Marcus Roberts Trio

Exceptional interaction with the audiance and a great mix of tempo with the music. I had a good time.

His ability to make the familiar new, and the unknown approachable, was amazing. My favorite number of the night was the standard "The Nearness of You". The treatment of the song was entirely unexpected. We counted 5, maybe 6 different styles Roberts brought into play; from swing, ballad, blues, ragtime to gospel, all seamlessly woven into that one song. Awesome! Kudos also to the other members of the ensemble. Jason Marsalis on drums, who I saw when he was here last year with his family; and Thaddeus Expose on bass, were exceptional!

Awesome concert. The stand in bass player was phenomenal. I would recommend this venue to anyone who loves jazz. I could have listened to them all night.

The highlight of the evening was a delightful reinterpretation of the classic "You Are My Sunshine." Innovative and invigorating. A performance not to be missed!

Fantastic music! Marcus Roberts is a master pianist and a living legend. Rodney Jordan (bass) and Jason Marsalis (drums) are also great musicians. A definite "don't miss" if you like jazz.

Gracious and brilliant with a true appreciation for those around him, both the audience and his fellow players.

SIMPLY FABULOUS.....I felt like I was in New York's Lincoln Center...Lexington did itself proud. Where would we be without the arts....Bravo!!!!

excellent concert . amazing playing! the piano volume was a bit low compared to the bass and drummer, but overall was wonderful playing and interpretation

Marcus Roberts is certainly one of the most gifted jazz pianists of this era, and his trio have all the chops in the world. On this night they did only one original Roberts tune and instead focused on the classic jazz catalog of Gershwin, Cole Porter, Theolonius Monk, and the like. A nice feature of this concert is that the refurbished Steinway Grand of the Lexington Opera House was christened by this performance, and as usual the acoustics were excellent in that hall. In regard to facility and ability to improvise, all three players showed their considerable skills, but honestly I did not detect a lot of passion in the playing. While they certainly weren't just mailing it in, nor was the interplay between the ensemble weak, it just lacked the usual verve and style of Roberts normal performances, and some of the improvised solos went on a bit to long. There is a difference between showmanship and style, between knowing when to round things off, and when one has gone on too long. Overall, this was a very good concert, but Roberts two previous appearances in Lexington in the last two decades were better.

Marcus Roberts is one of the existing genius of piano. I have been waiting for listening to his music in live so long time. Against my expectation, the number of audience at the night was so poor that I was desappointed with the level of Lexington people's music interest very much. Or the pre advertisement was not sufficient enough to stimulate peoples' interest. The grand celibration should be the second importance after this genius plays in Lexington. He played with world famous conductor Seiji Ozawa this summer in Japan. Such a significant fact was not mentioned at all. What was the most important pupose of the ivent? Grand Celebration, or Murcus Roberts?