Downbeat Rising Star 15 piece big band celebrates Martin Luther King’s birthday and how music has played an important and inspiring part of the social movement that shaped the US.
Band: alto sax: Tony Peebles; alto sax/flute: Marcus Stephens; tenor sax/clarinet: Patrick Wolff; tenor sax: Howard Wiley; baritone sax: Fil Lorenz; trombones: Joel Berhrman & Rob Ewing; bass trombone: Ryan Black; trumpets: Dave Scott, Mike Olmos, Rafa Postel & trumpet: Mark Wright; piano: Adam Shulman; drums: Jeff Marrs; bass and conductor: Marcus Shelby
Under the leadership of Marcus Shelby, this 15 piece big band will showcase excerpts from their various suites, including Harriet Tubman, Martin Luther King Jr., Port Chicago, and their current commissioned worked, Green and Blues, a musical perspective on the natural history of the SF Bay Area. The concert celebrates the history of social movements and how music has played an important and inspiring part of shaping and creating the US. The MSO will perform selections from their latest release “Soul of the Movement: Meditations on Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. (Porto Franco Records) in celebration of MLK’s birthday. Marcus Shelby Orchestra is based in San Francisco and has made the Down Beat Rising Star polls 2 times (Best Big Band, Best Arranger, and Best Composer) and their release "Soul of the Movement" reached #2 on the jazz radio charts.
