Eddie Marshall

musician + composer + teacher

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Eddie Marshall Holy Mischief

This long-awaited CD was released at the beginning on September 1999 on Eddie's own label, Ruddy Duck Records. The group, called "Holy Mischief, consists of Paul Nagel on piano, Jeff Chambers on bass, Kenny Brooks on saxophone, and Eddie on drums and recorder. Jeff Cressman played trombone on "Wildwood."

  1. Holy Mischief (7 minutes, 12 seconds)
  2. Monsieur de Charles (4 minutes, 2 seconds)
  3. Remember When (7 minutes, 43 seconds)
  4. Luna Nueva (6 minutes, 15 seconds)
  5. Sue Jeanius (5 minutes, 12 seconds)
  6. Dreams That Dance (4 minutes, 47 seconds)
  7. Too Much Romance (4 minutes, 26 seconds)
  8. The Bridges of Terrell County (4 minutes, 39 seconds)
  9. Wildwood (7 minutes, 48 seconds)

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Reviews

Lee Prosser, JazzReview: Holy Mischief CD

Eddie Marshall, drummer supreme; it's no wonder he's in demand. The first two tracks "Holy Mischief" and "Monsieur de Charles," are notable more for the sidemen, Kenny Brooks' tender, but impressive sax and Paul Nagel's work on piano... Learn More

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Lee Prosser, JazzReview: SFJazz Beacon Award

This years award presentations went to drummer and longtime Bay Area jazz leader, Eddie Marshall, who received the 1st Annual SFJAZZ Beacon Award. Guest stars at this special tribute included Bobby Hutcherson, Bobby McFerrin, and Freddie Hubbard... Learn More

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Michael G. Nastos, Artist Direct

San Francisco-area drummer Marshall has been a sideman with numerous modern jazz bands, and worked prominently with Bobby McFerrin. It's about time he did a CD of his own, and this is it. Eight of the nine tracks... Learn More

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NewMusicBox, SFJazz Beacon Award

Executive Director Randall Kline calls Marshall "a true local treasure," citing his "constant presence" on the San Francisco scene for the past three decades. When Kline first moved to San Francisco in 1975, he heard Eddie Marshall at Keystone Korner... Learn More

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Ron Wynn, Virgin Radio 95.3 Vancouver

Both a dependable session player and occasional bandleader, Eddie Marshall has played and recorded in free, hard bop, and jazz-rock situations in the '60s,'70s,'80s and '90s. Marshall moved to New York from Springfield, Massachusetts... Learn More

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San Francisco Chronicle, SFJazz Beacon Award

Any band featuring drummer Eddie Marshall is better for it. When he shows up onstage -- whether it's with stars like vibraphonist Bobby Hutcherson and saxophonist Joe Henderson or some young hip-bop band -- the music is guaranteed to dance and raise... Learn More

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Bobby McFerrin

"An inspired composer ... one of the best drummers in the business ... hits hard and swings all at the same time."

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Stella Cheung Houston, JazzNow

"Eddie Marshall is still my favorite drummer, it was wonderful to watch him play. To hear drums so sensitively played is mesmerizing. How can one play drums so softly and unobtrusively even to the softly spoken bass, and yet keeping perfect time! His sticks and brushes danced on the instruments. It was so graceful! It seemed so effortless!"

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Thomas Lindley, JazzTimes

"Jazz Drummer Eddie Marshall was chosen to receive the first Annual SFJazz Beacon Award at the 18th Annual San Francisco Jazz Festival this past November. Marshall was quoted as saying the award was "totally unexpected . . . It's not often a side man, like a drummer, gets an award." Yet according to SFJazz, "he is the embodiment of the beacon ... he's extended jazz in the Bay Area into exciting new areas and inspired countless other musicians."

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Wayne Saroyan, JazzWest

"Marshall enthralled the audience (and his fellow musicians) with his superb skills on alto recorder. Holy Mischief led the evening with a comfortable mainstream trio of tunes. He then returned for two quartet reunion groups. The first was fronted by Bobby McFerrin (with pianist Paul Nagel and Jeff Carney on acoustic bass). Their three-song set was capped by a sublime rendition of Miles Davis' "Selim". The second reunion was of The Fourth Way (Michael White on violin, Mike Nock on piano, and Bob McClure on bass). The night finished with an all-star finale, "Sandu." With jazz this fine in our own neighborhood, who needs New York?"

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Liner Notes

"The joy is being able to play this music and relax."

That's Eddie Marshall's pronouncement on jazz and drumming; but he could extend it to other of his life's choices, including his longtime residence in San Francisco. He first visited the city over forty years ago with Toshiko Akiyoshi, who like Bobby Hutcherson and Bobby McFerrin (and many others), have counted on Eddie as a consummate sideman.

One of Eddie's declared missions on Holy Mischief is to give accolades to West Coast musicians", ably represented here by pianist Paul Nagel's "post-Bebop thing", by bassist Jeff Chambers' tonal support and confident timing, and in Kenny Brooks' contemporary sound and concept which is 'more like post-Trane'. Jeff Cressman serves double duty: as Holy Mishchief's sound engineer and as the haunting trombonist on "Wildwood", written by Eddie for his late stepson. Eddie himself doubles, on "Dreams That Dance" and "Monsieur Charles," with his alto recorder, the Baroque instrument to which he returned with his doctor's blessing after cardiac surgery in 1984.

But Eddie isn't likely to abandon his dynamic reputation as a drummer and this album has a mission of time, as well as place. "What I am really experimenting with," says the leader, "is doing odd times, like nine, seven, six, or five, but without accenting the 'one', and that's the difficult part." With characteristic modesty, he understates the difficulty of his achievement., because there are few other jazz drummers who can innovate with meter, while mixing solid propulsion and spontaneous combustion, all without pretense or pushiness.

— from Holy Mischeif CD liner notes written by Jeff Kaliss