The Marsalis Family

Marsalis Family American Family Considered The “first Family Of Jazz ” Who Particularly Brothers Wynton And Branford Had A Major Impact On Jazz In The Late 20th And Early 21st Centuries. The Family Includes Ellis B. November 14 1934 New Orleans Louisiana U.S.—d. April 1 2020 New Orleans And His Sons Branford B. August 26 1960 Breaux Bridge Louisiana Wynton B. October 18 1961 New Orleans Delfeayo B. July 28 1965 New Orleans And Jason B. March 4 1977 New Orleans . Ellis Marsalis Began As A Tenor Saxophonist But Switched To Piano While In High School. After Earning A Music Degree From Dillard University And Serving In The U.S. Marines He Worked For The AFO All-For-One Record Label In The Late 1950s Recorded With Brothers Nat And Julian “Cannonball” Adderley In 1962 And Was Trumpeter Al Hirt’s Pianist During 1967–70. It Was As A Jazz Educator However That He Made His Greatest Mark. In 1974 He Began Teaching At The New Orleans Center For Creative Arts Where His Pupils Included Harry Connick Jr. Terence Blanchard Donald Harrison Nicholas Payton And Kent And Marlon Jordan As Well As His Own Six Sons Four Of Whom Became Celebrated Musicians. The Success Of His Sons Resulted In Ellis’s Attaining Stardom In The 1980s And He Recorded Steadily Thereafter. Wynton Marsalis Was The First Family Member To Achieve National Fame. He Was Given His First Trumpet By Hirt And Studied Both Classical Music And Jazz. Although He Played With Danny Barker’s Fairview Baptist Church Band And Was Featured With The New Orleans Philharmonic At Age 14 His Early Musical Jobs Were Mostly In Rhythm-And-Blues R&B And Funk Bands. He Became Devoted To Jazz While Studying At The Berkshire Music Center And He Later Attended The Juilliard School 1979–81 Where He Was Recognized As Among The Most Gifted Musicians At The Institution. At Age 19 Wynton Joined Art Blakey’s Jazz Messengers In Which He Displayed The Influence Of Trumpeter Freddie Hubbard. He Soon Began Emulating The Sound Of Miles Davis And Toured With Former Davis Sideman Herbie Hancock In 1982–83 Before Rejoining Blakey For A Brief Stint. By Age 20 Wynton Was The Talk Of The Jazz World. His Brilliant Technique His Dedication To Acoustic Jazz Rather Than Fusion Or R&B And His Ability To Excel In Both Jazz And Classical Music Winning Grammy Awards In Both Categories In 1984 Generated Headlines And He Became The Unofficial Leader Of The “Young Lions”—new Players Who Updated The Hard Bop Tradition.
Branford Marsalis Started Out Playing Soprano Alto And Tenor Saxophone Although He Rarely Played Alto After The Late 1980s And Studied Under His Father At The New Orleans Center For Creative Arts He Continued His Studies At Southern University In Baton Rouge Louisiana And At Berklee College Of Music In Boston. In 1980 He Played With The Art Blakey Big Band As Well As With Such Jazz Luminaries As Lionel Hampton And Clark Terry Before Joining Brother Wynton As A Member Of Blakey’s Jazz Messengers In 1981–82. Branford Was A Key Member Of Wynton’s Quintet From 1982 To 1985 During Which Time He Also Recorded With Miles Davis And Dizzy Gillespie And Toured With Herbie Hancock. He Had A Falling-Out With Wynton In 1985 When He Played With Pop Singer Sting’s Band But The Brothers Later Reconciled.
Although Overshadowed By Wynton And Branford Delfeayo Marsalis Carved Out A Significant Career For Himself As A J.J. Johnson-Inspired Trombonist. He Studied Music Producing And Engineering At Berklee College Of Music And Made His Initial Reputation As A Record Producer Starting In 1985. As A Trombonist He Worked With Ray Charles Art Blakey Abdullah Ibrahim And Most Notably Elvin Jones. He Made His Recording Debut As A Leader In 1992 And Began Performing And Recording With His Uptown Jazz Orchestra In 2016.
The Youngest Member Of The Marsalis Family Jason Made A Strong Impression At Age 14 As A Drummer On Delfeayo’s Recordings. Influenced By New Orleans Rhythms And The Drum Work Of Tony Williams Jason Was A Coleader Of The Band Los Hombres Calientes In The Late 1990s And Also Recorded With Marcus Roberts Marcus Printup And His Father. He Formed His Own Quintet In 2001 And In 2009 He Released The First Of Several Well-Received Albums On Which He Played Vibraphones.
All Five Members Of The Marsalis Family Were Named Jazz Masters By The National Endowment For The Arts In 2011. read less