A great groove creates a place for everyone: the singer, the drummer, the next instrumental reply—and the people on the dance floor. Marcus “Slim” Shaw’s story begins in that shared space.
In a 2016 interview after B.I.G.’s Jazz Fest West appearance, Shaw recalled a group that began with nine players and settled into a five-piece band. The name carried a little of that original scale, but his description of the goal was personal: excellent music and a family feeling among the musicians. Fellow guitarist Robert “Bullet” Harris described hearing a bass idea from Marcus and answering it. That exchange says more about a living band than a list of genres ever could.
Shaw also wanted to put his own musical choices on record. While preparing Choice, he described a meeting of funk, smooth jazz and R&B, with a bass-led title track. The album arrived in 2017. Its guest voices sit beside track names that make the instrument’s place unmistakable: Why Bass and Bass in the Face.
At Campus JAX, that story becomes something you can see: Shaw at the microphone, bass in hand, playing to a room rather than an abstraction. His August 14, 2026 performance is the source of JAX Momento 003-A. It preserves a brief piece of the music—and gives you a reason to come back for the whole evening.
