On August 26, 1960, in Breaux Bridge, Louisiana, Branford Marsalis was born into one of the most prolific, talented musical families in America. The son of renowned jazz artist Ellis Marsalis and his wife Dolores, he was the oldest of six children. His younger brothers Wynton, Jason, and Delfeayo have also enjoyed significant success in the music industry. Branford, along with the other children, were encouraged to develop their musical talents from a very early age. When he was four years old, his parents sparked the beginning of his musical career by giving him the opportunity to learn how to play the piano. While still a young child, Branford's interest in the piano faded, and he began to play the clarinet instead. The first major turning point in his career occurred in his freshman year of high school, where his teacher, Ms. Florence Bowser, inspired Branford to pursue jazz as a career. It was at this point in his life that Branford began learning how to play the saxophone, which is the main instrument he plays today. Throughout high school, Branford refined his musical skills through such avenues as playing in his brother Winton's jazz band.
Branford first chose to attend Southern University, where he was taught by Alvin Batiste. Batiste realized that Branford's talent was wasted at Southern University, so he encouraged Branford to transfer to the Berklee College of Music in Boston, where he could receive a far better education in music. Branford's first major jazz experience occurred when he toured Europe with Art Blakey in 1980. He toured again with the Lionel Hampton Orchestra before graduating from Berklee in January 1981.
After touring for a few years, Branford recorded his first album, Scenes in the City, in 1984 under the Columbia label. His career began to escalate when he was introduced to Sting in March 1985. With Sting, Kenny Kirkland, Daryl "Munch" Jones, and Omar Hakim, he formed a band and released Dream of the Blue Turtles that year and Nothing Like the Sun two years later. In early 1986 Branford released Romances for Saxophone, which featured hits that remained on Billboard's top 5 classical chart for over two months.
Branford's career continued to roll in 1987. He began the year by hosting VH-1's premier of the "New Visions" series. Soon after, he released his second jazz album with Columbia, Royal Garden Blues, for which he received a Grammy nomination for "Best Jazz Instrumental Performance, Soloist." His younger brother Delfeayo and father, Ellis, contributed to the album. Finally, at the end of the year, Branford released Renaissance, in which Kenny Kirkland and Robert Hurst played. These two artists would later play in Marsalis' band on "The Tonight Show with Jay Leno."
Over the following four years, Branford received at least one Grammy award nomination each year. In early 1988 he received his second Grammy award nomination for "Best Jazz Instrumental Performance, Soloist" for "Cottontail," which was a track on Duke Ellington Orchestra's Digital Duke album. One year later, Branford was nominated for "Best Jazz Instrumental Performance" for his Random Abstract album. In 1990 his album Trio Jeepy earned him the nomination for "Best Instrumental Performance" in two categories: soloist and group. Later that year, he engaged in many performances, including playing the national anthem at the NBA All-Star game and narrating a Black History Month series on NPR called "Bass Lines: The Reflections of Milt Hinton." One year later, Branford earned two Grammy nominations. One was in the "Best Jazz Instrumental Performance, Soloist" category for Crazy People Music, and the other was in the "Best Instrumental Performance, Group" category for the soundtrack written for Spike Lee's movie Mo' Better Blues by the Branford Marsalis Quartet. Later that year, Branford released The Beautyful Ones are not yet Born featuring guest performances by Courtney Pine and his brother Wynton.
In 1992 Branford's career went more mainstream, allowing a much larger audience to appreciate his work. In May of that year, he became music director and arranger of the band for "The Tonight Show with Jay Leno." Included among the artists in his band were Kenny Kirkland, Robert Hurst, Jeff "Tain" Watts, Matt Finders, Sal Marquez, and Kevin Eubanks, who in 1995 succeeded Branford as director of the band on Jay Leno's show. Later that year he was featured as a soloist on the soundtrack of the movie Sneakers. Finally, in November, he hosted the nationally-broadcast special "The Best of Disney Music: A Legacy in Song."
Three months later, Branford won his first Grammy award for I Heard You Twice the First Time in the "Best Jazz Instrumental Performance, Individual or Group" category. Branford proved to be prolific in 1993; he released two albums and collaborated with other artists on their albums. Bloomington, an album recorded live at Indiana University, was the first to be released. This was followed by Red, Hot & Cool, the proceeds of which benefited the Red Hot Organization, which promotes AIDS awareness through pop culture. In February of 1994, Branford won a Grammy award in the "Best Pop Instrumental Performance" category with Bruce Hornsby for "Barcelona Mona." In August of that year, he arranged a group called Buckshot LeFonque and released a self-titled album that was largely a collaborative effort. This album blended different styles of popular music with jazz and features DJ Premier, Albert Collins, Dr. Maya Angelou, and other artists. Branford spent 1995 touring the world with this album. For the twentieth annual Earth Day that year, the tour performed in Washington, DC.
Branford's success continued in 1996. Early in the year he recorded "Loved Ones," a duet with his father, Ellis. Soon after, he wrote the soundtrack for the Showtime movie "Mr. & Mrs. Loving." In the fall he joined the faculty Michigan State University, where he still works today. In October 1996 he released another trio album called Dark Keys.
1997 was a particularly successful year for Branford. As his first major work of 1997, he released Buckshot LeFonque's second album called Music Evolution. In August Columbia Records extended Branford the position of creative consultant. This job gave him he enormous responsibility of recruiting and signing new artists to the Columbia label. At the end of the year, he received an honorary degree from Michigan State University.
Despite accepting the two jobs, Branford has not neglected to play the music that earned him fame. In 1998 he performed in Japan and worked on an album with Frank McComb. In 1999 he was nominated for a Grammy award in the "Best Latin Jazz Performance" category for his work producing David Sanchez 's album Obsesió. One month later he won an Achievement in Radio Award for "Best Syndicated Show" for his program "JazzSet," which airs on National Public Radio. Finally, in March 1999, Branford released his most recent album Requiem, which is a tribute to pianitst Kenny Kirkland, a long-time friend of his. Though often overshadowed by his brother Wynton, Branford Marsalis remains one of today's most influential present day second generation jazz artists.