of the first Thelonious Monk competition. With his first three albums (1988–1990) he reached the top of the Billboard jazz charts. His recording of Gershwin's Rhapsody in Blue (1996) was nominated for a Grammy . He was artist in residence at the 2002 Winter Olympics .

Discographic notes

  • The Truth Is Spoken Here (1988)
  • Deep in the Shed (1989, with Wynton Marsalis, Charlie Rouse , Elvin Jones )
  • If I Could Be with You (1993, solo)
  • Cole after Midnight (2001)
  • A Gershwin Night (2003, with the Berliner Symphoniker )
  • New Orleans Meets Harlem, Volume 1 (2007)
  • Portraits in Blue (1996)

Lexigraphic entries

Web links

personal data
SURNAME Roberts, Marcus
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Roberts, Marthaniel
BRIEF DESCRIPTION American jazz pianist and composer
DATE OF BIRTH 7th August 1963
PLACE OF BIRTH Jacksonville (Florida)