He has performed and recorded with such artists as The Paul Winter Consort, Michael Brecker, Glen Velez, Rhonda Larson, Danny Gottlieb, Harvie Swartz, Robert Gass, Steve Gorn, Omar Faruk Tekbilek, Snatam Kaur, Paco Pena, Krishna Das, David Darling, Eugene Freison, Benjamin Verdery, Coleman Barks, Yevgeny Yevtushenko, George Benson and Marc Anthony.

In 2004 he was commissioned to compose original music for the ASAP Community dance project in collaboration with Pilobolus Dance Theatre. Active in scoring original music for films and documentaries, John Marshall's music has appeared in award winning films released both nationally and internationally. Marshall's instructional books and CDs, Hand Drums for Beginners (5 star rating), World Beat Encyclopedia, and Drum Atlas: Africa are available everywhere through Alfred Publishing.
Sponsored by the Cooperman Drum Company, Precision Drum Company, Claydrum Udus, and Hamid Alwan Arabic Percussion, John tours the country with his adult seminar and Workshop Series , and performs and teaches in conjunction with Young Audiences of America, Armstrong Chamber Enrichment Series, ASAP After School Arts Program, Arts Magnet School Systems, and Hartford Intercity Arts Outreach. During the summer of 2004, he was Percussion Instructor in Residence at the Punahou School in Hawaii, alma mater of President Barrack Obama. He performs with the classical/jazz/world ensemble Ufonia, composes for and performs with numerous percussion groups, including Framework, and WoMaDe, and is much sought after in the freelance arena. He has released his own CDs featuring his original compositions, and is at work on creating online hand percussion instruction for Warner Brothers/Alfred. Currently, John enjoys performing with the experimental improvisational trio Bridges and Poems, which includes composer/guitarist Robert Weinstein and woodwind player Paul Butler. In 2013, he launched his new percussion quintet, TERRA CODA, which is enjoying popularity while it performs to standing ovations from full capacity venues. Other current projects include Duo Jopa, a winds and percussion duo, and collaborative work with the Cymbalogy Ensemble. Additionally, John Marshall is studying traditional composition/performance technique of North Indian Tabla with Subhankar Banerjee and Narendra Budhakar. John Marshall holds degrees from New York University in religious literature and did his graduate work at Wesleyan University in Ethnomusicology where his principal teachers were Royal Hartigan and Abraham Adzenyah. He further studied at the Mannes School in New York, and at the Manhattan School of Music where he was taught by Paul Price, Norman Grossman, and visiting artist, Elvin Jones. In 1983, John became one of frame drum master, Glen Velez’ original students, and after thirty years, still works with Velez in his study and performance of world wide hand drumming techniques.