Todd Marcus Quartet at An Die Musik Live

Todd Marcus (bass clarinet) - Bass clarinetist, composer, and bandleader Todd Marcus is one of the few jazz artists worldwide to focus exclusively on the bass clarinet as a solo instrument. While use of bass clarinet in jazz typically tends to lean heavily towards avant-garde and free-jazz styles, Marcus’ playing presents the instrument with a modern straight-ahead jazz approach.

Based in Baltimore, MD, Marcus actively leads small ensembles such as his quartet, trio, and duo as well as his nine piece jazz orchestra. Self taught in jazz theory and composition, Marcus’ compositions draw largely on straight-ahead jazz and classical influences but over recent years have also increasingly explored the Middle-Eastern sounds from his Egyptian-American heritage. ...

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Todd Marcus (bass clarinet) - Bass clarinetist, composer, and bandleader Todd Marcus is one of the few jazz artists worldwide to focus exclusively on the bass clarinet as a solo instrument. While use of bass clarinet in jazz typically tends to lean heavily towards avant-garde and free-jazz styles, Marcus’ playing presents the instrument with a modern straight-ahead jazz approach.

Based in Baltimore, MD, Marcus actively leads small ensembles such as his quartet, trio, and duo as well as his nine piece jazz orchestra. Self taught in jazz theory and composition, Marcus’ compositions draw largely on straight-ahead jazz and classical influences but over recent years have also increasingly explored the Middle-Eastern sounds from his Egyptian-American heritage.

Marcus balances his music career by running Newborn Holistic Ministries, a nonprofit addressing poverty related issues in his Baltimore, Maryland neighborhood. The organization runs an art program providing children and adults with alternatives to drugs and violence in the community, a recovery program for women overcoming drug addiction and homelessness, and has achieved significant community revitalization by renovating abandoned buildings and vacant lots.

"Baltimore-based Todd Marcus, the virtuoso bass clarinetist and composer, is a master of straight-ahead jazz.” --- Baltimore Sun, January 2014

"Marcus' mastery of the regular clarinet...turns the licorice stick into an instrument of power and expressiveness." --- Jazz Times, December 2012

Voted a Rising Star in the 2014 & 2013 Annual Critics Poll for “clarinet” and “miscellaneous instrument” categories. --- Downbeat Magazine

Winner of the 2014 Mary Sawyers Baker $25,000 artist award

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