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Pianist and educator Ellis Marsalis is the patriarch of one of America's most talented jazz families and one of today's premiere pianists. |
Marsalis has spent most of his life in New Orleans, where he was born in 1934. He began his musical education studying the clarinet at age 8. He later learned the saxophone and piano. In 1955, Marsalis graduated with a bachelor's degree in Music Education from Dillard University. After a tour of duty in the Marine Corps he returned to New Orleans, married, and started a family. His sons Branford, Wynton, Delfeayo, and Jason, are current leaders of the jazz world.
Marsalis taught music at the high school level while he continued playing gigs at the Playboy Club and for Al Hirt. He eventually became a lecturer at Xavier University and an adjunct teacher at Loyola University. Over the years he continued his own musical studies, receiving his Masters in Music Education from Loyola.
Marsalis influenced the course of jazz in general, as well as the conservative jazz scene in New Orleans with his teaching and playing. In the 1950s he was a founding member of the American Jazz Quintet. In 1974, Marsalis became director of Jazz Studies at the New Orleans Center for Creative Arts. In that position he mentored musicians such as Harry Connick, Jr., Donald Harrison, Nicholas Payton, Terence Blanchard, and some of his own children.
As the fame of his sons grew in the 1980s, Ellis Marsalis found his reputation as an educator and performer spreading to the wider world. He began recording again, taught at Virginia Commonwealth University, in Richmond, and was appointed to the Coca Cola Jazz Chair as Director of the Jazz Studies Division at the University of New Orleans. He also received an honorary doctorate from his alma mater, Dillard University. Today Marsalis continues to teach, record, and play concerts around the world.
Set List for Ellis Marsalis on Piano JazzSyndrome (E. Marsalis)
I Cover the Waterfront (J. Green/E. Heyman)
Honeysuckle Rose (F. Waller)
Limehouse Blues (R. Hyman)
The Mooch (Ellington/Mills)
Melancholia (Ellington)
The M&M Blues (E. Marsalis/M. McPartland)
Ellis Marsalis on NPRJazz.org
Marsalis taught music at the high school level while he continued playing gigs at the Playboy Club and for Al Hirt. He eventually became a lecturer at Xavier University and an adjunct teacher at Loyola University. Over the years he continued his own musical studies, receiving his Masters in Music Education from Loyola.
Marsalis influenced the course of jazz in general, as well as the conservative jazz scene in New Orleans with his teaching and playing. In the 1950s he was a founding member of the American Jazz Quintet. In 1974, Marsalis became director of Jazz Studies at the New Orleans Center for Creative Arts. In that position he mentored musicians such as Harry Connick, Jr., Donald Harrison, Nicholas Payton, Terence Blanchard, and some of his own children.
As the fame of his sons grew in the 1980s, Ellis Marsalis found his reputation as an educator and performer spreading to the wider world. He began recording again, taught at Virginia Commonwealth University, in Richmond, and was appointed to the Coca Cola Jazz Chair as Director of the Jazz Studies Division at the University of New Orleans. He also received an honorary doctorate from his alma mater, Dillard University. Today Marsalis continues to teach, record, and play concerts around the world.
Set List for Ellis Marsalis on Piano Jazz
Related Links
Ellis Marsalis on NPRJazz.org