Branford Marsalis makes his Healdsburg Jazz Festival debut
Saxophonist, composer and bandleader Branford Marsalis has performed at major venues and festivals around the world, but he has never appeared at the Healdsburg Jazz Festival - until now.
He and his quartet - pianist Joey Calderazzo, bassist Eric Revis and drummer Justin Faulkner - will perform June 19 at Bacchus Landing in Healdsburg.
The appearance is part of the Healdsburg Jazz Festival, which runs June 12–21 at venues across the city, including the Raven Performing Arts Theater, Elephant in the Room, the Foley Family Community Pavilion and Little Saint.
This year's lineup includes Charles Lloyd, Cécile McLorin Salvant, Kurt Elling, Lisa Fischer, Hamilton de Holanda and Marcus Shelby, among others.
A three-time Grammy Award winner and National Endowment for the Arts Jazz Master, Marsalis is known for his long-running quartet, genre-spanning collaborations, and his tenure as bandleader of The Tonight Show with Jay Leno from 1992 to 1995.
He also comes from one of the most influential families in American music. The Marsalis family of New Orleans, led by pianist and educator Ellis Marsalis, includes trumpeter Wynton Marsalis, trombonist Delfeayo Marsalis and drummer Jason Marsalis.
Marsalis is touring the United States this summer, with Healdsburg among his Northern California stops, including shows at Stanford and in Santa Barbara. He recently answered questions by email.
Question: This is your first appearance at the Healdsburg Jazz Festival. What are you looking forward to most?
Answer: As always, I'm looking forward to playing with my guys. They are great musicians, and great friends. If we had more time, there would be some vineyard activity. Alas, it's not to be.
Q: How important are festivals like Healdsburg's to the survival and growth of jazz?
A: It's always important to have places to perform, and places with audiences that have the capacity to appreciate it. Ultimately, the survival of the music is left to the young musicians, and whether they want to actually learn it.
Q: You have collaborated with a variety of artists, ranging from Sting to the Grateful Dead. Is there anyone left on your wish list?
A: I've never had a wish list. It's impossible to solicit great musicians to hire you. You have to hope they contact you. I've been in the right place at the right time, and I've prepared for all possibilities.
Q: You have crossed over into classical music, pop and even rock. What is the biggest lesson you learned about playing outside of traditional jazz?
A: We all use the same 12 notes. The magic is in the sound. I've been forced to learn different sounds for different settings, and sometimes sounds from one creep into the other, which is really a blast.
Q: Coming from the Marsalis family, how do you view your responsibility to mentor the next generation of jazz musicians?
A: My father was a teacher, as was (trumpeter) George Marks, who was not from a musical family, and (clarinetist) Alvin Batiste, who was from a musical family, and Harvey Pittel, who was not from a musical family. The family legacy is not as important as the commitment to share your knowledge with young people, as the aforementioned and many other teachers did with me.
Q: As a music educator, how do you manage the difference between students growing up in the digital era and traditional jazz training?
A: It's still the same 12 notes and the same variety of sounds. If they study with me, they play instruments as well. Technology does not interfere with the challenge of creating a sound that has an emotional effect on people. Everyone has to learn the same things, as our predecessors did.
Q: How do you approach writing or selecting songs to perform or record?
A: I listen to music constantly. The ideas spring forth from learning the music of others. The melody comes, I write it down, and then I use the harmony that makes the melody as strong as it can be. But it all comes from listening.
Q: In performing work by others, how do you balance respecting the original composer's vision while injecting your own identity?
A: We all come with our own sound and identity. The question is, do you want to develop that identity? The best way to do that is by taking sounds and ideas from people who were much better at it than you, decades before you were even here. I don't worry about my musical identity when playing, just as I didn't worry about my identity when I was learning "Itsy Bitsy Spider" with my mom.
Q: How do you see the business of jazz evolving in a streaming-dominated era?
A: Music is ultimately about performance. Some artists - like my nephew, Slauson Malone - create computer-driven music, to great success. But the rest of us will still tour and develop the old-fashioned way. Streaming refers to record sales. Jazz has never sold in the kind of volume that would allow us not to tour, and I'm glad we still get to do that.
IF YOU GO
What: Healdsburg Jazz Festival
When: June 12–21
Branford Marsalis performance: June 19, Bacchus Landing
Where: Venues throughout Healdsburg, including Raven Performing Arts Theater, Elephant in the Room, Foley Family Community Pavilion and Little Saint
Featured artists: Charles Lloyd, Cécile McLorin Salvant, Kurt Elling, Lisa Fischer, Hamilton de Holanda, Marcus Shelby and others
Information: healdsburgjazz.org
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This story was originally published June 9, 2026 at 6:35 PM.