Marsalis Family

Marsalis Family Among 2011 NEA Jazz Masters

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 »

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

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 »

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.

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 »

A year in review: Great 2010 CDs

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 »

Submitted by Bobby on December 21st, 2010 — 02:51pm

The Marsalis Family: Music Redeems

Publication:  PopMatters
By: Benjamin Aspray
Date: September 9, 2010

Affable humility radiates from Music Redeems, a live recording of the Marsalis family’s performance at the JFK Center in D.C. The whole prodigious clan was there: brothers Wynton, Branford, Delfeayo, and Jason on trumpet, sax, trombone, and drums respectively; patriarch Ellis on piano; and Ellis III doing spoken word. Harry Connick Jr., a long-time family friend, also made an appearance. 

Read more »

Good Works: Marsalis Family Live CD Benefiting New Orleans Education Center

Publication: Billboard
Author: Mitchell Peters
Date: October 16, 2010
 

In June 2009, New Orleans’ Marsalis family of jazz musicians - father Ellis (piano) and sons Branford (saxophone), Wynton (trumpet), Delfeayo (trombone) and Jason (drums) - gathered for a rare, sold-out performance at the Kennedy Center in Washington, D.C.

During the evening, Ellis received the Duke Ellington Jazz Festival’s Lifetime Achievement Award. In addition, the National Endowment for the Arts honored the Marsalis family with a 2011 Jazz Masters Award.

Since the family performs together so infrequently, the artists decided to record the June concert. Months later, Branford listened to the recording and was pleased with what he heard. “I said, ‘Wow, this is pretty good, actually,’ he says. “It was a lot of fun too. Read more »

Submitted by Bobby on October 12th, 2010 — 10:20am

Branford Marsalis talks "Music Redeems" and Party Songs

Publication: Artist Direct
Interviewer: Rick Florino
Date: October 5, 2010

There’s no better gift to dad than bringing the whole family together.

Jazz stalwarts, the Marsalis family, assembled at the Kennedy Center in Washington, D.C. last year to honor dear old dad, Ellis Marsalis. Ellis is a recipient of the Duke Ellington Jazz Festival’s Lifetime Achievement Award, and he’s been integral to the genre since he first picked up an instrument. The Marsalis family sold out the Kennedy Center for the event, and all proceeds were donated to the Ellis Marsalis Center for Music. In addition, team Marsalis recorded the show and released it as Music Redeems.
Read more »