Overview
Biography
Ellis Louis Marsalis Jr. (November 14, 1934 – April 1, 2020) was an American jazz pianist and educator. Active since the late 1940s, Marsalis came to greater attention in the 1980s and 1990s as the patriarch of a musical family, with sons Branford and Wynton rising to international acclaim.
Life and career
Born in New Orleans, Louisiana, Marsalis was the son of Florence (née Robertson) and Ellis Marsalis Sr., a businessman and social activist. Marsalis and his wife Delores Ferdinand had six sons: Branford, Wynton, Ellis III (1964), Delfeayo, Mboya (1971), and Jason. Branford, Wynton, Delfeayo, and Jason also became jazz musicians. Ellis III is a poet, photographer, and network engineer.[citation needed]
Marsalis played saxophone during high school but switched to piano while studying classical music at Dillard University, graduating in 1955. He later attended graduate school at Loyola University New Orleans. In the 1950s and 1960s he worked with Ed Blackwell, Cannonball Adderley, Nat Adderley, and Al Hirt. During the 1970s, he taught at the New Orleans Center for Creative Arts. His students have included Terence Blanchard, Harry Connick Jr., Donald Harrison, Kent Jordan, Marlon Jordan, and Nicholas Payton.
Though he recorded almost twenty of his own albums and was featured on many discs with such musicians as David "Fathead" Newman, Eddie Harris, Marcus Roberts, and Courtney Pine, he shunned the spotlight to focus on teaching. Marsalis's didactic approach, combined with an interest in philosophy, encouraged his students to make discoveries in music on their own, through experiment and very careful listening.
As a leading educator at the New Orleans Center for Creative Arts, the University of New Orleans, and Xavier University of Louisiana, Ellis influenced the careers of countless musicians, as well as his four musician sons: Wynton, Branford, Delfeayo and Jason. Marsalis retired from UNO in 2001. In May 2007, Marsalis received an honorary doctorate from Tulane University for his contributions to jazz and musical education.
Marsalis was inducted into The Louisiana Music Hall of Fame in 2018.
The Ellis Marsalis Center for Music at Musicians' Village in New Orleans is named in his honor. In 2010, The Marsalis Family released a live album titled Music Redeems which was recorded at The John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts in Washington, DC as part of the Duke Ellington Jazz Festival. All proceeds from the sale of the album go directly to the Ellis Marsalis Center for Music.
Marsalis and his sons were group recipients of the 2011 NEA Jazz Masters Award.
Marsalis was a Brother of Phi Beta Sigma Fraternity, Inc., initiated in 1953 at Epsilon Alpha Chapter, Dillard University.
Marsalis was a Brother of Phi Mu Alpha Sinfonia fraternity, initiated into Delta Epsilon Chapter (University of Louisiana-Lafayette) in 1965. In 2015, Phi Mu Alpha Sinfonia announced that Marsalis has been named Sinfonia's 24th Man of Music, the highest honor given by the fraternity to a member, for advancing the cause of music in America through performance, composition or any other musical activity.
On April 1, 2020, Marsalis died at the age of 85 after being hospitalized with COVID-19 symptoms. He had been tested for coronavirus and the results were pending.
