Belonging is Marsalis’ first recording since 2019 and is described as “A full album interpretation of Keith Jarrett’s 1974 album of the same name which introduced his European Quartet.”

Actually, it was producer Manfred Eicher’s idea for a collaboration between Jarrett and Garbarek using the Jan Garbarek/Bobo Stenson Quartet (which had already released Witchi-Tai-To the previous year) with Jarrett in Stenson’s stead, that introduced 'The European Quartet'. The compositions on Belonging were written by Jarrett with Garbarek in mind, consciously breaking the umbilical link with contemporary hard bop.

The Branford Marsalis Quartet is the first major American ensemble to explore the potential of the European Quartet’s groundbreaking album of half a century ago, and by placing their own collective identity upon it, emerges as possibly the Marsalis Quartet’s defining album. ‘Spiral Dance’ suggests their deep engagement with the composition, (originally conceived by Jarrett in a way that allowed Garbarek’s solo to grow organically from the melody line, an intention that broadly applied to all his compositions). These were not simply 'themes' as vehicles for improvisations that could spin-off in any direction at the improvisors will, but instead challenged the improvisor to find a voice within the composition that respected the thematic content. In this the Marsalis Quartet is broadly successful. Perhaps the most famous track from Belonging was ‘Long As You Know You’re Living Yours,’ a longtime theme on CBS TV and the subject of a lawsuit (over the song 'Gaucho') between Jarrett and Steely Dan’s Donald Fagen, which emerges here as a highlight for Marsalis' Quartet, along with ‘The Windup.’