Masters perform the classics of jazz

Jazz fans in Korea have a treat in store. Three famous jazz musicians ― Marcus Roberts, Jason Marsalis and Roland Guerin ― will be performing at the Seoul Art Center’s Concert Hall on Jan. 27 at 8 p.m.
The band, known as the Marcus Roberts Trio, was first established in 1995 with the goal of creating a new style of jazz that “centers around fast and powerful rhythms,” according to Musical Park, the organizer of the performance.
The program, called “The American Songbook,” will start with the king of ragtime, Scott Joplin, and his famous song “The Entertainer.”
Roberts, who was born in Jacksonville, Florida in 1963, lost his sight at the age of five. He started to take serious piano lessons when he was 12. He later majored in jazz studies at Florida State University. Marsalis, who plays the drums, is the youngest son of the famous pianist Ellis Marsalis, Jr. and the brother of the jazz legend Wynton Marsalis. The young Marsalis started to play the drums at the age of three. He majored in music at Loyola University in New Orleans. He started to perform on stage with Roberts when he was only 17, in 1994. Guerin plays bass. He was born in Louisiana and began playing the viola when he was in elementary school. He attended Southern University in 1986 to study with the world-renowned jazz clarinet player Alvin Batiste. Apart from Joplin classics, the show will feature other songs from jazz masters such as “Embraceable You” by the Gershwin brothers and “Black and Tan Fantasy” by Duke Ellington.
“We search for the blues, not to wallow in self-pity, but to face the circumstances of life head on,” said Roberts. “Playing these standards helps to keep us in touch with our history and reminds us that great artists and great human beings do not make lasting contributions through luck.”
Tickets are priced between 100,000 won and 30,000 won and can be reserved through e-mail at whomre@kornet.net or by phone at (019) 9349-0650.

by Lee Ho-jeong