1. Marthaniel "Marcus" Roberts was born on August 7,1963 and is an American jazz pianist, composer, arranger, bandleader, and teacher.
12 Facts About Marcus Roberts
1. 2.
Marcus Roberts's mother was a gospel singer who had gone blind as a teenager, and his father was a longshoreman.
3.
Blind since age five due to glaucoma and cataracts, Roberts started learning the piano at age five by picking out notes on the instrument at his church until his parents bought a piano when he was eight.
4.
Marcus Roberts began teaching himself piano at an early age, having his first lesson at age 12, and then studying with Leonidas Lipovetsky while attending Florida State University.
5.
Marcus Roberts's style has been influenced more by Jelly Roll Morton and Fats Waller than McCoy Tyner and Bill Evans, with an emphasis on ragtime and stride piano rather than bebop.
6.
Marcus Roberts has performed as a soloist in symphony orchestras with Marin Alsop and Seiji Ozawa.
7.
Marcus Roberts returned to Japan in September 2014 to share the stage with Ozawa and the Saito Kinen Festival Orchestra.
8.
In 2012, Marcus Roberts founded the band The Modern Jazz Generation, which released its first album in October 2014.
9.
Marcus Roberts served as associate artistic director for the Savannah Music Festival as well as the director of the annual Swing Central high school band competition.
10.
Marcus Roberts is on the faculty at Florida State University.
11.
In 2014, Marcus Roberts was profiled on the television show 60 Minutes.
12.
Marcus Roberts received an honorary doctorate from Brigham Young University for the 2021 commencement on April 22.