Marcus Roberts

Marcus Roberts (born August 7, 1963, in Jacksonville, Florida) is an American jazz pianist who has achieved fame as a stride pianist committed to celebrating classic standards and jazz traditions. Roberts has also distinguished his solos by accompanying himself with walking basslines. He thus creates a more two-fisted style than is found elsewhere in modern jazz, and his basslines are also convincingly spontaneous. Interpreting Thelonious Monk, he brings creative dissonances to Monk's compositions.

Biography
Blind since his youth, Roberts attended the Florida School for the Deaf and the Blind in St. Augustine, Florida, alma mater of another distinguished musician, Ray Charles. Roberts began playing piano at an early age and then studied the instrument with pianist Leonidas Lipovetsky, while attending Florida State University. In 1985, he got his big break when famed trumpeter Wynton Marsalis chose him as his new sideman. Roberts became a close friend and disciple of Marsalis, and collaborated with him on many projects during the ensuing years.

With Marsalis' support and soon after joining him, Roberts began cutting his own records. His albums tend to be homages to past jazz greats. On a piece such as "Nebuchadnezzar", Roberts uses the traditional harmonies and chords, then builds an expansive tonal and melodic structure. He is renowned as an interpreter of Monk, Ellington, Morton and Gershwin, among others. He provided the soundtrack to the 1999 film Guinevere.

Roberts serves as Assistant Professor of Jazz Studies in the music program at Florida State University. He is also a Steinway Artist.

As leader

 * The Truth Is Spoken Here (1988)
 * Deep in the Shed (1989)
 * Alone with Three Giants (1990)
 * Prayer for Peace (1991)
 * As Serenity Approaches (1991)
 * If I Could Be with You (1993)
 * Gershwin for Lovers (1994)
 * Portraits in Blue (1995)
 * Plays Ellington (1995)
 * Time and Circumstance (1996)
 * Blues for the New Millennium (1997)
 * The Joy of Joplin (1998)
 * In Honor of Duke (1999)
 * Cole after Midnight (2001)
 * A Gershwin Night (2003)
 * George Gershwin: Piano Concerto in F (2006)
 * New Orleans Meets Harlem, Volume 1 (2007)
 * A Touch of Romance (2007)
 * From Rags to Rhythm (2007)
 * Celebrating Christmas (2011)
 * Deep in the Shed: A Blues Suite (2012)

As co-leader

 * Across the Imaginary Divide, with Bela Fleck, Rodney Jordan and Jason Marsalis (2012)

As sideman
With Elvin Jones With Wynton Marsalis
 * Tribute to John Coltrane "A Love Supreme" (Columbia, 1992)
 * Live at Blues Alley (1988)
 * The Majesty of the Blues (1989)
 * Standard Time, Vol. 2: Intimacy Calling (1991)