Music from the Art

Branford Marsalis does a sound check before beginning recording sessions with his quartet. Photo / AP

Suddenly, at the start of the 80s, there were a lot of people called "Marsalis" in jazz. The most visible and controversial was the young trumpeter Wynton who - in smart suits and a style which echoed Miles Davis of the 50s - turned the music away from the funk and fusion of the 70s and back to a classic period and sound.

His "neo-conservative" movement defined jazz for a new audience, but his outspoken comments about this being authentic jazz alienated many musicians and listeners who heard his music as retro and his ideas as revisionist.

There was his sax-playing older brother Branford; the spotlight on them both turned attention to their father Ellis, a well known pianist and teacher in their hometown of New Orleans; then along came another Marsalis sibling, Delfeayo, who was a trombonist and record producer.

Of them all, Branford proved the most interesting and innovative: unlike Wynton he had no issue with funk and fusion; helmed the house band on Jay Leno's Tonight Show for 2 years from 92 ("an error of judgment," he says now); played in Sting's touring group in the 90s; and formed the ambitious Buckshot LeFonque which included rappers and a turntablist alongside jazz and classical players. Earlier this year he joined the remnants of the Grateful Dead ("I had a great time"), but for most of the past decade this Marsalis has returned to jazz with his small band, and explored symphonic music.

The man who once looked out on stadiums of lighter-waving Sting fans again works in small clubs and quiet concert halls.

A week ago he was in Istanbul "playing to all the young Turks!", but the phone call catches him in Athens on a yawning morning after a late night watching his hometown team the New Orleans Saints win at the last minute and move towards their first-ever Superbowl.

"I'm a big fan of sports but because my teams are usually on the arse-end of everything, they lose habitually, you become more a fan of the sport itself," he laughs.

At 49 and after a diverse career, this Marsalis has a clear picture of where he is located on the musical spectrum: he plays art music for a minority audience.

"I understand why pop music is popular, but it's in the nature of what we do that we can't possibly be popular in that way.

"If you're [jazz] musician who can't understand that then I have to question why you made that career choice... unless you are one of those strange people who likes mass rejection. If so, then jazz is perfect for you! I know a lot of musicians who like moaning," he laughs, then turns to a sporting metaphor.

"Pop audiences pay attention to the star and I learned that at 12. In pop, there are singers and guitar players, and the rest of us are just background.