Thomas Marriott Quartet

West coast trumpeter Thomas Marriott brings his acclaimed quartet to Black Cat for a special four-night residency. JazzTimes Magazine has called Marriott "one of the best trumpet players in the world," and this residency offers Bay Area audiences multiple chances to experience why he's earned such praise.

Marriott's musical versatility spans hard bop, contemporary jazz, post-bop, modal jazz, and bebop. His horn has graced stages with jazz legends including Maynard Ferguson, Roy McCurdy, and Julian Priester, while contemporary collaborators include Joe Locke, Orrin Evans, and Charlie Hunter. The Seattle-based artist is the youngest inductee into the Seattle Jazz Hall of Fame and was named a "Jazz Hero" by the Jazz Journalists Association in 2024 for his work founding Seattle Jazz Fellowship.

With 15 albums as a leader that have reached number one on jazz radio charts and earned critical acclaim from DownBeat and NPR, Marriott continues pushing musical boundaries. His recent album "Live From the Heat Dome" captured the intensity of a pandemic-era recording session during Seattle's historic heat wave. As one review noted, his playing carries "a scorching solo that began with longer tones and finished with a flurry of rapid fire runs" while displaying "ultra refined trumpet tonality that served as a warm invite for the audience to join in the intimacy of the moment."

The quartet features Byron "Wookie" Landham on drums, Tim Kennedy on piano, and Jeff Johnson on bass. Expect dynamic interplay between post-bop modernism and swinging tradition, with Marriott's trumpet work ranging from muted romantic soliloquies to "searing" open-horn passages that showcase his complete command of the instrument. Whether exploring his original compositions or reimagining standards, this group delivers what critics describe as music that's "on the edge, but swinging nonetheless."