Todd Marcus Quartet: Home for Thanksgiving

“Mr. Marcus is probably the most inventive bass clarinetist working in straight-ahead jazz today… [and] lives in Baltimore, where he is a guiding light on the city’s jazz scene who doubles as an activist and organizer.” – The New York Times

Celebrate the start of the holiday season this Thanksgiving with Baltimore's very own hometown hero, Todd Marcus! 

Todd Marcus is one of the few artists worldwide to focus on the bass clarinet as a main instrument in modern jazz with his small and large ensembles. His straight-ahead playing and compositions swing with fiery intensity balanced with delicate introspection. His music offers a strong melodic sensibility, draws from elements of his community work, and often incorporate the Middle Eastern influences of his Egyptian-American heritage. Marcus has annually been voted a Rising Star in Downbeat Magazine’s Annual Critics Poll since 2013, and he has worked with other jazz artists such as Gary Bartz, Bennie Maupin, Don Byron, Larry Willis, Gary Thomas, Joel Frahm, Tim Warfield, Ralph Peterson, Warren Wolf, Sean Jones, Xavier Davis, George Colligan, and Orrin Evans. 

Marcus balances his music career by running Intersection of Change, a nonprofit addressing poverty related issues in his Baltimore neighborhood. The organization runs a community arts program for children & adults, a recovery program for women overcoming drug addiction, an urban farm, and has achieved significant community revitalization by renovating abandoned building and vacant lots.