Yerba Buena Arts and Events

The Marcus Shelby Jazz Orchestra (MSJO) has a dilemma. The brainchild of bassist and composer Marcus Shelby, the MSJO inhabits a protean form – in one instance a 16 piece band performing Ellington and Basie (as well as Shelby originals), in the next a slimmed down trio; in one setting a presenter of music at a museum in another a resident artist in a San Francisco elementary school; in one contractual arrangement a musician for hire in the for profit world of clubs and recording deals, in another a fiscally sponsored project commissioned to score a play or a documentary film. The numerous identities the MSJO assumes serve (on some level) to sustain the artistic yearnings and financial necessities of its prime mover, however, they don’t collectively constitute a single form capable of reconciling the multiple and sometimes contradictory roles Mr. Shelby and his collaborators are compelled to play. While the exceptional body of music that Mr. Shelby has created, the volume and professional quality of the performances he stages throughout the Bay Area and the high caliber of the educational work he does in local schools would be enough to merit an invitation to apply for general operating support from the Hewlett Foundation, it is hard to know what exactly the MSJO is, and how coherent support for his work could be provided. However, with an organizational effectiveness grant Mr. Shelby and his administrative partner Kate Dumbleton will hire a team of consultants to inventory the work the MSJO does currently, to assess the multiple landscapes in which it takes place and to explore several of the tentacles that may lead to the formulation of an organizational identity under which the artistic and educative aspirations can be most fully realized for the benefit of audiences and students in the Bay Area.