about

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A young man with short black hair and a patterned black and beige shirt is speaking into a microphone and raising his right hand, while standing in a dimly lit room decorated with a wall sconce and purple and pink lighting.

Marcus R. Grant is a professional drummer, percussionist, musicologist, and educator from West Chester, Pennsylvania. He is currently a Brown University PhD candidate in Musicology & Ethnomusicology with a secondary certificate study in the Department of Africana Studies. Grant holds a BM in jazz performance from Temple University, an MM jazz performance, an MM in musicology from the University of Miami (FL), and an MA in musicology and ethnomusicology from Brown University. As a scholar, he focuses his research on 2020 Black Lives Matter protest music and hip-hop, and the intersections of musical protest and digital culture. Other research interests include jazz studies and music of the Black church.

As a musician, Grant has performed at Carnegie Hall, The Kennedy Center, NPR’s Tiny Desk, the Newport Jazz Festival, Dizzy’s club at Jazz At Lincoln Center, and many other national and international stages. He has been featured with with Victor Goines, Nicole Henry, Derrick Hodge, Robert Glasper, Lalah Hathoway, Bilal, De La Soul, and is a member of the Robert Glasper Black Radio Orchestra and Derrick Hodge Color of Noize Orchestra.

Grant is currently finishing his doctoral studies at Brown University and working as an adjunct professor in the Theater, Music, and Dance Department at Salve Regina University in Newport, Rhode Island.

curriculum vitae
curriculum vitae

notable performances

How It Feels To Be Free

Event poster titled "How It Feels To Be Free", celebrating Nina Simone and Abbey Lincoln, produced by Marcus Grant. Features black and white images of Nina Simone on the left and Abbey Lincoln on the right, with event details including location at Granoff Center, Martins Auditorium, Brown University, date April 25, 2023, and time 7:00 PM.

Vampire Nation

Poster for the symposium 'Voices of Mass Incarceration' at Brown University, September 27-29, 2023, featuring artwork of a woman with short hair and a yellow shirt, surrounded by green leaves, with event details and sponsors listed.

Free Mumia

Stylized illustration of a person with their hands on their face, surrounded by political messages advocating for the abolition of the death penalty, and text reading: "Free Mumia", "All Political Prisoners", "Abo-Jamal Exist Resist Insist", and "Abolish the Death Penalty".
Jazz band performing on stage, with a female singer holding a microphone, a flutist, a drummer, and other musicians playing instruments, audience watching.

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