Marcus Strickland – Twi-Life

Miami-born tenor and soprano saxophonist Marcus Strickland has been active on the jazz scene since the 1990s, playing with artists such as Roy Haynes and Jeff “Tain” Waits.

Marcus Strickland runs his own Strick Muzik music label (launched in 2006) and has released nine solo recordings to date: People of the Sun (2018), Nihil Novi (2016) on Blue Note Records; Triumph of the Heavy, Vol 1 & 2 (2011), Idiosyncrasies (2009), Open Reel Deck (2007), and Twi-Life (2006) on his own Strick Muzik music label; Of Song (2009) on Criss Cross Records; Brotherhood (2002) and At Last (2001) on Fresh Sound Records.

DownBeat magazine named him Rising Star on Tenor Saxophone in 2010 and Rising Star on Soprano Saxophone in 2008. JazzTimes magazine’s Reader’s Poll named him Best New Artist in 2006. Marcus Strickland came third in the 2002 Thelonious Monk International Jazz Saxophone Competition.

His band and conceptual project, Twi-Life, deal with the connection and intersection between jazz and hip-hop, drawing on J. Dilla’s aesthetic of complexity, “drum drunkenness” and tonal nuance. Strickland becomes beat maker, composer and saxophonist on these projects.