Marc T. Gaspard Bolin
Ethnomusicologist · Performer · Author · Educator
Education
| Ph.D. and M.A. in Ethnomusicology, University of California, Los Angeles | |
| M.M., Tuba Performance, University of California, Los Angeles | |
| B.M., Tuba and Trombone Performance, University of California, Los Angeles |
Teaching Experience
Academic Appointments
| 2023–present | Continuing Lecturer, Department of Ethnomusicology, UCLA Jazz in American Culture (50A+B) |
| 2023–present | Adjunct Professor, Music Department, California State Polytechnic University, Pomona World of Music; Tuba and Euphonium Studio |
| 2023–present | Lecturer, Department of African American Studies, UCLA Jazz and the Political Imagination (AF AMER 108) |
| 2024 | Lecturer, Department of Ethnomusicology, UCLA Ethnomusicology: Theory, History, and Field Methods |
| 2022–2023 | Lecturer, Department of Ethnomusicology, UCLA Jazz in American Culture (50A+B) |
| 2022 | Lecturer, Department of Ethnomusicology, UCLA Women in Jazz (M109); Introduction to Ethnomusicology (101) |
| 2021 | Adjunct Instructor, Longy School of Music of Bard College, Los Angeles, CA Five-week Social Justice Music Research Project / Ethnomusicology Module, M.M. in Music Education Program (Spring term) |
| 2017–2019 | Professor of Record, Department of Ethnomusicology, UCLA Jazz in American Culture I (50A; summer session) |
| 2017 | Principal Lecturer, Department of Ethnomusicology, UCLA Ellingtonia (Spring term) |
Other Teaching Experience
| 2024–present | Director, St. Bernard Marching Band Program |
| 2019–present | The Hollywood High Steppers, Second Line Brass Band Marching Ensemble, Silverlake Conservatory of Music, Hollywood, CA |
| 2021 | Clinician, Florida Atlantic University, Boca Raton, FL |
| 2020 | Clinician, University of Southern California, Los Angeles |
| 2019 | Clinician, Preservation Hall Foundation, ReNEW Dolores T. Aaron Academy, New Orleans, LA |
| 2018 | Clinician, Florida Atlantic University, Boca Raton, FL |
| 2016 | Clinician, California State University, Stanislaus, CA; Improvisation Workshop Instructor, Pluralistic School I, Santa Monica, CA |
| 2015 | Clinician, “Wind-bass: The Bass Player's Role and Creating Bass-lines on the Tuba,” UCLA tuba studio |
| 2014–2016 | Low-brass instructor, Santa Monica Youth Orchestra, Santa Monica, CA |
| 2008–2016 | Music Teacher/Mentor, Music Partnership Program, UCLA |
Selected Rights, Permissions, Licensing, and Commissions
| 2026 | Queenie Pie, non-staged oratorio-style adaptation commissioned by Morgan State University, music by Duke Ellington |
| 2021 | Queenie Pie Suite, commissioned by the Lexington Philharmonic Orchestra, music by Duke Ellington, arranged and orchestrated by Marc T. Gaspard Bolin |
| 2014 | Brass band arrangements commissioned by Mötley Crüe and performed by a second line brass band for a press conference and Jimmy Kimmel Live! |
| 2014 | The Rise and Fall of the City of Mahagonny, commissioned arrangement and orchestration for Oakland Opera Theater, music by Kurt Weill |
| 2014 | Rhapsody in Blue, music by George Gershwin, arrangement for solo tuba created and performed after securing permission through Alfred Music |
| 2008 | Queenie Pie, Oakland Opera Theater, realization of Duke Ellington's unfinished opera following a multi-year permissions and clearance process that led to Sony's issuance of grand performing rights |
Professional Musical Experience: Selected Performances
| 2026 | Kirk Franklin, Mother's Day Weekend Symphony, presented by Leon Lacey's Black Tie Cinematic Symphony, Los Angeles, CA, two performances, May 9 |
| 2023–present | The R-SHO! The Robin Simone Hollywood Orchestra (bass trombone) |
| 2025 | The R-SHO! The Robin Simone Hollywood Orchestra, video/studio releases including “It's De-Lovely,” “The Hollywood Medley,” and “Swingin' On A Star With Joe,” each surpassing 1 million views (bass trombone) |
| 2017–present | Urban Renewal Project (bass trombone and sousaphone) |
| 2021 | Seocho Philharmonia, Seoul, South Korea (tuba) |
| 2019 | New Orleans JazzFest, Glen David Andrews (sousaphone) |
| 2018 | Kanye West, Sunday Service at the Mountain (sousaphone) |
| 2017–2018 | Evanescence, Synthesis Live, tour (bass trombone) |
| 2017 | Martha & Snoop's Potluck Dinner Party (sousaphone) |
| 2016 | Deltron 3030, alternative hip-hop supergroup (bass trombone) |
| 2014 | Mötley Crüe, second line band for press conference and Jimmy Kimmel Live! (sousaphone) |
| 2013–2019 | Los Angeles Jazz Orchestra Unlimited, co-directors Kenny Burrell, Charley Harrison, and Dr. Bobby Rodriguez (bass trombone) |
| 2013 | Tuba soloist, Concerto for Bass Tuba by Ralph Vaughan Williams, UCLA Symphony Orchestra, conducted by Dean Anderson; Deltron 3030 (bass trombone); All-Star Brass, music direction of Jens Lindemann (bass trombone); MONK'estra, music direction of John Beasley (bass trombone); Eco Ensemble, bass trombone soloist, Concerto for Bass Trombone: Plum Blossom / Warm Gentle Wind / Shimmering Stillness by Jason Levis, conducted by David Milnes |
| 2005 | Carla Bley Big Band, Monterey Jazz Festival, Appearing Nightly at The Black Orchid, composed by Carla Bley (bass trombone) |
Selected Discography
| 2025 | Urban Renewal Project, “Shake Those Hips,” studio recording, L.A.-based soul, jazz, and hip-hop big band (bass trombone and sousaphone soloist) |
| 2024 | The R-SHO! The Robin Simone Hollywood Orchestra, studio recording (bass trombone) |
| 2021 | Ian Krouse, Symphony No. 5, Op. 55 “A Journey Towards Peace,” Fanfare for the Heroes of the Korean War, Seocho Philharmonia, Jong Hoon Bae, conductor (tuba) |
| 2020 | Big Sean, “Still I Rise,” Detroit 2, studio recording, produced by DJ Khalil, Def Jam Recordings and GOOD Music (tuba and sousaphone) |
| 2019 | John Legend, A Legendary Christmas: Super Deluxe Edition, studio recording, produced by Raphael Saadiq, Grammy-nominated (bass trombone); NOFX, The Decline – Live at Red Rocks Amphitheatre 2019, DVD (tenor and bass trombones, tuba) |
| 2018 | Kamasi Washington, Heaven & Earth, studio recording (tuba); Urban Renewal Project, “Shake Those Hips,” studio recording (featured sousaphone soloist) |
| 2017 | Christina Aguilera, “Behind Every Man is a Good Woman,” studio recording (sousaphone); Urban Renewal Project, 21st Century Ghost, studio recording (featured sousaphone soloist) |
| 2014 | Neil Diamond, Melody Road, studio recording, Capitol Records, produced by Don Was and Jacknife Lee (tenor and bass trombones) |
| 2013 | All-Star Brass, All-Star Brass Live 2013, live recording, musical direction of Jens Lindemann (bass trombone and percussion); Plum Blossom / Warm Gentle Wind / Shimmering Stillness, live recording, composed by Jason Levis (bass trombone soloist) |
| 2007 | Doug Beavers Rovira Jazz Orchestra, Jazz Baby!, studio recording, Grammy-nominated (bass trombone and tuba) |
Film, Television, Radio, and YouTube Appearances
| 2020 | On-screen performer, B-sides of Hip Hop #4 – Los Angeles' daKAH Symphonic Orchestra, directed by Yoann Le Gruiec and Benoit Pergent, produced by Why So Serious Productions (tuba) |
| 2017 | On-air performer, Martha & Snoop's Potluck Dinner Party, MTV, live video taping (sousaphone); Postmodern Jukebox, “It Ain't Me,” YouTube music video (sousaphone) |
| 2015 | Soundtrack recording, Empire, studio recording (sousaphone); soundtrack recording, Somm: Into the Bottle, music composed by Brian Carmody (tuba) |
| 2014 | On-air interview, “Duke Ellington's Lost Opera, Forever A Work In Progress,” NPR's All Things Considered, host Robert Siegel, segment written by Priska Neely |
| 2013 | On-screen performer, Live from YouTube LA, Aloe Blacc, live studio recording (sousaphone): “The Man,” 1.6 million views; “Love Is the Answer,” 138 thousand views; “Wake Me Up,” 110 thousand views; “Can You Do This,” 92 thousand views |
| 2007 | Segment, “Appearing Nightly at The Black Orchid,” featuring Carla Bley and the Carla Bley Big Band, NPR's JazzSet, host Dee Dee Bridgewater |
Publications and Presentations
Publications
| Under review | Continuities at the Center of the Jazz Universe: The New Orleans Brass Band Tradition, Congo Square, Mardi Gras Indians, and Their Cultural Legacies, University Press of Mississippi. Manuscript under contract and currently under review. |
| 2026 | Jazz Cultures in Motion: Dialogues of Continuity and Change (Vol. 2: WWII to Present). Co-authored with Ray Briggs, Kira Dralle, and Gaspard Bolin (lead). Kendall Hunt Publishing Company. |
| 2025 | Review of A Man and His Trumpet: The Story of Leroy Jones, directed by Cameron Washington. Ethnomusicology 69(3), Fall 2025. |
| 2025 | Jazz Cultures in Motion: Dialogues of Continuity and Change (Vol. 1: Origins through WWII). Co-authored with Ray Briggs, Kira Dralle, and Gaspard Bolin (lead). Kendall Hunt Publishing Company. |
| 2024 | Marc T. Gaspard Bolin, “Congo Square and the Second Line: Their Relevance to Shifting Narratives about Jazz History.” Journal of Jazz Studies 15(1), 39–73. |
Conference Presentations
| 2025 | “Sounding Inclusion: Women, LGBTQ+ Artists, and the Politics of Jazz Pedagogy.” Ninth Rhythm Changes Conference, Jazz Futures, University of Amsterdam, Netherlands |
| 2024 | “Jazz at the Fringes: Community, Identity, and Placemaking in Venice, CA.” Eighth Rhythm Changes Conference, Jazz Encounters, Graz, Austria |
| 2023 | “The Congo Square Ideology: Congo Square is, not was.” Annual Meeting of the Society for American Music, Minneapolis, MN |
| 2022 | “The New Orleans Second Line: A Tradition on the Move.” Seventh Rhythm Changes Conference, Jazz Then & Now, Conservatorium van Amsterdam, the Netherlands; Panel Chair (Jazz Ideologies). “Black Mardi Gras Indians: Their History, Musical Influence, and Audio Legacy.” Annual Meeting of the Society for American Music, Tucson, AZ |
| 2017 | “Angeleno Brass Bands and New Orleans Identity: Representations of New Orleans in Los Angeles.” Annual Meeting of the Society for Ethnomusicology, Southern California and Hawaii Chapter, Irvine, CA |
| 2009 | “Realizing the Duke.” Echoes of Ellington Conference, University of Texas, Austin, TX |
Other Invited Presentations and Screenings
| 2026 | Pre-concert talk, “Gracias Gustavo: Celebrating the Musicians of the LA Phil,” LA Philharmonic's Upbeat Live!, Walt Disney Concert Hall, Los Angeles, CA. Talk-demo, “Ragtime as Black Social Music,” Ragtime Days, Music & the Mind series, with Walter Nelson, New Orleans Jazz Museum at the Old U.S. Mint, New Orleans, LA, April 9 |
| 2025 | Pre-concert talk, “Ellington's Nutcracker & Tchaikovsky's ‘Winter Daydreams,’” LA Philharmonic's Upbeat Live!, for a program featuring Carlos Simon's Four Black American Dances, Duke Ellington's Nutcracker Suite, and Tchaikovsky's Symphony No. 1, conducted by Thomas Wilkins, Walt Disney Concert Hall, December 18–21. Pre-concert talk, “Vocal Dimensions,” LA Philharmonic's Upbeat Live!, Walt Disney Concert Hall |
| 2024 | Pre-concert talk, “Marginalized Mavericks: Minority Composers Redefining Classical Traditions,” LA Philharmonic's Upbeat Live!, Walt Disney Concert Hall; program: Coleridge-Taylor, Ballade in A minor; Bernstein, Symphonic Dances from West Side Story; Victor Wooten, La Lección Tres; Thomas Wilkins, conductor |
| 2023 | Pre-concert talk, “E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial in Concert: John Williams Spotlight,” LA Philharmonic's Upbeat Live!, Gustavo Dudamel, conductor. Guest lecture, “Africa: Ghana, Zimbabwe, Senegal-Gambia, The Republic of South Africa,” Music Cultures of the World, Ethnomusicology 20 Series, UCLA. Pre-concert talk, “Tchaikovsky and Adès,” LA Philharmonic's Upbeat Live!, Elim Chan, conductor; Leila Josefowicz, violin |
| 2022 | Pre-concert talk, “Tchaikovsky & Ellington,” LA Philharmonic's Upbeat Live!, Gustavo Dudamel, conductor |
| 2021 | Ethnographic film My Brother's Keeper, selected at the Muestra de Antropología Audiovisual de Madrid (MAAM), National Museum of Anthropology, Madrid, Spain, and the 7th Festival of Student Ethnographic Films (ETNOFF 7), Skopje, Macedonia. Panel discussion, “Queenie Pie, Ellington and Colorism,” CONNECT Series, Lexington Philharmonic Society, Lexington, KY |
| 2019 | “African American Music: From the Middle Passage through the Civil Rights Era,” Music Appreciation, Pierce College |
| 2018 | “The New Orleans Second Line as a Site for Analysis of Globalization,” Theories of Culture, World Arts and Cultures, UCLA |
| 2017 | “The Jazz Funeral: Second Line, Ritual, and the Spectacle of New Orleans in Los Angeles,” Music, Religion, and Popular Culture, Ethnomusicology, UCLA. “Jug Band, Old-Time, and Bluegrass Musics,” Sphere Project, Monk Institute, Los Angeles |
| 2014–2023 | Guest lectures, Music Cultures of the World: Europe and the Americas, Ethnomusicology 20 Series, UCLA: “Africa: Ghana, Zimbabwe, Senegal-Gambia, The Republic of South Africa”; “New Orleans Second Line Culture”; “Brass Band Culture of New Orleans”; “Music of New Orleans”; “Duke Ellington's Queenie Pie: A Folk Opera” |
| 2012 | Lecture-demos, Fowler Museum, UCLA: “A Brass Band Turns Silver!” (American Pop and Its Silver Lining Exhibition); “The Jug: An Offbeat Oddity” (Music for Our Mothers: A Bluegrass Tribute) |
Other Experience
| 2022 | Music Consultant, Jackass Forever, directed by Jeff Tremaine, Paramount Pictures |
| 2021 | Ethnographic filmmaker, My Brother's Keeper (11:19), selected at MAAM, National Museum of Anthropology, Madrid, and ETNOFF 7, Skopje, Macedonia; ethnographic filmmaker, Can't Take Our Spirit (9:36) |
| 2020 | Technical Advisor and ensemble music direction, feature film (title withheld under NDA), Paramount Pictures, Los Angeles, CA |
| 2019 | Camera operator (B-camera, with director Lily Keber), “Lessons I've Learned by Cristina Perez” |
| 2010–2016 | Librarian Assistant (I–II, 2010–12); Reference Librarian (2012–14); Librarian Assistant (III, 2014–16), UCLA |
| 2008–2012 | Artistic Consultant, Strange Fellowe: A Jazz Opera, composed by Nick DePinna and Hitomi Oba |
Conducting Experience
| 2009 | Queenie Pie, non-staged oratorio-style presentation, “Duke Ellington's 110th Birthday Anniversary Festival Concert,” realized, arranged, and conducted by Marc T. Gaspard Bolin, UCLA. “Carmen Fantasy,” UCLA Trombone Ensemble, dir. James Miller, music by Georges Bizet, arr. Bolin |
| 2008 | “On A Turquoise Cloud,” UCLA Brass Ensemble, directors Jens Lindemann and Patrick Sheridan, music by Duke Ellington and Lawrence Brown, arr. Bolin |
Curator Experience
| 2012–2013 | Doan, J., and Marc T. Gaspard Bolin, co-curators, Tapscott on Tapscott: His Music & the Los Angeles Community [exhibit], Schoenberg Music Library, UCLA |
Honors and Awards
| 2013 | Claudia Mitchell-Kernan Award for Contributions to Scholarship and Education in the Field of Jazz, Friends of Jazz, Los Angeles, CA. Name engraved on the SFJAZZ Center's Franklin Street wall, recognizing contributions of select San Francisco Jazz musicians |
Service
| 2023–present | Secretary, Silver Swan Ragtime Innovations, Inc., New Orleans, LA; Archivist, AZZ-IS Venice Jazz/Not-Jazz Festival, Venice, CA; Board Member, Charles Favors Louisiana Cultural Foundation of California, Los Angeles, CA |
| 2015–2016 | President, Ethnomusicology Graduate Student Organization, UCLA |
| 1993–1996 | Ohio Army National Guard |
| 1989–1993 | United States Marine Corps; combat veteran, Operation Desert Shield and Desert Storm |