Saxophonist Branford Marsalis not only is a virtuoso of contemporary jazz. He is an allrounder who likes to explore adjacent music genres and styles such as pop or European classical music. In the 1980s he played with Miles Davis, Herbie Hancock and Sting, later on with Tina Turner, and he wrote several soundtracks for film director Spike Lee, a friend of his. Ever since, he is known and famous for his unique velvety, melodic sound, as well as for oscillating between traditional ways and new arrangements, and for crossing borders between diverse musical languages, styles and genres. The documentary Branford Marsalis- The Sound Illusionist captures this exceptional musician on stage at jazz-concerts in his home town New Orleans, in San Fransciso, and at classic concerts in Europe. The film shows him as a private person with friends, while jamming with his father, jazz pianist Ellis Marsalis, and at his "Musicians" Village", an artists' colony for homeless musicians who lost their homes to Hurricane Katrina. It is a retrospect on his career, from his own point of view and with comments from his companions such as Sting, his father Ellis, friends from New Orleans and classical musicians.
| Directed by | Reinhold Jaretzky |
