Kicking off a new season of Stanford Lively Arts, Marsalis Brasilianos, a group that plays Brazilian-style music, will perform on Oct. 5 at Stanford’s Memorial Auditorium.

The Philarmonia Brasileria joins jazz musician Branford Marsalis on the saxophone to create a group called Marsalis Brasilianos. The group was formed to celebrate the 50th anniversary of Brazilian composer Heitor Villa-Lobo’s death. While the group’s tour began last August, it is still scheduled to tour more than 15 states over the next six months.

Marsalis was born in New Orleans into “one of the jazz world’s most illustrious families,” said Bob Cable, the public relations manager at Stanford Lively Arts.

“Marsalis is especially well-known as the musical director of the Tonight Show with Jay Leno in the 1990s,” Cable said.

Marsalis has won three Grammies for his CDs I Heard You Twice The First Time, Contemporary Jazz and his single Barcelona Mona.

“I think it’s interesting to hear what such a well-known jazz luminary will bring to this kind of music,” Cable said. “It’ll be a chance for people to hear him in a different sort of repertoire.”

Jenny Bilfield, the artistic and executive director of Stanford Lively Arts, said this will be an interesting first concert of the year.

“This is a fitting way to begin the season and all the more so for students and a campus to have someone who is ‘uncategorizable,” Bilfield said.

The 2:30 p.m. concert will be followed by a 5 p.m. reception and Brazilian-themed dinner at 6 p.m., celebrating the beginning of a new season at Stanford Lively Arts. Brazilian singer Claudia Villela and guitarist Ricardo Pexoto will be performing live. The reception is at the Ford Alumni Gardens at the Frances C. Arrillaga Alumni Center.

A few Lively Arts events coming up in October are the 20th anniversary of Stanford’s resident ensemble, the St. Lawrence String Quartet, the Soweto Gospel Choir and centennial tributes to French composer Oliver Messiaen and the late Mexican choreographer Jose Limon.

Stanford Lively Arts is trying to appeal to a wider range of audiences this season.

“We’re launching a new family series this year with special family performances of the STREB dance company and Jose Limon: The making of an Artist, presented by the New York-based family theater troupe called Making Books Sing,” Cable said.

Tickets for all shows are available online at http://livelyarts.stanford.edu/month_list.php