Marcus Anthony Shelby
Born in February 1966, Marcus Shelby has been playing the acoustic bass for 23 years. In this time, he has built a diverse and accomplished biography. Shelby was bandleader of Columbia Records and GRP Impulse! Recording Artists Black/Note and is currently the Artistic Director and leader of The Marcus Shelby Jazz Orchestra, The Marcus Shelby Septet and the Marcus Shelby Trio. In addition, Shelby holds an instructor position at the Berkeley Young Musician Program, San Francisco State University and the Stanford Jazz Workshop and is the 2006 Fellow in the Resident Dialogues Program of the Committee for Black Performing Arts at Stanford University. As the 1991 winner of the Charles Mingus Scholarship, Shelby’s studies include work under the tutelage of composer James Newton and legendary bassist Charlie Haden. Recent honors include the City Flight Magazine 2005 award as one of the “Top Ten Most Influential African Americans in the Bay Area”.

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/Awards and Honors/
1991 - Charles Mingus Scholarship to the California Institute for the Arts; 1991 - John Coltrane Young Artists Competition (with Black/Note); 1997 - Image Award Nomination for theatrical stage score for /Emitt Till/ by Bryan Burrell; 1998 - ASCAP Popular Award for Songwriters and Composers; 1999 - California Music Award Nomination for /Best Jazz Artist 1998/; 1999 - Bay Guardian Award for /Best Jazz Band/; 1999 - S.F. Weekly Wammie Award for /Best Jazz Musician/; 2000 - Dean Goodman Choice Awards for Excellence in Bay Area Theatre for Theatrical Score for /Trail of Her Inner Thigh/; Theater Circle Critics Award for Best Musical Score for “Hellhound on my Trail”/; Isadora Duncan Dance Award for Best Music, Savage Jazz Dance Company/: 2005 – City Flight Magazine- Top 10 Most Influential African Americans in the Bay Area for Arts and Culture/: 2006 SF Weekly MasterMinds Award.

/Grant Awards/
2006 Stanford University, Committee on Black Performing Arts “Resident Dialogue” Artist Fellowship
2005 Haas Foundation, Creative Work Fund for New Work, “Harriet Tubman: Bound for the Promised Land”
2002 Theater Communications Group Resident Artist Grant
2001 Meet The Composer “New Residency” Program
2000 Haas Foundation, Creative Work Fund for New Work, “The Lights”

/Private Commissions/
2004 San Francisco Performances Commission “Midtown Sunset”
2002 Equal Justice Society Commission “Port Chicago” Jazz Ballet

/Instruction/
Instructor, Berkeley Young Musicians Program
Instructor, San Francisco State University Jazz Studies Program
Instructor, Stanford Jazz Workshop

/Discography/
2006 /Port Chicago/ (Marcus Shelby Jazz Orchestra, Noir Records)
2001 /The Lights Suite /(Marcus Shelby Jazz Orchestra, NOIR Records)
1999 /The Sophisticate/ (The Marcus Shelby Trio, NOIR Records)
1998 /Intimate Strangers/ (The Marcus Shelby Trio w/ Marcus Conrad Poston, NOIR Records)
1998 /Midtown Sunset/ (Jazz Antiqua Ensemble, NOIR Records)
1997 /Un Faux Pas/ (The Marcus Shelby Trio, NOIR Records)
1995 /Nothin’ but the Swing/ (Black/Note, Uni/Impulse)
1994 /LA Underground/ (Black/Note, Red)
1993 /Jungle Music/ (Black/Note, Sony Music)
1991 /43rd and Degnan/ (Black/Note, World Stage)

/Theatrical Scoring/
2005/ Fear of a Brown Planet, Youth Speaks Literary Organization, San Francisco, CA
2003/ Wheel of Fortune/ by John Steppling, Campo Santo Theater Company, San Francisco, CA
2002 /The Lights/, by Howard Korder, Intersection for the Arts/ODC, San Francisco, CA
2000 /Hellhound On My Trail,/ by Denis Johnson, Campo Santo Theater Company, San Francisco, CA
2000 /The Years/, by Cindy Lou Johnson, Signal Theater Company, San Francisco, CA
1999 /Simpatico/, by Sam Shepard, Campo Santo Theater Company, San Francisco, CA
1998 /Trail of Her Inner Thigh/, by Erin Cressida Wilson, Campo Santo Theater, San Francisco, CA
1998 /Suicide in B Flat/, by Sam Shepard, 3^rd Set, Slim’s, San Francisco, CA
1998 /King Lear/, by William Shakespeare, 450 Geary Studio Theater, San Francisco, CA
1997 /Suicide in B Flat/, by Sam Shepard, 3^rd Set, Justice League, San Francisco, CA
1993 /Emmit Till/, by Brian Burrell

/Film Scoring/
2003 “Maladaptive”, Adam Chin Director
2002 “Ralph Ellison”, An American Hero”, Avon Kirkland Production, PBS
2001 “King of the Bingo Game,” Elise Robertson, adaptation of Ralph Ellison short story, PBS
2000 “Poetic License,” Directed by Dave Yanofsky, Production, PBS
1998 “Park Day,” Directed by Sterling Macer, Jr., Blockbuster Pictures
1997 “Our Father,” Toni Ann Johnson, independent short
1995 “Higher Learning,” Directed by John Singleton, Columbia Pictures
1995 “White Man’s Burden,” Directed by Desmond Nakano, Savoy Pictures

/Ballet and Dance/
2005 Oakland Ballet, Commission for “Ella”, Donald McKayle
2001 Oakland Ballet, Commission for “Un Faux Pas”, Reginald Savage
2000 Robert Moses’ Kin -“Collaboration 2000” Robert Henry Johnson, Sara Shelton Mann
1998-2004 Musical Director, Savage Jazz Dance Company
1993-pres Musical Director, Jazz Antiqua Music and Dance Ensemble

Original dance suites include, “The Culling”, “The Sophisticate” and “The Light’s (ballet suite)
Original (full length) ballets include, “Midtown Sunset”, “Canticles”, “Ballad of Josh Gipson”, “In The Beginning”, “Odysseus’ Suite”

/Performances/
San Francisco Jazz Festival/ Monterey Jazz Festival/ Kuumbwa Jazz Center/ Yoshi’s Jazz Club/ Brunos Jazz Club/ Yerba Buena Arts Center/San Francisco Museum of Modern Art/Paramount Theater/The Jazz School/Intersection for the Arts/Stanford Jazz Festival