Walking onto the Kenan Auditorium stage, with his soprano sax in hand, was international jazz musician and Grammy award winner Branford Marsalis. Accompanied by his band-mates– pianist Joey Calderazzo, bassist Eric Revis, and drummer Justin Faulkner–the Marsalis Quartet closed out UNC Wilmington’s 2013-2014 Arts in Action series on Tuesday, April 8. 

Marsalis, a member of a distinguished New Orleans musical family and former music director for “The Tonight Show with Jay Leno,” played selections from his quartet’s latest album “Four MFs Playin’ Tunes.” 

Kenan Auditorium’s illuminated stage—set up with a bass, a black piano, a tenor saxophone, a drum set and two standing microphones—greeted the Marsalis Quartet as their leader began a procession of the four-man jazz band to their instrument stations.

Before the band played their first song, Calderazzo brought his four-month old son to the stage to a warm reception from the audience. Delighted by the audience’s response to the infant, Marsalis played the nursery rhyme, “The Itsy Bitsy Spider,” on his soprano saxophone to the baby boy, who drew laughter from the audience.

UNCW senior Micheal Owens, a longtime jazz fan, enjoyed Marsalis’ impromptu performance.

“The hints of ‘The Itsy Bitsy Spider’ made [the evening] funny and played in to the theme for the piano player’s new born child,” Owens said. 

Junior George Daniel praised the artistry of Marsalis.

“Branford, like so many other jazz musicians, is one of those artists who just constantly shows that he genuinely loves what he does,” Daniel said.

The evening was enjoyable for the audience, who frequently cheered throughout the quartet’s intermittent breaks in their song selections.

“The music captured my soul and took me to a different world,” Owens said. 

The quartet’s chemistry was apparent onstage, as the band mates exchanges inaudible jokes between songs. 

Junior Zoë Harris, a music education major, said she loved the connection that the quartet shared with the audience. 

“I believe that even people who aren’t musicians were really able to pick up on that at the concert, and the fact that this concert was one that everyone could enjoy as they watched the energy level and excitement coming from the performers themselves,” Harris said.

During some periods of the quartet’s selections, Marsalis rested from playing while Calderazzo, Revis and Faulkner engaged the audience with softer sounds, reminiscent of the backdrop of a New Orleans cafe cushioned along the cobblestone streets of the historic French Quarter. 

Faulkner excited the audience with his swift hand motions beating the drums, while his arms and body jerked in large rhythmic movements with the sounds that he created.

At one point, Calderazzo bopped his body in his seat as his fingers danced along the black piano keys, and he broke into an upbeat version of “The Itsy Bitsy Spider” in response to Marsalis’ earlier saxophone rendition. 

Revis had a small solo accompanied with the laid-back strumming of his bass strings, before Marsalis closed out the song with notes from his tenor saxophone.

After the Marsalis quartet played their final number, they received a standing ovation. Shortly after exiting the stage, the group returned for an encore to an anticipating audience. 

The Marsalis quartet’s encore featured their rendition of the famous American blues song, “St. James Infirmary Blues,” a 16th-century English song popularized by Louis Armstrong in 1928.

The quartet’s final selection of the night left the audience with an unforgettable jazz music experience.

“My love of jazz transcends time and all other things. It’s calming and it can give you a rush like no other,” Owens said.

For Daniel, the synergy between the quartet was enjoyable to watch.

“[Marsalis] and his band were a perfect collaboration, showing how four different personalities and playing styles can mesh together to create something awesome,” Daniel said. 

Harris said that Marsalis’s quartet inspired her as a musician to have the same “feel good” effect on her listeners. 

“I don’t want to merely get on stage, play the music and leave, but rather have an exciting experience with the audience,” Harris said.