In 1985, when Branford left Wynton to join Sting's pop/rock group, it caused a major (if temporary) rift with his brother that made headlines. Marsalis enjoyed playing with Sting but did not let the association cause him to forget his musical priorities. By 1986, he was leading his own group, which eventually consisted of pianist Kenny Kirkland, bassist Bob Hurst, and drummer Jeff "Tain" Watts; sometimes the band was a piano-less trio that really allowed Marsalis to stretch out. Signed to Columbia, he issued inventive albums like 1986's Royal Garden Blues, 1988's Trio Jeepy, and 1991's The Beautyful Ones Are Not Yet Born. He also experimented with mixing hip-hop and jazz in his Buckshot LeFonque project.
After a couple of film appearances (in School Daze and Throw Mama from the Train), Marsalis became even more of a celebrity when he joined Jay Leno's Tonight Show as the musical director in 1992. However, being cast in the role of Leno's sidekick rubbed against Marsalis' temperament, and after two years he had had enough. He returned to his own genre-bending jazz work with the 1996 trio album The Dark Keys and 1999's Requiem (his final album with pianist Kirkland, who died several months after the session).
In 2002, having left Columbia, Marsalis formed his own label, Marsalis Music. Intended as a true independent label focused on supporting the development of musicians, Marsalis Music has released albums by such diverse artists as guitarist/vocalist Doug Wamble, pianist/vocalist Harry Connick, Jr., saxophonist Miguel Zenón, and others. Marsalis himself also kept busy releasing a handful of albums on the label including Footsteps of Our Fathers, which featured his take on the classic John Coltrane composition "A Love Supreme" in 2002, Romare Bearden Revealed in 2003, Eternal in 2004, Braggtown in 2006, and Metamorphosen in 2009. In 2011, Marsalis delivered the duo album Songs of Mirth and Melancholy, featuring pianist Joey Calderazzo.
In the spring of 2012, the Marsalis Quartet -- Calderazzo, bassist Eric Revis, and the young drummer Justin Faulkner -- released Four MF's Playin Tunes. Marsalis also played a solo saxophone concert at San Francisco's Grace Cathedral in October of that year. Two years and three weeks later, it was released as In My Solitude: Live at Grace Cathedral by Okeh. In 2016, Marsalis paired with vocalist Kurt Elling on Upward Spiral. The quartet date The Secret Between the Shadow and the Soul arrived in 2019.
1984- Scenes In The City (Branford Marsalis)
1986- Romances For Saxophone (Branford Marsalis)
1986- Royal Garden Blues (Branford Marsalis Quartet)
1987- Renaissance (Branford Marsalis)
1988- Random Abstract (Branford Marsalis)
1989- Trio Jeepy (Branford Marsalis)
1991- The Beautiful Ones Are Not Yet Born (Branford Marsalis)
1992- I Heard You Twice The First Time (Branford Marsalis)
1993- Bloomington (Branford Marsalis Trio)
1994- Buckshot LeFonque (Branford Marsalis & Buckshot LeFonque)
1996- Loved Ones (Branford Marsalis & Ellis Marsalis)
1996- The Dark Keys (Branford Marsalis Trio)
1997- Music Evolution (Buckshot LeFonque)
1999- Requiem (Branford Marsalis Quartet)
2000- Contemporary Jazz (Branford Marsalis Quartet)
2001- Creation (Branford Marsalis)
2002- Footsteps Of Our Fathers (Branford Marsalis Quartet)
2003- Eternal (Branford Marsalis)
2003- Romare Bearden Revealed (Branford Marsalis Quartet)
2006- Braggtown (Branford Marsalis Quartet)
2009- Metamorphosen (Branford Marsalis Quartet)
2011- Songs Of Mirth And Melancholy (Branford Marsalis & Joey Calderazzo)
2012- Four MFs Playin' Tunes (Branford Marsalis Quartet)
2015- Coltrane's A Love Supreme Live In Amsterdam (Branford Marsalis Quartet)
2016- Upward Spiral (Branford Marsalis Quartet (Feat. Kurt Elling))
2019- The Secret Between The Shadow And The Soul (Branford Marsalis Quartet)
