Tina Marsh

Tina Marsh (January 18, 1954,^[1] – June 16, 2009)^[2] was a jazz vocalist and composer based in Austin, Texas. She was the creative director of the Creative Opportunity Orchestra, a large jazz ensemble which she founded in 1980.^[3][4]

Tina Marsh
Birth name	Kristin Conway Marsh
Born	(1954-01-18)January 18, 1954 Annapolis, Maryland, U. S.
Died	June 16, 2009(2009-06-16) (aged 55) Austin, Texas
Genres	Jazz
Occupation	Singer
Years active	1979–2009
Labels	CreOp Muse
Formerly of	Creative Opportunity Orchestra

Early life and career

Marsh was born in Annapolis, Maryland.^[2] During the late-1970s, she worked as an actor in musical theatre in and around New York City and Philadelphia.^[4] While living in New York, she began forming ideas about jazz singing. After moving to Austin, Marsh attended concerts by Anthony Braxton and Sam Rivers at Armadillo World Headquarters.^[4] These performances inspired her to form her first professional group, New Visions Ensemble, with Alex Coke, Rock Savage, Booka Michel, and Horatio Rodriguez.^[4]

In 1980, at the suggestion of Charlie Haden, Marsh studied at the Creative Music Studio in Woodstock, New York.^[4] Upon returning to Austin, she formed the Creative Opportunity Orchestra with the members of New Visions Ensemble at its core.^[4] CO₂ began as a cooperative organization, similar to the AACM, though Marsh gradually assumed a managerial role and became the group's director.^[4]

Marsh went on to perform with Carla Bley, Hamiett Bluiett, Vinny Golia, Dennis González, Billy Hart, Roscoe Mitchell, Steve Swallow, and Kenny Wheeler.^[3][4] Marsh and the ensemble performed at the Laguna Gloria amphitheater in Austin.^[4] She was a participant in the Austin Jazz Workshop.

In 1994, Marsh was diagnosed with and treated for breast cancer.^[5] In February 2008, she learned that the cancer had returned and metastasized, though she continued to record and perform later in the year.^[1][6] Marsh died on June 16, 2009.^[2] She continued to perform up to two months before her death.^[7]

Awards and honors

In 2000, the Austin Chronicle inducted Marsh into its Texas Music Hall of Fame.^[8][9] In 2008, the Austin Critics Table inducted Marsh into the Austin Arts Hall of Fame.^[10]

The Austin History Center maintains a collection of Marsh's papers.^[11]

C. Michael Bailey of All About Jazz described Marsh's music as "progressive big band, a kind of marriage between the avant-garde and postmodern classical. Marsh, like [Carla] Bley, favors low brass in assembly and solos. She uses her voice in a creative Meredith Monk sort of way that is not unattractive."^[12]

Discography

As leader

• The Heaven Line, with the Creative Opportunity Orchestra (CreOp Muse, 1994)^[13]
• World Wide (CreOp Muse, 1998)

With Alex Coke

• Iraqnophobia (VoxLox, 2005)^[14]
• It's Possible (VoxLox, 2008)