"I seek to further the tradition of jazz music by embracing its rich history, by building on the ground work laid by the masters such as Duke Ellington, Charles Mingus, and Thelonious Monk, and by exploring creative ways to expose and preserve this great American art form."

An award winning musician, Marcus Shelby studied at California Institute of the Arts as a recipient of the Charles Mingus Scholarship. He leads the popular GRP/Impulse! recording group BLACK/NOTE, an ensemble widely acknowledged as trailblazers among the rising number of young neo-classic jazz musicians, with whom he has released four critically acclaimed albums.

Mr. Shelby, a bassist, has performed throughout the United States, Europe, Asia, Canada and Mexico. He has worked with legendary jazz artists Billy Higgins, Eddie Harris, Joe Henderson, Pharoah Sanders, Billy Childs and Sir Roland Hannah among many others, and toured with Wynton Marsalis. He was a featured soloist for the San Francisco Philharmonic’s Gerswhin tribute, under the director of Michael Tilson Thomas in 1999.

A prolific composer, Marcus Shelby writes music for feature and independent films, theater productions and for other recording artists. While in partnership with publishing powerhouse Chrysalis Music, he composed music for the films Higher Learning and The White Man’s Burden. His theatrical stage scores include Emitt Till (Hollywood, San Francisco) and King Lear (San Francisco). The 1999 HBO documentary Lenny Bruce with narration by Robert DeNiro features his original compositions.

Mr. Shelby founded Noir Records in 1996 in order to provide opportunities for creative recording artists with a concentration in art music. As President/CEO of the independent label, he produces and distributes jazz, classical, world music and spoken word recordings. The San Francisco-based Noir Records is also active in youth outreach, offering music workshops and scholarship awards.

Marcus Shelby himself is the recipient of numerous awards and recognitions. The Los Angeles Weekly selected him as an outstanding artist of 1997. In 1998 he was honored by Dockers as one of the 100 most influential people between 25 - 34 in San Francisco, and awarded an ASCAP Popular Award for Songwriters and Composers.

The official 1997 San Francisco Jazz Festival poster featured the image of Shelby and his bass, and he also performed in a long-running national Coca Cola commercial. Mr. Shelby recently expanded his creative range in a stage production of Sam Shepherd’s play Suicide in B-Flat (San Francisco).

The Marcus Shelby Trio currently performs throughout the West Coast. Their music consists of original compositions by Shelby and arrangements from the standard repertoire.

Source: http://www.jazzantiqua.org/Pages/Bios.html