The Marsalis Family

Publication: The Wall Street Journal
Author: Larry Blumenfeld
Date: September 23, 2010

A trumpeter squared his shoulders, issued short rhythmic bursts based on one note, and then built a crowd-pleasing yet complex solo. A drummer mined a flexible groove, sharing a glance now and then—locking in—with a pianist whose harmonic shifts urged along the song. The three musicians bore a striking resemblance to one another. No coincidence: The trumpeter and drummer were Adam and Zachary O’Farrill, 15 and 18 years old, respectively. The pianist was their dad, Arturo O’Farrill, whose distinctions at age 50 include directing the Afro Latin Jazz Orchestra.
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Publication: The Gig
Author: Nate Chinen
Date: August 26, 2010

You read that headline correctly: saxophonist Branford Marsalis was born half a century ago today. Some of us will want a minute to absorb that information. Take one if you need it.

Branford has a new album out this week with the Marsalis Family, which is naturally part of his claim to fame. That’s not what I want to talk about here, though. I’d like to talk about the specific achievements of Ellis’ eldest son: as a saxophonist, as a bandleader, and as a public figure besides. (Forgive me, folks, this may get a little personal.)

To view this blog entry in full, please click HERE!

Yesterday, we released The Marsalis Family’s brand new album Music Redeems.

100% of proceeds from the sale of this album go to programming at the Ellis Marsalis Center for Music; the heart the of NOLA Musicians’ Village.

For more information on the village, please visit the official website at NOLAMusiciansVillage.org. We thank you for your support.

By: Geraldine Wyckoff, Contributing Writer
The Louisiana Weekly
Monday, August 23, 2010

Intellectually, we are, of course, aware that the Marsalis family is chocked full of hugely talented musicians. Nonethe­less, when the emcee of this concert introduces each one of them by name — saxophonist Branford, trumpeter Wynton, trombonist Delfeayo, drummer/vibest Jason (in their birth order) and finally patriarch “maestro” Ellis Marsalis, one can’t help but marvel. Later, photographer/writer Ellis Marsalis III adds his voice to the mix.
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Publication: USA Today
Author: Steve Jones
Date: August 20, 2010

The Marsalis family rarely plays together, but the brothers seized the opportunity to do so last summer in honor of 75-year-old patriarch/pianist Ellis Marsalis. All proceeds from a new jazz album capturing that exuberant event will help fund educational programming at a community center bearing his name in the Musicians’ Village in New Orleans.
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Publication: The Buffalo News
Author: Jeff Simon
Date: August 8, 2010

The Marsalis Family, “Music Redeems” (Marsalis Music, on sale by Aug. 24). Irresistible. Consummate jazz show business recorded in concert at the Kennedy Center, from the opening salvo, family drummer Jason whistling, trading four-bar phrases with trumpet player Wynton and then merging with him on Charlie Parker’s “Donna Lee” before family patriarch Ellis — arguably the greatest father in jazz history — takes the kind of solo a pianist has to take when he’s in the company of musicians as fine as his sons.
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Date: 06/24/2010
Publication: The Times-Picayune
Author: Keith Spera

Marsalis Music, the record label founded by saxophonist Branford Marsalis, will release a live album featuring his family on August 24.Branford Marsalis

“Music Redeems” was recorded at the Kennedy Center in Washington D.C. in June 2009 when patriarch and pianist Ellis Marsalis received the Duke Ellington Jazz Festival’s Lifetime Achievement Award. Read more »

Date: 09.25.2009
Publication: Daily News Headlines

Combined generations of the Marsalis family will release their Music Redeems (Marsalis Music) on Aug. 24. The CD is a recording of the family’s performance at the Kennedy Center in Washington, D.C., last year when patriarch Ellis Marsalis received the Duke Ellington Jazz Festival’s Lifetime Achievement Award. Proceeds from the disc’s sales will benefit the Ellis Marsalis Center For Music In New Orleans. Read more »

Date: 07.16.2007
Publication: Marsalis Music

Since the release of The Marsalis Family: A Jazz Celebration in 2003 members of the Marsalis Family have been hard at work pursuing divergent but equally intriguing musical endeavors. In 2005 Ellis Marsalis, the patriarch of the family released An Evening with the Ellis Marsalis Quartet on ELM Records, a label he is developing with his wife, Dolores, and son Jason.

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Date: 08.05.2003
Publication: Marsalis Music

“For the past 20 years, the name Marsalis has been synonymous with jazz.”
Steve Jones, USA Today

“Form meets tradition, creativity trumps familiarity and blood runs thicker than water on this concert commemorating the ‘debut’ of the multitalented Marsalis family band.”
Fred Bouchard, Down Beat

“Ellis Marsalis – pianist, jazz educator, sire of champions…”
Doug Ramsey, JazzTimes
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