INFORMATION FOR
Saxophonist Branford Marsalis, one of the most influential and revered figures in contemporary music, brings his quartet to the William Paterson University Jazz Room series for a special evening performance on Thursday, February 26, 2026 at 7:30 p.m. The concert will be held in the Shea Center for Performing Arts on campus and will be followed by a Q & A session.
Marsalis, an NEA Jazz Master, Grammy Award winner, and Tony Award nominee, is equally at home performing concertos with symphony orchestras and sitting in with members of the Grateful Dead, but the core of his musical universe remains the Branford Marsalis Quartet. After more than three decades of existence with minimal personnel changes, this celebrated ensemble is revered for its uncompromising interpretation of a kaleidoscopic range of both original compositions and jazz and popular classics.
After the Grammy‐nominated Upward Spiral, on which guest vocalist Kurt Elling was seamlessly integrated into the group, the Quartet followed up with the Grammy‐nominated The Secret Between the Shadow and the Soul, its most emotionally wide‐ranging and melody driven collection to date. This spring the Quartet makes its Blue Note Records debut with the March 28 release of Belonging, a full album interpretation of Keith Jarrett’s 1974 ECM album of the same name.
Tickets range from $50 t0 $78. Discounts are available for WP faculty, staff, alumni, and senior citizens, and for students. For tickets or additional information, visit wp-presents.org, or contact the Shea Center Box Office at 973.720.2371 or boxoffice@wpunj.edu.
William Paterson University has been a flagship of jazz education for more than 50 years and is recognized internationally for its Jazz Studies Program and nationally acclaimed Jazz Room series of concerts each fall and spring.
The Jazz Room series is the longest-running program of its kind in the United States. Launched in 1978, the Jazz Room has welcomed more than 500 jazz legends to the stage, including Sonny Rollins, Wynton Marsalis, Wayne Shorter, Joe Williams, Marian McPartland, Slide Hampton, Kenny Burrell, Joe Lovano, Kenny Garrett, Clark Terry, Michael and Randy Brecker, the Vanguard Orchestra, and more. Concerts have encompassed the entire spectrum of jazz, from early jazz and swing to avant garde, and from intimate solo performances to big bands.
The performance series provides support for the University’s internationally renowned Jazz Studies Program, founded in 1973. The program draws students from across the United States and abroad under the current direction of Grammy Award-winning pianist Bill Charlap.
Upcoming spring Jazz Room performers include saxophonist Steve Wilson with the William Paterson Jazz Orchestra on Sunday, March 8. Guitarist John Pizzarelli presents “Dr. Mr. Bennett” on Sunday, March 29, honoring the songs and centennial of Tony Bennett, and saxophonist and clarinetist Paquito D’Rivera performs with the William Paterson Latin Jazz Ensemble on Sunday, May 3.
The Jazz Room at William Paterson University has been made possible, in part, by funds from the New Jersey State Council on the Arts, a partner agency of the National Endowment for the Arts.
