"Marshall Keys' dulcet tones and earthy compositions conjure the spirits of jazzmen past and future. A mixture of many styles, a collaboration of friends, crafted with great care, Times Aligned is an impressive debut from a seasoned artist." - Mike Sager, Esquire
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Biography
“Marshall Keys’ dulcet tones and earthy compositions conjure the spirits of jazzmen past and future.” From mainstream to contemporary, from bebop to hip-hop, he plays the saxophone with a sense of grace and emotion that is wholly without cliché."- Mike Sager, Esquire
Gig Schedule
"A gifted musician and composer, Keys displays his musicality in a series of refreshingly textured contexts."
“Marshall Keys’ saxophone can sing the blues or swing to the rhythms of bebop with a laid-back sense of cool; the native Washingtonian is a fluid, graceful player.”- Giovanni Russonello
“The long, energetic, extraordinary lines of melody that pour forth from his horn are the calling card of Keys, one of the city’s longtime alto stalwarts.”— Mike Joyce-,Washington Post
2016 BEST SOPRANO SAXOPHONIST Genuinely don’t know how he does it. Keys has some yawning reservoir somewhere of idea after musical idea, and expresses with virtuosity, energy, and astonishing grace.
2015 BEST SOPRANO SAXOPHONIST: Marshall Keys This category came into being last year for Keys’ sake. His unfalteringly beautiful work at Yards Park during this year’s D.C. Jazz Festival wins it for him again.
2014 BEST SOPRANO SAXOPHONIST: Marshall Keys There is only a little bit of soprano sax around here (though probably more than you realize). But Keys' work on the ax, as eloquent and thoughtful as on his main instrument (alto), inspired the addition of this category.
2013 BEST ALTO SAXOPHONIST: Marshall Keys As many great alto players as there are in D.C. (and we actually lost a couple this year), Keys' staggeringly confident sound and bottomless melodic imagination are hard to top. That said, let's hope the other altoists continue to try. - Michael J. West
2012 BEST ALTO SAXOPHONIST: Marshall Keys The long, energetic, extraordinary lines of melody that pour forth from his horn are the calling card of Keys, one of the city's longtime alto stalwarts. They also made him unbeatable on the instrument this year.
