Branford Marsalis and his Quartet Rock
by dfphil on 9/24/09Berklee Performance Center - BostonThe Branford Marsalis Quartet performed at Berklee last night to a packed house. Jazz definitely lives! There were young people and old people, people of different colors, shapes, and sizes all having a blast. The quartet features a new drummer after decades of Jeff "Tain" Watts who has left to lead his own group. Justin Faulkner, Tain's replacement, is a young Berklee student who can provide great color with the drum kit as well as playing in whatever style is appropriate for the quartet at the moment. While the new album Metamorphosen is built around the Thelonious Monk tune, Rhythm-A-Ning, the live show relied more on the Quartet's ability to create a Coltrane sound - especially from Faulkner on drums and Joey Calderazzo on piano and then resolve in a post-Trane, Marsalis sound. Mid-way through the show, Marsalis put his tenor down on its stand began the next tune on soprano, and as Calderazzo started playing the piano, the stand collapsed and the tenor fell over. Marsalis was visibly shaken and it took him - and us - into the next tune to relax, reassure himself that the tenor was undamaged and dig back into the music. Nevertheless it was a great show.