press

Publication: Columbia Daily Tribune
Author: Aarik Danielsen
Date: February 6, 2011

Publication: NPR.com
Author: Associated Press
Date: January 12, 2011

America’s first family of jazz — patriarch Ellis Marsalis Jr. and four of his sons — were presented the nation’s highest jazz honor Tuesday night at the 2011 National Endowment for the Arts Jazz Masters Awards Ceremony.

It marked the first time the NEA had ever presented a group award since it launched its Jazz Masters program in 1982. The other 2011 Jazz Masters honored in the concert at Jazz at Lincoln Center’s Rose Theater were flutist Hubert Laws, saxophonist and educator David Liebman, composer-arranger Johnny Mandel, and record producer and author Orrin Keepnews. Read more »

Publication: New York Times
Author: Nate Chinen
Date: January 12, 2011
Jazz is a living art, its lexicon in a perpetual state of renewal. But it also has a clear, strong center, as an art form and as a set of practices. That’s one reason for the aftershocks that inevitably follow the loss of an important jazz elder. And it’s one more reason for the continuing cultural value of the NEA Jazz Masters awards, which have been bestowed each year since 1982 by the National Endowment for the Arts. Read more »

Publication: CBS News.com
Date: January 12, 2011

Jazz pianist Ellis Marsalis Jr.  and four of his

 accomplished musician sons — Wynton, Branford, Delfeayo and Jason — have received the highest jazz honour in the U.S.

The National Endowment for the Arts honoured the family of New Orleans musicians as Jazz Masters at a ceremony Tuesday night in New York, at the Jazz at Lincoln Center’s Rose Theater. Read more »

Publication: Jazziz.com
Date: January 6, 2010

Pretty much everyone in the Marsalis family who plays an instrument, from patriarch Ellis on down, will be honored with a National Endowment for the Arts Jazz Masters Award on January 11 at the Rose Theater of Jazz at Lincoln Center. The Award is given to living legends that have made significant contributions to jazz. Certainly the Marsalis’ fit the criteria. Both individually and collectively, they have long been highly visible champions of preserving and expanding jazz through music education, production and musicianship. 

On Monday, January 10 at 1 p.m., the 2011 Jazz Masters will present a panel discussion moderated by A.B. Spellman open to the public on a first come, first served basis in the Varis-Leichtman Studio at Jazz at Lincoln Center. Read more »

Publication: JazzTimes
By: Michael J. West
Date: January/February 2011
 

Publication: All About Jazz- New York
By: Laurel Gross
Date: January 2011

Ellis Marsalis Jr. has accomplished a lot during his distinguished life in jazz - creating beauty as a firstclass pianist and composer, guiding and inspiring budding musicians through his unswerving devotion as an educator in or near his hometown of New Orleans and with his wife Dolores producing a family of six that includes four high-achievers with notable jazz lives of their own.
Read more »

Publication: Groove Notes
Date: January 2, 2011

People love lists. And Groove Notes isn’t shy about posting them. There were some great albums that came out in the last year, and in no particular order, here are my ten favorites from 2010. 

1. Highway Rider by Brad Mehldau (Nonesuch, March 16, 2010)
2. Decisive Steps by Tia Fuller (Mack Avenue, March 16, 2010)
 3. Jasmine by Keith Jarrett/Charlie Haden (ECM Records, May 25th, 2010)
 4. Music Redeems by The Marsalis Family (Marsalis Music, August 24, 2010) 
5. Tribal by Dr. John (429 Records, August 3, 2010) 
6. Read more »

Publication: The Louisiana Weekly
By: Geraldine Wyckoff
Date: December 20, 2010

New Orleans musical family dynasties put out and made out in the CD department in 2010. Most of the top albums this year, all of which make for excellent gift-giving opportunities, were released by members of the (in alphabetical order) Andrews, Harrison, Neville and Marsalis families. Other contenders for this year best releases come from the likes of Dr. John and Kermit Ruffins, who one could argue, are dynasties unto themselves. This makes a strong statement about the longevity and continuance that is at the heart of the New Orleans music tradition.

While new styles might dominate or often come and go in other locales, in this city they are more apt to be absorbed and become a new aspect of the heritage. For example, many local hip-hop artists do embrace some of the rhythms and nuances of the music that surrounded them in their childhoods. Read more »

Publication: MOVE Magazine
By: Angie Andera
Date: December 3, 2010

For jazz pianist Joey Calderazzo, music has always been a part of his life. The piano first struck a chord with the musician when his childhood friend took up the instrument.

“My next door neighbor played the piano and always had to practice, so instead of going home I’d stay and watch him practice,” Calderazzo said. “I thought it was something I could do too, so at about eight I asked to take piano lessons.”

At the age of 17, Calderazzo got his foot in the door of the music industry by sitting in with New York jazz musicians.

“I would go to jam sessions, or I would have a friend that played with somebody and let me sit in with them,” Calderazzo said. Read more »