Marcus Roberts
A jazz pianist who rebuilt the tradition from the ground up, blending stride, blues, and modern harmony into a deeply personal American language.
Born 1963 (age 63)·American jazz pianist, composer, and bandleader·Birthday: August 7·Baby Boomers
Biography
Blind since age five, Marcus Roberts (born 1963) didn't just learn to play jazz; he absorbed its entire architecture, becoming a custodian and innovator of its deepest traditions. Hailing from Florida, he first gained major attention in the late 1980s as the pianist in Wynton Marsalis's band, where his technical command and scholarly understanding of jazz history were immediately apparent. Roberts soon stepped out as a leader, forming his own groups and developing a style that was both reverent and radically fresh. He is known for his trio's concept of 'rotating leadership,' where any musician can steer the tempo and direction mid-performance. Beyond performing, Roberts is a dedicated educator, holding a professorship at Florida State University and creating method books that dissect the language of jazz giants like Jelly Roll Morton and Thelonious Monk. His music is a living conversation between past and present, played with thunderous left-hand rhythms and lyrical right-hand invention.
Baby Boomers
1946–1964
The largest generation in history at the time. Shaped by postwar prosperity, the Vietnam War, the sexual revolution, and Watergate. They questioned every institution their parents built — then ran them.
Marcus was born in 1963, placing them squarely in the Baby Boomers. The events that shaped this generation — postwar prosperity, civil rights, Vietnam, and the counterculture — shaped the world they entered and the choices available to them.
#1 When Marcus Was Born
The biggest hits of 1963
#1 Movie
Cleopatra
Best Picture
Tom Jones
#1 TV Show
Beverly Hillbillies
Marcus's Life & Times
The world at every milestone
1963Born
JFK assassinated in Dallas; Martin Luther King's 'I Have a Dream' speech
Gas: $0.31/galHome: $13,100Min wage: $1.25/hrPresident: Lyndon B. Johnson"Sugar Shack" — Jimmy Gilmer & The FireballsBest Picture: Tom Jones
1968Started school
Martin Luther King Jr. and Robert Kennedy assassinated
Gas: $0.34/galHome: $14,950Min wage: $1.60/hrPresident: Lyndon B. Johnson"Hey Jude" — The BeatlesBest Picture: Oliver!
1976Became a teenager
Apple Computer founded; US bicentennial
Gas: $0.59/galHome: $29,300Min wage: $2.30/hrPresident: Gerald Ford"Silly Love Songs" — WingsBest Picture: Rocky
1979Could drive
Iran hostage crisis begins; Three Mile Island accident
Gas: $0.86/galHome: $37,900Min wage: $2.90/hrPresident: Jimmy Carter"My Sharona" — The KnackBest Picture: Kramer vs. Kramer
1981Could vote
MTV launches; first Space Shuttle flight; AIDS identified
Gas: $1.31/galHome: $52,300Min wage: $3.35/hrPresident: Ronald Reagan"Bette Davis Eyes" — Kim CarnesBest Picture: Chariots of Fire
1984Turned 21
Apple Macintosh introduced
Gas: $1.13/galHome: $59,800Min wage: $3.35/hrPresident: Ronald Reagan"When Doves Cry" — PrinceBest Picture: Amadeus
1993Turned 30
European Union officially established
Gas: $1.11/galHome: $86,600Min wage: $4.25/hrPresident: Bill Clinton"I Will Always Love You" — Whitney HoustonBest Picture: Schindler's List
2003Turned 40
US invades Iraq; Human Genome Project completed
Gas: $1.59/galHome: $146,000Min wage: $5.15/hrPresident: George W. Bush"In Da Club" — 50 CentBest Picture: The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King
2013Turned 50
Edward Snowden reveals NSA surveillance programs
Gas: $3.53/galHome: $152,800Min wage: $7.25/hrPresident: Barack Obama"Thrift Shop" — Macklemore & Ryan LewisBest Picture: 12 Years a Slave
2023Turned 60
ChatGPT goes mainstream; Israel-Hamas war begins
Gas: $3.52/galHome: $361,600Min wage: $7.25/hrPresident: Joe Biden"Flowers" — Miley CyrusBest Picture: Oppenheimer
2026Age 63 today
Gas: $3.91/galPresident: Donald Trump
Key Achievements
- Won the first annual Thelonious Monk International Jazz Piano Competition in 1987.
- Served as the musical director for the Lincoln Center Jazz Orchestra's 'Portraits in Blue' tour.
- Released the acclaimed album 'Deep in the Shed', a seminal work in the 1990s jazz revival.
- Appointed Professor of Jazz Piano at the Florida State University College of Music.
Did You Know?
He lost his sight due to glaucoma and cataracts but began learning piano at age five, before going blind.
He performed a solo piano rendition of George Gershwin's 'Rhapsody in Blue' with conductor Seiji Ozawa and the Berlin Philharmonic.
Roberts and his band famously reimagined Miles Davis's 'Kind of Blue' album, note-for-note, on their album 'A Celebration of the Music of Miles Davis & John Coltrane'.
He is an accomplished cook and has said that the processes of cooking and composing music are similar.
“Jazz is not just a style, it's a process of becoming, a way of thinking and living.”
