A 3rd Marsalis Bringing His Sound to S.D.

Branford has the “Tonight Show” and Wynton gets tons of ink as an unofficial spokesman for a new generation of jazz players. Now Delfeayo Marsalis, a third jazz-playing Marsalis brother, has taken a step toward the limelight with the release this year of “Pontius Pilate’s Decision,” his debut solo recording.

Marsalis, 27, has been a music professional since his teens, with an excellent reputation as a producer of recordings by his famous older brothers and other top musicians, including Harry Connick Jr., Kenny Kirkland and Courtney Pine.

The family footsteps are big ones to follow, but Marsalis is marching steadily ahead, playing UC San Diego’s Price Center Plaza Saturday afternoon as part of a free jazz festival that also includes bassist John Patitucci’s band and Hollis Gentry’s Neon.

He’s a composer, leader and dedicated jazz player with no desire to dabble in pop, as his brother Branford has in his recordings with Sting, Carole King, Teena Marie and Tina Turner.

“Branford, who I consider the world’s greatest sideman, is able to fit into many different situations,” Marsalis said by phone from New Orleans. “I don’t function well as a sideman, so I don’t have to worry about Sting or the Grateful Dead calling me.

“There are many different things I feel I must do to cover all of my creative elements. For Wynton it was playing classical music, then composing, then perfecting his soloing. For Branford, it’s playing all of these different styles, Indian, opera, jazz, different pop.

“For me it has to do with playing trombone, producing, writing, composing.”

By waiting until the ripe old age of 27 to record on his own, Marsalis made a later debut than his brothers. Wynton was 21 when his first album came out and Branford was 24.

“I thought I should wait until I was ready to present something respectable,” Marsalis said. “I didn’t want to put out an album prematurely.”

But with such well-known brothers, surely the recording companies had clamored for a recording sooner.

“Hell no, no one was interested in signing me,” he said. “I didn’t think I would ever get a recording contract, but a guy from Geffen Records found me and said, ‘I think you could really make great records.”

Marsalis didn’t sign with Geffen, but the company’s interest sparked other offers, and he eventually wound up with RCA, which he says gives him complete freedom.

“Oh yeah, they don’t have a choice! It’s my way or no way, that’s the way it goes.”

With “Pontius Pilate’s Decision,” Marsalis makes a strong debut. It’s an ambitious conceptual jazz recording that challenges listeners with complex musical textures and layers of symbolism.

Using the Bible as a point of departure, Marsalis composed musical meditations on several biblical stories and characters, for instrumental combinations ranging from quartet to nine pieces.

‘The Bible explains everything you go through on a daily basis: racism, greed, avarice, hypocrisy, promiscuity, you name it, it’s in there,” Marsalis said. “I think people will benefit by checking in with the Bible. It doesn’t matter what denomination or religion they are.”

Depending on his mood and the crowd’s on Saturday, Marsalis and his band may play some of the music from “Pontius Pilate,” but his set is also likely to include spur-of-the-moment standards and some new material he is developing for his second recording.

Songs from “Pontius Pilate” include “The Weary Ways of Mary Magdalene,” with Wynton Marsalis’ dirty trumpet shading this song of seven demons including promiscuity, “Nicodemus,” which alternates moody sections featuring droning bass with up-tempo improvised passages, and “The Last Supper,” an elaborate ensemble piece.

Marsalis takes his share of solos, but he is generous with space for the other players. Trombone--or “trambone” as Marsalis sometimes calls it, borrowing the slang of early jazz players--is not a traditional lead instrument, and many listeners aren’t used to hearing it up front.

“As a leader, the most difficult job of any musician is to have an expressive sound, something that is likable, pretty, sweet,” said Marsalis, who names veteran trombonist J.J. Johnson as his primary influence. “That’s the biggest task on the trombone, to play a really passionate sound. That’s what I try to do, and I try to write music that has a real strong melody.

“J.J. is the main guy, and Tommy Dorsey, Jack Teagarden,” Marsalis said. “But J.J.’s always first. He can still play better than anybody. He was the first (trombone) soloist to incorporate clarity with articulation and melodic fluency in the be-bop and post-bop era.”

Johnson helped Marsalis perfect his sound.

“I’ve tried lots of different types of horns, but I’ve had this one since ’88 or ‘87, since I saw J.J. live and he recommended that I switch to a smaller horn designed for improvisation. The range is the same, but I get more projection.”

Marsalis is hard at work writing and refining music for the follow-up to “Pontius.” He says it will continue the spirit of brother Wynton’s 1985 release “Black Codes (From the Underground),” a lean, hard-driving quintet recording that introduced a pair of prodigies named Bob Hurst and Marcus Roberts.

Bassist Hurst, a member of Branford Marsalis’ group and the “Tonight Show” band, will be on Delfeayo Marsalis’ next recording, along with drummer Jeff (Tain) Watts and pianist Kenny Kirkland, two other Branford Marsalis/”Tonight Show” regulars.

Beyond his own music, Marsalis is busy on other fronts. He is producing new recordings by his father and brothers, and recently supplied music for a video documentary about the Los Angeles riots.

He contributed trombone to several of director Spike Lee’s movies, and would like to write movie music. He says the approach he used on “Pontius Pilate’s Decision”--capturing scenes and characters in music--would translate well to writing for movies.

Marsalis was born and raised in New Orleans and began making music early on.

“I started on drums, but I had no coordination,” he said. “Then I went to bass and it was too painful, I didn’t want callouses on my fingers, and that was just electric bass. So I ended up picking up the tram.”

He began “producing” in sixth grade, when he first recorded his brothers, and eventually attended the prestigious Berklee College of Music in Boston.

Although music practically runs in the Marsalis blood, there was no push for him to become a musician.

“For me, there was pressure to go into something else,” he said. “They all wanted me to be a writer.” Marsalis writes liner notes for albums and is taking a fiction writing class at the University of New Orleans.

Having famous brothers in jazz could be a drag for and up-and-coming jazz player, raising public expectations, causing personal doubt, but Marsalis doesn’t see it that way.

“It’s great. I love it,” he said. “They’ve always been a great example and inspiration for me. We don’t agree on much, but we’re very close in terms of our family relationships.”

* Saturday afternoon’s free jazz fest at UC San Diego begins at 1 and lasts until 5. Marsalis’ band usually includes teen-age brother Jason on drums, but he couldn’t get away from high school, so Marsalis will be joined by pianist Victor (Red) Atkins, saxophonist Mark (Nat) Turner, bassist Neal Caine and drummer Martin Butler.