The Marsalis family of New Orleans is one of the most renown in jazz. Oldest brother and saxophonist Branford Marsalis celebrates his 66th birthday today.

Branford Marsalis was still a student at the Berklee College of Music when he first played with Art Blakey on a European tour in 1980. By the end of the next year, he was a regular member of Blakey’s Jazz Messengers playing alongside his brother trumpeter Wynton. In 1985 he joined the band of bassist and vocalist Sting, and the following year formed his own quartet. Between 1992 and 1995 Branford led The Tonight Show Band for the first three years of the Jay Leno era. Along with his quartet, Marsalis started the group Buckshot LeFonque in 1994. That band combines jazz, rock and hip-hop influences and released their first record within months of their founding.

In addition to his own projects, Branford Marsalis has performed and recorded with a wide variety of musical artists including Dizzy Gillespie, Roy Hargrove, Harry Connick, Jr., James Taylor, the Allman Brothers, Sonny Rollins, the Dave Matthews Band and the Grateful Dead. After Hurricane Katrina he along with his friend Harry Connick, Jr., created the “Musicians Village” along with Habitat for Humanity.

Branford has also made a name for himself on Broadway, where he wrote the music for the revival of the August Wilson play “Fences,” as well as in the world of classical music. He made his debut with the New York Philharmonic in 2010. Marsalis has also appeared and performed in Spike Lee films and several television programs, and written scores for movies. In 2011, along with his brothers and father, he received the NEA Jazz Masters Award. Branford has also been active as a music educator having taught at Michigan State University, San Francisco State University and North Carolina Central University.

Here is a link to a popular cut from Buckshot LeFonque's 1994 debut album:

"SOME COW FONQUE"