Jazz icon Branford Marsalis on work with 'perfectionist' Chadwick Boseman for 'Ma Rainey' Alex Biese, Asbury Park Press Chadwick Boseman, Kobe Bryant, RBG among the icons we lost in 2020 Replay Video Branford Marsalis had his work cut out for him with "Ma Rainey's Black Bottom." For the Netflix adaptation of Pulitzer Prize winner August Wilson's acclaimed play, Marsalis — the Grammy-winning, Tony-nominated saxophonist, band leader and music historian — served as composer, arranger and executive music producer, tasked with bringing the 1920s blues at the heart of Wilson's story to life. But Marsalis didn't have to worry about Chadwick Boseman. The actor, who found acclaim thanks to his cinematic portrayals of everyone from James Brown to Jackie Robinson to Marvel's Black Panther, shines in the film as Levee, a haunted and ambitious cornet player backing Ma Rainey (played by Viola Davis).