Branford Marsalis Quartet at the Mahaiwe

Friday, July 24, 8pm | Great Barrington, MA | $69–$99

The Branford Marsalis Quartet plays the Mahaiwe Performing Arts Center on July 24. Marsalis is an NEA Jazz Master and Grammy Award winner who has played concertos with symphony orchestras, sat in with the Grateful Dead, scored films, hosted "Jazz at Lincoln Center's" radio broadcasts, and led the "Tonight Show" band under Jay Leno. He has also won a Tony Award for producing a Broadway revival and received Emmy nominations. Through all of it, the core of his musical life has remained the Quartet.

The current lineup features pianist Joey Calderazzo, bassist Eric Revis, and drummer Justin Faulkner, the last of whom Marsalis discovered when Faulkner was a teenager at a summer jazz camp and hired him on the spot. Together they have made the kind of ensemble where the sum is harder to explain than the parts: casually confident, cerebral, and—in live settings—supercharged with energy.

Their most recent record is Belonging, a full-album interpretation of Keith Jarrett's landmark 1974 ECM recording of the same name. The New York Times wrote that at its best, the quartet's version "goes deeper" than mere homage—"it's a performance that both honors and amplifies." The two albums that preceded it, Upward Spiral and The Secret Between the Shadow and the Soul, both received Grammy nominations.

Members receive $5 off each ticket. $15 for ages 30 and under at the box office.

Mahaiwe Performing Arts Center, 14 Castle St., Great Barrington, MA. Tickets $69–$99 at mahaiwe.org.