The youngest of three children, she began playing piano when she was five. Her mother, a gifted musician, was the local church pianist. In third grade, when given the opportunity to choose an instrument to study, her parents insisted on the saxophone.
But she didn’t limit her studies to sax. She also studied flute, clarinet, voice, and guitar while continuing her study of piano. Each year she was selected to participate in district and countywide festivals and played with local rock bands in high school. When she saw Phil Woods perform in nearby Reading, PA, she knew then that saxophone was what she would pursue in life.
Marsha continued studying classical saxophone with David Bilger and classical piano with his wife, Doreen Bilger. Awarded several prestigious scholarships, Marsha began her undergraduate work at the University of the Arts in Philadelphia and received a Bachelor of Music in 1991. She also holds a Masters in Music Education from the Aaron Copland School of Music.
She has studied privately with Eric Person, Ron Kerber, John Blake, Larry McKenna, Jim Pugh, John Stubblefield, and Sir Roland Hanna. In June 2002, the Brooklyn Conservatory of Music’s Professional Development Fund awarded her a grant to study with the renowned Jimmie Amadie. She moved to L.A. in 1991 and began playing with contemporary jazz and rock musicians for the next year. By the following year, she felt beckoned by the east coast and bought a one-way ticket to New York City. She has been in New York since 1992 and may never give up her Manhattan views.
Her music spans the gamut of Latin, Funk, Jazz, and Rock. She has performed with Grover Washington, Bill Watrous, Bob Mintzer, Randy Brecker, John Stubblefield, George Gee and his “Make Believe Ballroom Orchestra,” and with Paul Schaefer in a guest appearance on The David Letterman Show. In and around New York City, Marsha plays with her own ensemble, performing in both private and public venues. She also performs each month for recovering patients at NYU Hospital’s Rusk Institute.
All Music Guide Review - Jonathan Widran, All Music Guide
The joy of jazz and indie record making lies in the artist's ability to do it all, to explore numerous styles without fear of reprisal from corporate entities more concerned with commercialism than art. Veteran New York saxophonist Marsha Heydt's colorful résumé boasts gigs over the years with Randy Brecker, Grover Washington, Jr., Bob Mintzer, and Bill Watrous, in addition to an appearance on the most prestigious Big Apple gig of all, the David Letterman Show. Her eclectic debut perfectly displays this range of traditional, contemporary, and Latin jazz, but in a more personal way, via a mix of bright originals and cool covers; yes, you've heard "Mercy Mercy Mercy" a million times, but Heydt still makes it a bubbly, old-school, soul-jazz good time. She is all over the map, but the travelogue is a blast, even if she saves her most adventurous groove for last on the South African flavored "Afrikaan." Her danceable, salsified opener lives up to its name "Good Feelin'," boasting some playful duet action with trumpeter Todd Schwartz over the hypnotic piano of Norman Pors. And just when you think it's a Latin jazz date, Heydt picks up her lovely flute and breezes through a tropical version of "Green Dolphin Street," and then digs deep into bluesy territory on a moody run through "You Don't Know What Love Is." The rest of the set is equally unpredictable and engaging, from her pop-influenced originals "One Night" and the dreamy vocal "I Want You to Know" (sung by Carla Cook), to a romp through Henry Mancini's "Days of Wine and Roses" and a classically tinged take on Alex North's haunting "Spartacus Love Theme." Purists who think Heydt is a bit too poppy can enjoy the saxophonist's trad jazz chops galore on a swinging roll through Thelonious Monk's "Well U Needn't."
http://www.marshaheydt.net/reviews.html
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