Marcus Shelby Sextet Conversation: The Language of Charles Mingus

Marcus Shelby has never shied away from extending his creative reach. From his early years as a young lion recording for some of jazz’s most vaunted labels, the San Francisco bassist, composer, bandleader, and educator has earned renown for his wide-ranging leadership. He’s best known for ambitious, historically informed works like 2006’s Port Chicago (Noir Records), a suite for jazz orchestra inspired by the World War II miscarriage of justice, and 2018’s Black Ball: The Negro Leagues and the Blues, a suite commissioned by the Yerba Buena Gardens Festival.

He has served as a musical foil for playwright and actor Anna Deavere Smith during the development of her interview-driven one-woman show about the school-to-prison pipeline, Notes From the Field. Since taking over as artistic director of the Healdsburg Jazz Festival in the fall of 2020, he has significantly expanded the already internationally recognized organization. While his temperament is the mirror opposite of the tempestuous Charles Mingus, Shelby is steeped in Mingus’s music and is ideally placed to offer insight into his composing, bandleading, and gift for coaxing superlative performances from collaborators.

Personnel:

• Marcus Shelby,  bass
• Additional personnel TBA