Ellis Marsalis Jr. Explained

Ellis Marsalis Jr.
Background:non_vocal_instrumentalist
Birth Name:Ellis Louis Marsalis Jr.
Birth Date:14 November 1934
Birth Place:New Orleans, Louisiana, U.S.
Death Place:New Orleans, Louisiana, U.S.
Genre:Jazz, classical
Occupation:Musician, educator
Instrument:Piano
Years Active:1949–2020
Label:Elm, Blue Note, Columbia, Sony, AFO Records
Associated Acts:Wynton Marsalis, Branford Marsalis

Ellis Louis Marsalis Jr.[1] (November 14, 1934 – April 1, 2020) was an American jazz pianist and educator. Active since the late 1940s, Marsalis came to greater attention in the 1980s and 1990s as the patriarch of the musical Marsalis family, when sons Branford and Wynton became popular jazz musicians.

Early life

Born in New Orleans, Louisiana, Marsalis was the son of Florence Marie (née Robertson) and Ellis Marsalis Sr., a businessman and social activist.[2] [3] Marsalis and his wife Dolores Ferdinand Marsalis had six sons: Branford, Wynton, Ellis III, Delfeayo, Mboya, and Jason. Branford, Wynton, Delfeayo, and Jason also became jazz musicians.[4] Ellis III is a poet and photographer.[5]

Marsalis played tenor saxophone and piano during high school, and performed locally with a rhythm and blues band that included pianist Roger Dickerson. After high school, Marsalis served a year in the Marine Corps where he performed on piano for the majority of his duty. He subsequently attended Dillard University, where he graduated in 1955 with a degree in music education. While attending Dillard, he worked as the high school band director at what was then Xavier University Preparatory School on Magazine Street, where he witnessed the classical playing of one of the students, piano prodigy James Booker. Marsalis later attended graduate school at Loyola University New Orleans. In the 1950s and 1960s he worked with Ed Blackwell, Cannonball Adderley, Nat Adderley, and Al Hirt. During the 1970s, he taught at the New Orleans Center for Creative Arts. His students have included Terence Blanchard, Harry Connick Jr., Donald Harrison, Kent Jordan, Marlon Jordan, and Nicholas Payton.[6]

Musical career

Marsalis recorded nearly twenty of his own albums and was featured on many discs with such musicians as David "Fathead" Newman, Eddie Harris, Marcus Roberts, and Courtney Pine.[7] As a teacher, he encouraged his students to learn from history while also making discoveries in music on their own.[8] "We don't teach jazz, we teach students," he once said about his ability to teach jazz improvisation. As a leading educator at the New Orleans Center for Creative Arts, the University of New Orleans, and Xavier University of Louisiana, Marsalis influenced the careers of countless musicians, as well as his four musician sons: Wynton, Branford, Delfeayo and Jason. Marsalis retired from UNO in 2001. In May 2007, Marsalis received an honorary doctorate from Tulane University for his contributions to jazz and musical education.[9]

Awards

Marsalis was inducted into the Louisiana Music Hall of Fame in 2018. The Ellis Marsalis Center for Music at Musicians' Village in New Orleans is named in his honor. In 2010, The Marsalis family released a live album titled Music Redeems, which was recorded at The John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts in Washington, D.C., as part of the Duke Ellington Jazz Festival. All proceeds from the sale of the album go directly to the Ellis Marsalis Center for Music.[10]

Marsalis was a fraternity brother of Phi Beta Sigma and Phi Mu Alpha Sinfonia.[11] [12] In 2015, Marsalis was named Phi Mu Alpha Sinfonia's 24th Man of Music, their highest honor given to a member, for advancing the cause of music in America through performance, composition or any other musical activity. In 2018, Marsalis was awarded an honorary doctorate of music from Berklee College of Music during its 50th annual High School Jazz Festival.[13]

Marsalis received a Grammy Trustees Award posthumously in 2023,[14] accepted in his absence by his son Jason and granddaughter Marley.

Death

On April 1, 2020, Marsalis died at the age of 85 from pneumonia brought on by COVID-19.[4] [15] [16] Municipal pandemic safety measures precluded a traditional jazz funeral procession.[17] The short documentary film titled Death Is Our Business by Frontline briefly covered the situation when investigating the pandemic's effects on the New Orleans funeral industry.[18]

Personal life

Marsalis and his wife were Catholic and raised all their children in the faith.[19] The youngest of his sons is Mboya Kenyatta Marsalis, who is diagnosed with autism and is cared for by his brother Delfeayo since their father's death. Their mother, Dolores, died in 2017.[20]

Marsalis and his sons were group recipients of the 2011 NEA Jazz Masters Award.[21]

Discography

As leader

As sideman or guest

With American Jazz Quintet

With Branford Marsalis

With Delfeayo Marsalis

With Wynton Marsalis

With Marsalis family

With Irvin Mayfield

With Kermit Ruffins

With Dave Young

With others

See also

External links

Notes and References

  1. Book: Handy, D. Antoinette . Jazz Man's Journey: A Biography of Ellis Louis Marsalis, Jr. 1999. Scarecrow Press. 9781578860067. 680174719. registration. June 22, 2015.
  2. Web site: Ancestry of Wynton Marsalis . wargs.com . June 22, 2015 . https://web.archive.org/web/20150605185425/http://www.wargs.com/other/marsalis.html . June 5, 2015 . live .
  3. Book: Jazz Man's Journey: A Biography of Ellis Louis Marsalis, Jr. 9781578860067. Antoinette Handy. D.. 1999. Scarecrow Press .
  4. News: Levenson. Michael. Carmel. Julia. Ellis Marsalis Jr., Jazz Pianist and Patriarch of a Musical Family, Dies at 85. April 1, 2020. The New York Times. April 2, 2020. https://web.archive.org/web/20200402030003/https://www.nytimes.com/2020/04/01/arts/music/ellis-marsalis-dead-virus.html. April 2, 2020. live.
  5. News: Jazz great Ellis Marsalis dead at 85 from coronavirus . April 3, 2020 . . April 3, 2020 . https://web.archive.org/web/20200404174237/https://www.brisbanetimes.com.au/culture/music/jazz-great-ellis-marsalis-dead-at-85-from-coronavirus-20200403-p54gny.html?ref=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_source=rss_feed . April 4, 2020 . live .
  6. Web site: Yanow . Scott . Ellis Marsalis . AllMusic . 12 July 2018 . https://web.archive.org/web/20180712185741/https://www.allmusic.com/artist/ellis-marsalis-mn0000795979/biography . July 12, 2018 . live .
  7. News: Adams. Ron. RIP Ellis Marsalis Jr (1934-2020). April 3, 2020. London Jazz News. April 3, 2020. https://web.archive.org/web/20200405170351/https://londonjazznews.com/2020/04/03/rip-ellis-marsalis-jr-1934-2020/. April 5, 2020. live.
  8. Web site: West . Michael J. . Ellis Marsalis 1934–2020 / The jazz world mourns a beloved pianist and teacher—and the head of a royal New Orleans family . April 2, 2020 . jazztimes.com . April 3, 2020.
  9. Web site: Piano Master Brings Jazz to Campus . October 21, 2010 . . April 3, 2020 . https://web.archive.org/web/20151003230137/http://tulane.edu/news/newwave/102110_marsalis.cfm . October 3, 2015 . dead .
  10. Web site: First Listen: The Marsalis Family, 'Music Redeems'. Jarenwattananon, Patrick. August 15, 2010. NPR. April 2, 2020. https://web.archive.org/web/20200404143321/https://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=129138260. April 4, 2020. live.
  11. News: Chapman. Maria. Phi Beta Sigma shows commitment to community. July 17, 2017. The Detroit News. April 3, 2020. https://web.archive.org/web/20190609214911/https://www.detroitnews.com/story/life/2017/07/17/phi-beta-sigma-fraternity-detroit-conclave-marriott-renaissance-center/103784214/. June 9, 2019. live.
  12. Web site: Sinfonia Names 24th Man of Music. June 2, 2015. Phi Mu Alpha Sinfonia Fraternity of America. April 3, 2020. https://web.archive.org/web/20150915232921/http://www.sinfonia.org/2015/06/02/sinfonia-names-24th-man-of-music/. September 15, 2015. live.
  13. Web site: Berklee High School Jazz Festival celebrates its 50th – JazzBoston. en-US. 2020-04-03.
  14. Web site: Ellis Marsalis Honored With Recording Academy Special Merit Award . Enos . Morgan . February 16, 2023 . 2023-05-03 . www.grammy.com.
  15. News: MacCash . Doug . April 1, 2020 . Ellis Marsalis, New Orleans jazz piano legend hospitalized with coronavirus symptoms, dies . The New Orleans Advocate . April 1, 2020 . https://web.archive.org/web/20200402114810/https://www.nola.com/entertainment_life/music/article_bbdaf4c4-7481-11ea-92ae-1758b23c65c8.html . April 2, 2020 . live .
  16. Norton . LaTonya . April 1, 2020 . Mayor Cantrell Issues Statement on the Passing of Ellis Marsalis . New Orleans, LA . City of New Orleans, Mayor LaToya Cantrell . Govdelivery . April 1, 2020.
  17. News: Yawn . Andrew J. . Clark . Maria . Price . Todd A. . April 25, 2020 . Jazz funerals, normally a 'celebration of life,' are silenced: New Orleans grieves differently now . USA Today . en-US . October 8, 2021.
  18. Web site: Death Is Our Business . . March 23, 2021. PBS.org . October 8, 2021.
  19. Web site: Bordelon. Christine. 2020-01-16. Ellis Marsalis influenced many of today's artists. 2020-12-03. Clarion Herald. en.
  20. https://www.ncronline.org/news/coronavirus/world-loses-new-orleans-musical-patriarch-ellis-marsalis-jr-coronavirus World loses New Orleans musical patriarch Ellis Marsalis Jr. to coronavirus
  21. Web site: National Endowment for the Arts Announces the 2011 NEA Jazz Masters . . June 24, 2010 . National Endowment for the Arts . Washington, D.C. . July 19, 2010 . For the first time in the program's 29-year history, in addition to four individual awards, the NEA will present a group award to the Marsalis family, New Orleans' venerable first family of jazz. . dead . https://web.archive.org/web/20100917191610/http://arts.gov/honors/jazz/2011-NEA-Jazz-Masters-Announced.html . September 17, 2010.
  22. Web site: Loved Ones . 2006-02-10 . dead . https://web.archive.org/web/20060210041154/http://www.sonymusic.com/artists/EllisAndBranford/ . 2006-02-10 .
  23. Web site: Ellis Marsalis Album Discography AllMusic . AllMusic . 12 July 2018 . https://web.archive.org/web/20180712223601/https://www.allmusic.com/artist/ellis-marsalis-mn0000795979/discography . July 12, 2018 . live .
  24. CD purchased at 2019 performance in NOLA
  25. Web site: Marsalis Family | A Jazz Celebration . 2006-05-22 . dead . https://web.archive.org/web/20060522031715/http://publicity.rounder.com/artistpages/marsalis_family.html . 2006-05-22 .
  26. Web site: 62-0509a. Chris Stewart. cannonballjazz.com. June 22, 2015. https://web.archive.org/web/20150812002001/http://cannonballjazz.com/Cannonball/1962/62-0509a/62-0509a_index.htm. August 12, 2015. dead.
  27. Web site: Ellis Marsalis Credits AllMusic . AllMusic . 12 July 2018 . https://web.archive.org/web/20180712223633/https://www.allmusic.com/artist/ellis-marsalis-mn0000795979/credits . July 12, 2018 . live .

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