Artist: Branford Marsalis

Branford Marsalis is an American saxophonist,  composer, and bandleader. While primarily known for his work in jazz as the leader of the Branford Marsalis Quartet, he also performs frequently as a soloist with classical ensembles and has led the group  Buckshot LeFonque.

His brothers Jason Marsalis, Wynton Marsalis, and  Delfeayo Marsalis are also jazz musicians. 

Marsalis attended Southern University, a historically black college in Baton Rouge, where he studied under renowned jazz clarinetist Alvin Batiste. At the encouragement of Batiste, Marsalis later transferred to Berklee College of Music in Boston. While a student at Berklee, Marsalis toured Europe playing alto and baritone saxophone in a large ensemble led by drummer Art Blakey.

Other big band experiences with Lionel Hampton  and Clark Terry followed over the next year, and by the end of 1981 Marsalis, on alto saxophone, had joined his brother Wynton in Blakey's Jazz Messengers.

In 1985, he joined Sting, singer and bassist of rock band the Police, on his first solo project, The Dream of the Blue Turtles, alongside jazz and session musicians Omar Hakim on drums, Darryl Jones on the bass and Kenny Kirkland on keyboards.

In 1986, Marsalis formed the Branford Marsalis Quartet with pianist Kirkland, drummer Jeff "Tain" Watts and bass player Robert Hurst. That year, they released their first album, Royal Garden Blues. That lineup of the quartet would go on to release four more albums, the last of which, I Heard You Twice the First Time (1992), won the  Grammy Award for Best Instrumental Jazz Album, Individual or Group. 

Between 1990 and 1994, Branford played with the Grateful Dead numerous times, and appeared on their 1990 live album Without a Net. In 1992, Marsalis became the leader of the Tonight Show Band on the newly launched The Tonight Show with Jay Leno, after Jay Leno replaced Johnny Carson. Initially. 

In 1994, Marsalis formed the group Buckshot LeFonque (named after a pseudonym once used by Cannonball Adderley), a jazz group with elements of rock and hip-hop. That year, they released their first album, Buckshot LeFonque, which was mostly produced by DJ Premier. 

Marsalis has also become involved in college education, with appointments at Michigan State University (1996–2000), San Francisco State University (2000–2002), and North Carolina Central University (2005–present). After Hurricane Katrina in 2005, Marsalis and Harry Connick, Jr., working with the local Habitat for Humanity, created Musicians Village in New Orleans, with the Ellis Marsalis Center for Music the centerpiece.