Baker Artist Portfolios

The Todd Marcus Jazz Trio is an ensemble that features my bass clarinet and clarinet along with bass and drums. Whereas my larger quartet and jazz orchestra ensembles focus more on my original compositions and arrangements, this ensemble tends to allow me to more often present the works of other artists and jazz standards that work well in this setting without a piano.

A 26-minute video with text and music is projected onto an enlarged archival photograph of former slaves harvesting yams on a South Carolina plantation. The images are accompanied by music of musicians from Maryland and D.C. from slavery days to hip-hop.

Made from an old galvanized chick feeder found in an abandoned hardware store, salvaged construction lumber, mardi gras beads, and broken mirror shards.

"Lake Trout" is a mysterious Baltimore phenomenon. It's generic white fish, battered and fried, sold extensively but almost exclusively in poor neighborhoods. It's neither from a lake, nor is it trout; it's usually Atlantic whiting fish, caught off the Maryland shore. So, since it's essentially made-up, I began to think of the "Baltimore Lake Trout" as a mythical creature and wanted to create the urban legends surrounding it. This is how I imagine the Baltimore Lake Trout spawns.

The Todd Marcus Quartet is an ensemble that features my bass clarinet and clarinet along with piano, bass, and drums. This ensemble presents my original compositions and arrangements, jazz standards, and demonstrates my work of presenting the bass clarinet as a legitimate lead horn in modern jazz deserving of equal consideration with more traditional jazz horns like the saxophone and trumpet.

The Todd Marcus Quartet is an ensemble that features my bass clarinet and clarinet along with piano, bass, and drums. This ensemble presents my original compositions and arrangements, jazz standards, and demonstrates my work of presenting the bass clarinet as a legitimate lead horn in modern jazz deserving of equal consideration with more traditional jazz horns like the saxophone and trumpet.

The Todd Marcus Quartet is an ensemble that features my bass clarinet and clarinet along with piano, bass, and drums. This ensemble presents my original compositions and arrangements, jazz standards, and demonstrates my work of presenting the bass clarinet as a legitimate lead horn in modern jazz deserving of equal consideration with more traditional jazz horns like the saxophone and trumpet.

Selected video footage of performances by:

The Todd Marcus Jazz Orchestra
2013 at 14Karat Cabaret in Baltimore, MD

The Todd Marcus Quartet featuring clarinetist Don Byron
2013 at the MidAtlantic Jazz Festival in Rockville, MD

The Todd Marcus Quartet
2012 at Bohemian Caverns in Washington, DC

Selected video footage of performances by:

The Todd Marcus Jazz Orchestra
2013 at 14Karat Cabaret in Baltimore, MD

The Todd Marcus Quartet featuring clarinetist Don Byron
2013 at the MidAtlantic Jazz Festival in Rockville, MD

The Todd Marcus Quartet
2012 at Bohemian Caverns in Washington, DC

Selected video footage of performances by:

The Todd Marcus Jazz Orchestra
2013 at 14Karat Cabaret in Baltimore, MD

The Todd Marcus Quartet featuring clarinetist Don Byron
2013 at the MidAtlantic Jazz Festival in Rockville, MD

The Todd Marcus Quartet
2012 at Bohemian Caverns in Washington, DC