Marcus Roberts Trio

The Marcus Roberts Trio was founded in 1993 when Roberts began to study great jazz trios, including those of Nat Cole, Oscar Peterson, Errol Garner, and Ahmad Jamal. While playing in the Wynton Marsalis Septet in the 1980s, Roberts first met young drummer Jason Marsalis (Wynton’s brother). In late 1994, after trying a series of drummers and bassists, Roberts asked Marsalis, then only 17 years old, to join his band. A few months later, in early 1995, Roland Guerin played with Roberts for the first time and the trio finally sounded complete. Roberts’ goal was to create a new style of jazz trio playing, and since its inception, the philosophy and style of trio has steadily evolved.

The Marcus Roberts Trio has truly created its own sound and style. Although the piano has traditionally been the central focus of great jazz trios, Roberts prefers to have all musicians in the group share equally in shaping the direction of the music through changing its tempo, mood, texture, or form by using a system of musical cues. Each musician of the trio possesses immense personal talent while adding to the texture of the group’s sound. Roberts began to arrange music to showcase individual talent and placed an emphasis on jazz improvisation.

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Click here to watch of video of the trio performing Gershwin's Piano Concerto in F with Seiji Ozawa and the Berlin Philharmonic.