The Marsalis Family News

New Names on Jazz's Honor Roll

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 »

Submitted by Bobby on January 21st, 2011 — 03:14pm

Marsalis family named Jazz Masters

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 »

Submitted by Bobby on January 21st, 2011 — 03:10pm

A Family of Masters

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 »

Submitted by Bobby on January 7th, 2011 — 04:08pm

The Marsalis Family: Music Redeems

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

Anyone who thinks the Misters Marsalis offer no surprises need only hear “Donna Lee,” the opening track on Music Redeems, a straight-ahead concert recording of a family tribute to pianist and patriarch Ellis Marsalis. The track features Ellis, trumpeter Wynton and the youngest scion, Jason, whistling on the theme and an improvised solo. The whistling itself is a great surprise, but even greater is that Jason outdoes Wynton in imagination and unpredictability. It’s an early high point among many on this excellent, if somewhat flawed, album.

Ellis is the star of Music Redeems, both as headliner and player. He has a light touch and equally light rhythm, filling a group arrangement of his original “Syndrome” with delicate dance figures, and a lyrical solo performance of “After” with the gait of a Broadway routine.

Read more »
Submitted by Bobby on January 4th, 2011 — 01:26pm

Ellis Marsalis: Heart of Gold

AAJNY Ellis Marsalis cover imagePublication: 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 »

Submitted by Bobby on January 3rd, 2011 — 01:30pm