★★★★★
They told us the Gulf of Mexico was out of oil. Then they drilled deeper and found new, rich deposits. With this recording, young pianist/jazz composer Marcus Roberts shows us that, even in these times of diminishing resources, the blues is an ancient and inexhaustible reservoir of human spirituality, one that we have just begun to explore...
- www.offbeat.com
2010-11-09
★★★★★
Blind piano prodigy, Wynton Marsalis protégé and staunch traditionalist Marcus Roberts returns with his first album in eight years, New Orleans Meets Harlem, Vol. 1. He is back with his longtime trio, New Orleans bassist Roland Guerin and drummer Jason Marsalis, reinterpreting the sounds that led from saloons of Storyville to the streets of the Big Apple...
- www.offbeat.com
2010-11-02
★★★★★
With a foundation in the church and a passion for America's music, Marcus Roberts is easily one of the most prolific pianists of his generation. Hailing from Jacksonville, Florida and influenced by the early exposure to his mother's gospel singing, he decided that he wanted to be a jazz pianist after listening to the music of Duke Ellington, Benny Goodman, Mary Lou Williams and others on the radio...
- www.allaboutjazz.com
2010-08-20
★★★★★
Wynton Marsalis is one of the most talented trumpet players on the scene today. Unfortunately, he's also one of the most egotistical musicians out there. As an unofficial "spokesman for jazz," Wynton has helped to promote jazz throughout the world, but he's personally done very little to innovate the art form. This is unfortunate because jazz is all about transformation and change. Perhaps his greatest contribution to the music is his support of young and upcoming musicians like Marcus Roberts...
- www.allaboutjazz.com
2010-08-20
★★★★★
Marcus Roberts' first studio session in eight years brings to mind his 1990 release, Alone With Three Giants. Only this time around he isn't performing solo—adroitly accompanying Roberts are bassist Roland Guerin and drummer Jason Marsalis—and the pantheon of piano titans now includes Scott Joplin and Fats Waller, in addition to Duke Ellington, Jelly Roll Morton and Thelonious Monk. As its title suggests, New Orleans Meets Harlem, Vol...
- www.jazztimes.com
2010-02-19
★★★★★
Breaking ground as both a performer and a jazz historian of sorts, pianist Marcus Roberts follows 1996's Portraits In Blue (music by Gershwin and James P. Johnson) with this ambitious project, which pays tribute to the past and looks to the future-all while necessarily being rooted in the present...
- www.jazztimes.com
2010-02-19
★★★★★
Ragtime legend
Scott Joplin sought greater respect in his time; he gets the
right kind now from Marcus Roberts on The Joy of Joplin, this ear-opening tribute. Rather
than taking a purist (was jazz ever pure anyway?) approach,
Roberts blends in plenty of his own ideas and post-ragtime
idioms, whether freshening up a lovable chestnut like ''The
Entertainer'' or living up to the title of ''Elite Syncopation.''
A-...
- ew.com
2009-06-12
★★★★★
Roberts' three giants of Alone With Three Giants are fellow pianists Jelly Roll Morton, Duke Ellington, and Thelonious Monk, and his choices among theircompositions are irreproachable. But his playing is peculiarly joyless and often pedantic, as though he were first discovering the music. You get the feeling he's aiming for authenticity, but he nevergets inside the pieces...
- ew.com
2009-06-12
★★★★★
Coming across this collection of Gershwin music was a rich and rewarding listening experience. This is jazz trio at its finest, and Marcus Roberts excels with his interpretations of the music of George Gershwin. This CD is a Gershwin lover's delight, for it contains ten of his best songs...
- www.jazzreview.com
2009-06-08
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