Jazz Vespers with Guest Artist Branford Marsalis [Sold Out]
Update: Tickets for this service have sold out.
With a theme of celebration, a Duke Chapel Jazz Vespers worship service on Thursday, February 27, at 7:00 p.m. will feature prayers, poetry, scripture readings, and the music of guest artist and jazz icon Branford Marsalis.
Due to anticipated demand, this service requires registration for free tickets to attend. Tickets will be available for Duke students beginning Tuesday, February 4, and for the general public on Wednesday, February 5.
Click here to register for free tickets, when they become available, via the Duke Box Office.
An instrumentalist, composer, bandleader, and educator, Marsalis has been recognized with, among many other honors, three GRAMMY Awards, a Tony nomination, an EMMY nomination, and a citation by the National Endowment for the Arts as Jazz Master. The founder of the Branford Marsalis Quartet, he has three dozen albums to his name.
Over the past ten years, Jazz Vespers has become a beloved tradition at Duke Chapel. The services combine the ancient Christian tradition of evening vespers prayers with the aural idioms of Black sacred music, including jazz, gospel, and the spirituals. One feature of the services is a time of “jazz prayers,” when congregants are invited to move to stations for various types of prayer, including candle lighting, anointing with oil, and blessing by a minister.
The Branford Marsalis Quartet, formed in 1986, remains Marsalis’s primary means of expression. In its virtually uninterrupted three-plus decades of existence, the Quartet has established a rare breadth of stylistic range. The Quartet is releasing a new album, Belonging, on March 28, a full album interpretation of Keith Jarrett’s 1974 ECM album. But, Marsalis has not confined his music to the jazz quartet context. He recently composed a classical suite commissioned by the Kalamazoo Symphony Orchestra. A frequent soloist with classical ensembles, he has become increasingly sought after as a featured soloist with acclaimed orchestras around the world. And his legendary guest performances with the Grateful Dead and collaborations with Sting have made him a fan favorite in the pop arena.
Marsalis’s screen credits as a composer include original music for: Rustin starring Colman Domingo, the EMMY nominated documentary Tulsa Burning: The 1921 Race Massacre, Ma Rainey’s Black Bottomstarring Viola Davis and the late Chadwick Boseman, The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks starring Oprah Winfrey, and Spike Lee’s Mo’ Better Blues. His work on Broadway has garnered a Drama Desk Award and a Tony nomination for the acclaimed revival of Fences. He recently arranged and orchestrated the music for a new Broadway production A Wonderful World: The Louis Armstrong Musical.
Branford enjoys working with students and has formed an extended relationship with North Carolina Central University where he has been teaching for the past eighteen years. In the wake of the devastation wrought by Hurricane Katrina, Branford, along with friend Harry Connick, Jr., conceived of “Musicians’ Village,” a residential community in the Upper Ninth Ward of New Orleans. The centerpiece of the Village is the Ellis Marsalis Center for Music, honoring Branford’s father. In January 2024, following in his father’s footsteps, Branford was appointed Artistic Director at the Center and in this capacity, he will shape the artistic trajectory and steer the organization's creative vision for the future.