Marcus Shelby facts for kids

Marcus Shelby was born on February 2, 1966, in Anchorage, Alaska. He is an American bass player, a composer, and an educator. Marcus Shelby is famous for his big musical pieces for jazz orchestra. These include Port Chicago, Harriet Tubman, Soul of the Movement: Meditations on Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., and Beyond the Blues: A Prison Oratorio. He has led the Marcus Shelby Jazz Orchestra since 2001. He has also recorded music with many different artists, like Ledisi and Tom Waits.

Marcus Shelby has created many musical pieces for dance groups and theater artists. He has worked with groups like California Shakespeare Theater and Intersection for the Arts.

Marcus Shelby's Early Life and Music Journey

Marcus Shelby performs with the Teen Jazz Orchestra in the courtyard of the San Francisco Community Music Center.

When Marcus Shelby was five years old, his family moved. They moved from Memphis, Tennessee, to Sacramento, California. As a teenager, Shelby played the double bass for a short time. But he stopped playing music until 1988. That year, he went to a Wynton Marsalis concert with his father. This concert inspired him to start playing music again.

Shelby then moved to Los Angeles. There, he began working with the drummer Billy Higgins. In 1991, he won the Charles Mingus Scholarship. This allowed him to study music at California Institute of the Arts. His teachers there included Billy Higgins, the composer James Newton, and Charlie Haden.

From 1991 to 1996, Marcus Shelby recorded and toured with a group called Black/Note. This was a hard bop jazz group based in Los Angeles. He was known as Mark Shelby during this time.

When Black/Note broke up in 1996, he moved to San Francisco. He wanted to grow as a musician. In San Francisco, he started the Marcus Shelby Trio. He also formed the Marcus Shelby Jazz Orchestra. He has been an Artist in Residence at the Yerba Buena Gardens Festival. He was also a Composer in Residence at Intersection for the Arts.

In 2013, Shelby was chosen to be part of the San Francisco Arts Commission. He is also a long-time teacher at the San Francisco Community Music Center. Marcus Shelby has two daughters.

Important Musical Works by Marcus Shelby

Marcus Shelby has created several large and important musical pieces. These works often tell stories or explore important topics.

• 2002: Port Chicago – This is a 14-part musical piece for jazz orchestra.
• 2007: Harriet Tubman – This is an oratorio, which is a large musical work for voices and orchestra. It tells the story of Harriet Tubman.
• 2011: Soul of the Movement: Meditations on Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. – This work focuses on the ideas and spirit of Martin Luther King Jr..
• 2015: Beyond the Blues: A Prison Oratorio – This oratorio explores themes related to prisons and justice.

Marcus Shelby's Music Albums

Marcus Shelby has released many albums, both with groups and as a leader.

Albums with Black/Note

• 1991: 43rd & Degnan (World Stage)
• 1994: Jungle Music (Columbia / Sony Music Distribution)
• 1994: L.A. Underground (RED Distribution)
• 1996: Nothin' But the Swing (Impulse! / GRP)

Albums as a Leader

• 1997: Un Faux Pas!, Marcus Shelby Trio (Noir)
• 1998: Midtown Sunset, Marcus Shelby and the Jazzantiqua Music Ensemble (Noir)
• 1998: Sophisticate, Marcus Shelby Trio (Noir)
• 2001: The Lights Suite, Marcus Shelby Jazz Orchestra (Noir)
• 2006: Port Chicago, Marcus Shelby Jazz Orchestra (Noir)
• 2008: Harriet Tubman, Marcus Shelby Jazz Orchestra (Noir)
• 2011: Soul of the Movement: Meditations on Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., Marcus Shelby Jazz Orchestra (Porto Franco)

Albums as a Contributor

Marcus Shelby has also played bass or contributed to many other artists' albums. Here are a few examples:

• 1994: Judgement, Robert Stewart
• 1996: Flow, Faye Carol
• 1998: Mortyfied, New Morty Show
• 1998: Intimate Strangers, Marcus Poston
• 2004: Too Good to Be True, Buford Powers
• 2005: First Pitch Swinging, Danny Grewen
• 2006: It's a Good Thing, Jamie Davis
• 2006: Blue Divine, Tammy Hall
• 2007: The Shotgun Wedding Quintet, The Shotgun Wedding Quintet
• 2007: The Code, John Calloway
• 2007: 12 Gates to the City, Howard Wiley
• 2008: Extraordinary Rendition, Rupa & the April Fishes
• 2010: On a Day Like This..., Meklit Hadero
• 2011: Bad as Me, Tom Waits

Collaborations and Awards

Marcus Shelby has worked with many different artists and groups. He has also received several awards for his musical talents.

Selected Collaborations

• 1993–2006: He was the Musical Director for the Jazz Antiqua Music and Dance Ensemble.
• 1998–2004: He was the Musical Director for the Savage Jazz Dance Company.
• 2014: He worked with the California Shakespeare Theater on The Legacy of Duke Ellington: 50 Years of Swing!.
• 2015: He collaborated with Anna Deavere Smith on Notes from the Field: Doing Time in Education, The California Chapter.

Awards and Honors

• 1991: He received the Charles Mingus Scholarship.
• 2000: He had a Meet the Composer residency.
• 2000: He received a Creative Work Fund commission.
• 2003: He received an Equal Justice Society commission.
• 2005: He received an Oakland Ballet commission.
• 2006: He became a Fellow in the Resident Dialogues Program at Stanford University.
• 2008: He won the Bay Area Theater Critics Circle Award for Best Original Music Score for Sonny's Blues.
• 2009: He received a Black Metropolis Research Consortium Fellowship.