Marcus Roberts Trio will jazz up the State Theatre

The Marcus Roberts Trio, from left, Roland Guerin, Marcus Roberts and Jason Marsalis, kick off the Cornell Concert Series' 100th season Sept. 20. Courtesy of the Cornell Concert Series

Engaging audiences of all ages from the first toe-tapping notes to the last chord, the Marcus Roberts Trio (Marcus Roberts, piano; Roland Guerin, bass; Jason Marsalis, drums) is a riveting blend of old and new. Led by the versatile Roberts, the trio will perform Saturday, Sept. 20, at 8 p.m. in the State Theatre, 111 W. State St., in downtown Ithaca. The program, titled "The Spanish Tinge," explores the rhythms of Brazil, Cuba and other Latin countries and shows the influence that those rhythms have had on musicians from Jelly Roll Morton to Duke Ellington, Dizzy Gillespie and the Marcus Roberts Trio. The concert is sponsored by the Cornell Concert Series, which is celebrating its 100th anniversary this season.

Tickets for the concert -- $18-$29 for adults and $11-$17 for students -- are on sale at the Willard Straight Hall ticket office (255-3430) and at the ticket center in Clinton House (116 N. Cayuga St., Ithaca; 273-4497 or 1-800-284-8422). Tickets also are available from the Cornell Concert Series Web site at http://www.arts.cornell.edu/ccs and through http://www.ithacaevents.com. Student Rush tickets (subject to availability) for $5 will be on sale Sept. 18 and 19.

The sounds of Latin music have been an essential part of jazz since the beginning. The self-proclaimed "father of jazz music," Jelly Roll Morton, said that music couldn't be played without the "Spanish tinge." The program is the perfect vehicle for Roberts, often regarded as the pre-eminent jazz pianist of our time. Noted jazz critic Don Heckman has said of Roberts, "By retaining the substance of these works, without mimicking their styles, by finding within them new musical challenges for the present and the future rather than a by-the-numbers need for historical reproduction, he is identifying the entire jazz repertory as a timeless arena for creative endeavor."

First exposed to music in a church in Jacksonville, Fla., where his mother was a gospel singer, Roberts began teaching himself to play piano a few years after losing his sight at age 5. At 18, Roberts went to Florida State University to study classical piano, winning the first of his many awards. At 21, Roberts joined Wynton Marsalis' band and toured and recorded with the trumpeter for the next six years. He has since recorded 14 albums as a leader, including four with the Marcus Roberts Trio. In 1998 he received what he considers to be the most gratifying of his many awards, the Helen Keller Award for Personal Achievement.

Guerin has been playing with Roberts since 1995 and is featured on two of the trio's recordings: In Honor of Duke (Columbia, 1999) and Cole After Midnight (Columbia, 2001). He has three albums to his credit as a band leader, including Roland Guerin Sextet Live at the Blue Note, released in May 2000.

Marsalis is the youngest son of pianist Ellis Marsalis, the father of one of America's most musical families. Marsalis began playing drums at age 3 but began his formal musical training two years later on violin. After six year of studying both instruments, he finally dropped his violin studies and focused entirely on the drums. Marsalis has held the drum chair in the Marcus Roberts Trio since he was 17 years old.

The trio also will give a workshop Sunday, Sept. 21, from 1 to 3 p.m. in B20 Lincoln Hall. The workshop, which is free and open to the public, will feature the musicians of the Cornell University Jazz Ensembles.