About Robby Marshall

From the time he was four years old, banging on his parents’ upright piano, music has called to Robby Marshall. It drove him to become one of the Bay Area’s hottest young jazz saxophonists: by the time he graduated from high school, he had already performed with Carlos Santana at the Fillmore, Trombone Shorty at the New Orleans Jazz Festival, and recorded Prominence Project, a benefit CD for youth music education.

He followed the sound down the California coastline, honing his skills at USC’s Thornton School of Music and immersing himself in the myriad of cultural delights Los Angeles offered him. In between classes, he found time to fly to Switzerland to perform at the Montreux Jazz Festival, and to Chicago to perform alongside Reneé Olstead on “The Oprah Winfrey Show.” Upon graduating with a Bachelor’s Degree in Jazz Studies, he chased his muse around the world and back again, thrilling audiences in New York, Canada and South Korea. He has risen unflinchingly to every opportunity music has given him, from recording with pop sensation Michael Bublé, to leading his own groups at the Lima and Angel City Jazz Festivals, to performing with legends like Wayne Shorter, Nancy Wilson and Bobby McFerrin.

And today—whether pouring forth from the bells of his arsenal of woodwinds, or grooving with purpose on his debut CD of original compositions, Living Electric—Robby Marshall’s music stands more than ever as a reflection of the man himself: fearless, intelligent and restlessly creative.

“The kid’s a trip, man, with a tone right out of 52nd Street, but musical ideas reaching in all directions, genres, dimensions.”
—Brick Wahl, LA Weekly

“It is rare to encounter a young musician that really understands the conversational aspect of improvising, but Robby really gets it!”
—Russ Ferrante, The Yellowjackets

“Marshall shows an uncanny ability to color his compositions by using unusual pairings of musical sounds to great effect.”
—Ralph Mirello, Jazz.com

“…got the heads rockin’! Robby brings it on easy, adds some effects on the horn, and taps into the soul of today and yesterday to deliver some groove-based, funkified concepts that could turn Metropol into Studio 54!”
—LeRoy Downs, KJAZZ, The Jazzcat.net

“I love that album. I listen to a lot of new records in my office everyday, and Robby’s jumped out and made me stop writing e-mails… great driving stuff!”
—Alisa Clancy, KCSM