Today we’d like to introduce you to Marcus Anderson.
Hi Marcus, thanks for joining us today. We’d love for you to start by introducing yourself.
# Marcus Anderson: Musician, Businessman, Father, Entrepreneur
Two time Grammy and Stellar Award nominated artist Marcus Anderson is an incredible act, and one worth watching. The saxophonist is the golden child shining among stars, with 18 studio albums to his name and 5 Billboard number 1s. As a fusion jazz artist, he brings R&B, Pop, Rock, and Funk together to create music that puts listeners in another atmosphere. Charting number one in both Billboard’s Smooth Jazz category and Sirius XM’s Watercolors, the Spartanburg, SC native delivers major music in a humble way.
His work with the late Prince and the New Power Generation opened doors to stages with CeeLo Green, Bobby Caldwell, Eric Benet, Stevie Wonder, and Brian Culbertson, among others, where he became a key contributor in these touring bands. Prince also featured Marcus on his final release, Hit N Run Phase 2, where Marcus played on “Revelation” and “Look at Me Look at You.”
But the story behind the credits is really a story about mentorship, and about learning to build a life around music instead of just making it.
## Learning From Prince
Prince taught Marcus a lesson without ever saying it outright, just through the example he left behind: own your masters, control your name, protect your art like it’s your child, because in a way, it is. Watching how Prince ran his own studio, wrote under his own terms, and never let anyone else define his sound showed Marcus that being an artist and being a businessman aren’t opposites. They’re the same discipline, just pointed in two directions.
That lesson followed Marcus off the stage and into every room he’s walked into since, from performing for dignitaries like President Barack Obama, Jesse Jackson, and Hillary Clinton, to sharing stages with Sheila E., Anthony Hamilton, and Miguel. Whether he’s opening for Stevie Wonder or trading solos with CeeLo Green, Marcus carries Prince’s example with him: excellence and ownership are not competing priorities.
## Learning From Dave Koz
Where Prince showed Marcus how to guard the work, Dave Koz showed him how to open doors for other people while walking through his own. Dave is generous with his platform in a way that isn’t common in this business, and being around that generosity changed how Marcus thinks about mentorship, collaboration, and what it means to lift as you climb. Years of appearing at festivals like the Dave Koz Cruise, Catalina Island JazzTrax, and Seabreeze Jazz Fest gave Marcus a front row seat to that philosophy in action.
## Building Something of His Own
Somewhere between those two lessons, Marcus found his own version: build something that’s yours, protect it fiercely, and still leave the door open behind you for the next person coming up. With his band The Creatives, he built a live show unlike anything another instrumentalist has brought to the stage, high spirited, welcoming, and unafraid of giving it his all. That same instinct carried him onto The Tonight Show, Arsenio Hall, Jimmy Kimmel Live!, and Jimmy Fallon.
It also carried him beyond music entirely. Eight years into the coffee business with his own brand, AND Coffee, Marcus created and hosted the first ever Jazz AND Coffee Festival in Durham, NC. He also became the first jazz artist in history to create his own comic book and cartoon animation, proving that the same principles that built his catalog (ownership, discipline, and generosity) can build almost anything.
His father gave him the quote that ties it all together: “Work smarter, not harder.” It’s the thread running through every version of Marcus, the musician who learned from Prince, the collaborator who learned from Dave Koz, the entrepreneur behind AND Coffee and his own comic universe, and the father building something his kids will inherit as more than just a name.
Would you say it’s been a smooth road, and if not what are some of the biggest challenges you’ve faced along the way?
There was a time before the Grammy nominations and the Billboard number 1s when Marcus Anderson didn’t have a car, and some nights, the car was all he had, sleeping in the front seat with his saxophone case in the back, unsure where the next gig or the next paycheck would come from. Through all of that, he was also a father, trying to be present for recitals and bedtimes while chasing a career that offered no guarantees and no steady paycheck, only the belief that the work would eventually speak for itself. It would have been easy to give up in those lean stretches, but persistence won out over uncertainty, and every hard night became part of the discipline that built what came next: a touring career alongside legends like Prince, Stevie Wonder, and CeeLo Green, a thriving coffee brand in AND Coffee, and a comic book and animation venture that made history. The same hands that once didn’t know where the gas money was coming from are the hands holding the saxophone on stages around the world today, proof that hard work and persistence can turn a car seat into a launching pad.
Thanks – so what else should our readers know about your work and what you’re currently focused on?
What do you do, what do you specialize in, what are you known for?
I’m a saxophonist, recording artist, and entrepreneur. My specialty is fusion jazz, blending R&B, Pop, Rock, and Funk into something that feels fresh but still honors where jazz comes from. I’ve released 18 studio albums, landed 5 Billboard number 1s, and charted at the top of both Billboard’s Smooth Jazz chart and Sirius XM’s Watercolors. I’m probably best known for my years playing alongside Prince and the New Power Generation (I was featured on his final release, Hit N Run Phase 2), and for the live show I bring with my band, The Creatives. Beyond music, I run AND Coffee, my own coffee brand, and I host the Jazz AND Coffee Festival in Ashville, NC. I also recently became the first jazz artist in history to create my own comic book and animated series.
What are you most proud of?
Honestly, it’s not the Grammy nods or the Billboard chart positions, though I’m grateful for all of it. What I’m most proud of is the road that got me here. There were nights I didn’t have a car, and nights the car was where I slept, saxophone case in the back seat, no idea where the next gig or paycheck was coming from. I was also trying to be a present father through all of that. Building a career and a family at the same time, with no guarantees, takes a different kind of persistence. Everything I’ve built since, the music, the coffee brand, the comic and animation project, all of it stands on that foundation. I’m proud that I didn’t quit.
What sets you apart from others?
I don’t stay in one lane. Most people know me as a saxophonist, but I’ve built a business around ownership and versatility the way Prince taught me: control your masters, protect your art, don’t let anyone else define your sound. Then Dave Koz showed me the other half of that, which is generosity, using your platform to open doors for other people while you’re still building your own. That combination, guarding what’s mine while staying generous with it, is probably what sets me apart. I’m not just a musician who also does other things. I’m building a body of work across music, coffee, comics, and animation that’s all connected by the same discipline and the same story.
We love surprises, fun facts and unexpected stories. Is there something you can share that might surprise us?
I think a lot of people know me from the stage, sharing that space with Prince and Stevie Wonder, and they assume that’s the whole story. What might surprise them is that I’ve quietly been building a coffee brand for the past 8 years, AND Coffee, and I even host a small festival in Durham, NC called the Jazz AND Coffee Festival. I never set out to be a “coffee guy,” it just grew out of loving the ritual of it and wanting to build something with my own hands outside of music. More recently, I found myself venturing into comics and animation, and I’m humbled to say I became the first jazz artist to create my own comic book and animated series. I don’t say that to brag, it still feels a little surreal honestly, but I’m proud of it because it reminds me that the music was never meant to be the ceiling. It was always just the starting point.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://www.marcusanderson.net
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/mandersonsax/
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/mandersonsax
- Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/@mandersonsax
- Other: https://www.majace.net
