This Is the Spawning of the Age of Marsalis : The Marsalis brothers create some of the most important music of the decade; there are other musical brothers not yet heard from

When Branford Marsalis speaks his mind, the listener has the impression that he is doing so out of deep conviction, and not because he desires to flaunt his erudition.

The 29-year-old saxophonist who has enjoyed even more credits than his brother Wynton--as saxophonist, composer, movie actor, touring soloist with pop groups and recording artist in both jazz and classical settings--has no hesitation in letting a few chips, falling where they may, cause a touch of irritation.

It has struck some observers as remarkable that the group he now heads consists entirely of former Wynton Marsalis sidemen, including himself. “I don’t think Wynton resented it at first,” he says, “because I never lured them away from him; his own music was going in a different direction. But now that he may be changing his style again, he’s gonna be hard pressed to find musicians.

“This is really a dream band for all of us. I went to school with the drummer, Jeff (Tain) Watts; the pianist, Kenny Kirkland, is an old friend and always wanted to work with me. Bob Hurst, the bass player, went with Wynton after Kenny and I had left, but he worked with Tony Williams just before joining us.”

To the casual observer or first-time interviewer, the attitudes of the two senior Marsalis brothers seem sharply contrasted; Wynton seems to verge on arrogance and to avoid any comment that might be construed as racially incorrect.

Branford, on the other hand, when asked about the possibility of recording works by black classical composers, had no hesitation in replying: “There aren’t that many for any instrument, let alone for the saxophone. William Grant Still, judging by what I’ve heard of his work, is not in the same class as Stravinsky or any of the great composers. I don’t want to sound mean, but if he were white he wouldn’t get any mention at all! There’s a lot of instances where people have gotten credit because they were black.

“Being black can work to your advantage; if you have somebody that violently disagrees with you, whether it’s in music or the political arena, all you have to do is holler ‘racism!’ and they’ll back off.”

When it was suggested to him that this attitude seemed antithetical to Wynton’s, he replied: “You think so? He would never make a remark like that, but he thinks it. I’m sure he knows there’s such a tremendous amount of anti-black racism in this country that he doesn’t want to given anyone a chance to say ‘You see? Racism works both ways.’

“It’s hard to explain the differences between me and Wynton. I agree with the majority of things he says, but our deliveries are different. The best part of his message is the musical part.

“Music means a lot more than just music to him, I think, whereas music to me means music. I’m not trying to prove anything to anyone with my music--at least, not politically or socially; only musically. I do have social observations that differ from Wynton’s. Mine are more comfortable for people, while he, I believe, enjoys making them squirm.”

Branford would just as soon make people laugh. He has impressed millions with his screen presence, first in “Bring On the Night,” which some feel he stole from Sting, then in “Throw Mama From the Train” and most recently in Spike Lee’s “School Daze.”

He was offered a lead acting role in Lee’s current production, “A Love Supreme,” but turned it down because it would have meant putting his band on hold while he spent time in the studios. “I wrote three tunes for the sound track and my band played on it; that seemed more important to me than the acting. It’s going to be a real hard-core jazz movie too--unlike ‘Bird,’ which I thought was awful. I didn’t like the technique they used to drown out the other musicians and dub in new ones who backed up Bird. They threw in a lot of crowd noise so that it sounded more like a rock concert than a jazz club.”

Miles Davis, whose absence from “Bird” was the subject of much speculation, has given Branford Marsalis food for considerable thought.

“I think Miles has done as much damage to jazz music as he has done good. He reminds me of stories I used to hear about (the late trumpeter) Lee Morgan, where there was some fear of being considered a nice person, so you try to show how tough you are and you curse at everyone and turn your back to the audience.

“Miles would rather be considered famous than important. The only reason he switched to pop music was that he thought people had stopped going to see jazz. When the Village Vanguard was no longer the in place to play, he didn’t want to work there any more.

“His last record, ‘Amandla,’ is fantastic, but you know why? Because of Marcus Miller, who is one of the baddest pop writers and producers out there. It’s ironic to see Miles reduced to being, in effect, a sideman on his own record; in the old days he put his own personal stamp on every album.”

Marsalis has no objection to Davis’ change of musical orientation. “I’m not saying he should still be playing jazz. Not at all. Especially after he’s played with every great musician known to mankind. Once Herbie Hancock and Wayne Shorter and Tony Williams and Ron Carter left him, who was he gonna play with--us? That’s a joke to me, man.

“It’s just not right for Miles to take so much undue credit and put so many people down. I heard one interview where he said Freddie Hubbard can’t play the trumpet. Before I was asked to join his band, I was just “a great musician,” but when I didn’t join him, in the next interview he said I can’t play social music. Well, I grew up with social music, as he calls it; it’s a product of the generation I represent. There’s a difference between not being able to play it and choosing not to. All these guys of his age would talk about funk--I resent that, because funk also is a product of my generation, not theirs.”

Another source of resentment: The New York critics who, as Marsalis puts it, “believe that Miles invented air. They seem to feel that he was the guiding force behind Herbie and Wayne and the rest, although the only smart thing Miles did was hire them in the first place.

“Years from now, how would it sound if I went around saying I taught Jeff Watts how to play the drums, or Kenny Kirkland how to play the piano? People might be dumb enough to believe it, but that’s not fair to the musicians you hired--and it’s not fair to history.”

The many and varied achievements of Branford Marsalis over the past year have provided a fair indication of what history holds in store for him. Last winter he was the national spokesman, and one of the judges, for the National Assn. of Jazz Educators college band competition. In May, taking part in a Carnegie Hall concert with Sonny Rollins, he earned an extraordinary endorsement from the tenor sax veteran, who said: “I’ve played in competitive situations with some of the giants, and Branford may be the next giant.” Soon after, Rollins invited Marsalis to play on his record session.

Another staunch admirer is Dave Grusin, on whose latest release, “Migration,” Marsalis plays three cuts. Perhaps coincidentally, the bassist on all three, and the composer on one, is the above-mentioned Marcus Miller. This is a GRP release, but Branford remains under contract to CBS for his own albums.

Given the wide range of his activities and the growing respect in which he is held, it would seem likely that not only will Branford Marsalis be fair to history, but history will be eminently fair to him.