Family Matinee – Marcus Shelby Orchestra presents Black Ball: The Negro Leagues & The Blues
Original performance date: April 13, 2024

Bassist and bandleader Marcus Shelby is a long-range planner, assiduously assembling a vision ever since he moved to San Francisco in 1996. He teaches in schools and prisons, collaborates with theater companies, filmmakers and poets, serves as Artistic Director of the Healdsburg Jazz Festival, and has composed a triptych of big band suites drawn from African American history. During his tenure as SFJAZZ Resident Artistic Director, Shelby came up with a novel idea.

Shelby is a baseball freak, an over-the-top fan of the San Francisco Giants, and his intention was to combine his love of the game with his passion for history at SFJAZZ. In celebration of the beginning of the 2024 baseball season, the Marcus Shelby Orchestra presents excerpts from his 2019 work Black Ball: The Negro Leagues and the Blues, a suite honoring the history of Black baseball. The excerpts performed for this Family Matinee include instrumental compositions about Satchel Paige, Rube Foster, Effa Manley, Jackie Robinson, Toni Stone, barnstorming territory bands, umpires, and much more. Plus, the entire band rocked their choice of baseball jerseys to boot!

Artist Personnel:
Marcus Shelby Orchestra ~
Alto sax, Phil Vieux
Alto sax, Brad Leali
Tenor sax & clarinet, Patrick Wolff
Tenor sax, Danny Brown
Baritone sax, Melecio Magdaluyo
Trombone, Danny Lubin-Laden
Trombone, Joel Behrman
Trombone, Rich Lee
Trumpet, Mike Olmos
Trumpet, Richard Benitez
Trumpet, Chris Clarke
Piano, Greg Jacobs
Bass & Musical Director, Marcus Shelby
Drums, Sylvia Cuenca
Slide Show by Andi Wong

Set List: All Compositions by Marcus Shelby
Black Ball (Prelude)
Cepeda
Transitions 1: Pittsburg
Transitions 2: New York
Barnstormin’: Chicago
Black Ball: Kansas City
7th Inning Stretch

Further Reading:
SFJAZZ Blog feature on the premiere of this work back in 2019: https://www.sfjazz.org/onthecorner/marcus-shelby-black-ball-preview/