Coming up on 12 years of experimenting and performing, saxophonist Marcus Monteiro is taking off in his own right. Starting with school lessons at 9 years old, Marcus’ appetite for music continued to grow. He soon turned to playing along with Maceo Parker and Dave Holland recordings in his bedroom. He found himself on stage with the much older musicians of the local Cape Verdean Vets Hall. From there he formed Gala Jive Jut, a quartet of genre-benders that worked the roots of funk.

Marcus spent four years studying composition and performance at UMASS Dartmouth. He studied under numerous artists including Rick Britto, Royal Hartigan, and Santi Debriano. Marcus has enjoyed being part of the festival circuit playing with Santi at the Panama Jazz Festival in 2006. More recently his own group, The Marcus Monteiro Quartet, opened for Esperanza Spalding at the Falmouth Jazz Festival. He has played professionally with various groups all along the east coast, mid-west, and the south. Urged back by popular demand, Marcus returned to Quebec for the third time in April 2009.

As a perpetual student, Marcus still studies music diligently. Whether it is improvisation, the Tala’s of Indian music, or the compositions of Maurice Ravel he seems to constantly find new sources to study. With Marcus’ wife Deborah expecting, he wanted to find a new methodology to introduce music to his child. He researched early childhood musical development and found Music Together. Marcus now teaches this immersion-based format.

In 2006, Marcus Monteiro’s debut album with his quartet was titled Mm4. The album which was released on the Whaling City Sound label received rave reviews. “ “ Marcus is an in demand saxophonist. On any given night, you can catch him playing various genres of music. Two things are guaranteed: No two gigs are alike and each one will leave you wanting “one more song.”