Pianist and educator Ellis Marsalis is father to a generation of jazz musicians
by Mike Gibson
Known best through gifted progeny like trumpeter Wynton and saxophonist Branford Marsalis, venerable Ellis Marsalis is a jazz luminary in his own right; sage patriarch of the music's reigning first family; an educator of some renown; a solo recording artist, a former jazz club owner and veteran of the great trumpeter Al Hirt's 1960s big band.
He was also very nearly an instructor in the University of Tennessee music program when, in the late 1980s, department head Jerry Coker contacted the distinguished pianist about accepting a position on the UT faculty.
"Jerry and I talked pretty seriously about the possibility of me coming there," says Marsalis in a recent phone interview.
"One of my sons [Marsalis has six in all] is autistic, though, and it wasn't clear what resources would be available for his care. That was the biggest obstacle in my going to Knoxville."
Both Marsalis and the university found happy alternatives; Coker eventually filled the open faculty position with esteemed pianist/composer Donald Brown, and Marsalis went on to become the first occupant of the Coca-Cola endowed Jazz Chair and Director of Jazz Studies at the University of New Orleans.
Born in New Orleans in 1934, Marsalis studied several instruments at local schools for the performing arts, then earned a Bachelor of Arts in Music Education from Dillard University. He joined the U.S. Marine Corps after college, where he honed his chops as a pianist playing for military radio and television programs.
His decade-spanning career in music would include stints at five different schools and universities, as well as a detour into the world of the free-lance nightclub musician. He retired from teaching in 2001 after 12 years on the UNO faculty, but he remains active as a performer and recording artist.
Besides siring four sons who've made their mark in the music industry—in addition to the aforementioned Wynton and Branford, siblings Delfeayo (a trombonist) and Jason (drummer) are also active jazz performers—the elder Marsalis played mentor throughout his teaching career to several now-notable artists, including trumpet player Terence Blanchard and popular vocalist/pianist Harry Connick, Jr.
"The thing I try to bring to my students is a lot of introspection," says Marsalis, whose resume includes a stint at the New Orleans Center for Creative Arts high school as well as professorships at UNO, Virginia Commonwealth and Xavier of New Orleans.
"If you're truly interested in the development of the student, the subject matter becomes almost ancillary. There's no guarantee they're going to do anything specific with the information you give them. But that doesn't mean they don't take anything away from the experience."
Despite his credentials, Marsalis is still a relative innocent when it comes to many aspects of the music business. As a full-time family man and teacher, he never toured much; even during a three-year stint with bandleader Al Hirt in the 1960s, most of his live performances were scheduled in and around New Orleans.
And though many of the dozen or so recordings he has issued under his own name were released on major label Columbia Records, his more recent work has been issued on his own ELM (Ellis Louis Marsalis) Records imprint. His latest on ELM, The Gig—Live at Snug Harbor, is an eloquent traditional trio offering that also features son Jason on drums.
"I didn't really know the music business before my sons started having success," Marsalis chuckles. "I was like the guy in the Ford factory; I knew how to do my little part, but I didn't know how to build an entire car. I really learned a lot about the industry when they got into it."
At his upcoming Knoxville performance, Marsalis will play selections from his recent ELM releases, including a few of his own compositions, songs like "Syndrome," a swinging contemporary blues, or "Twelve's It," the elegantly nimble opening cut on Snug Harbor. In that single respect, the show at Tennessee Valley Unitarian Universalist Church will be as much as a learning experience for the performer as for the rapt audience.
For though he is truly a master pianist—the finest, most critics say, in jazz-opulent New Orleans—Marsalis says his compositional chops are still very much a work in process, and take a back seat to his excellence as a player and teacher.
"I've never really concentrated my energies on composition," Marsalis says. He adds, laughing, "Mostly, I'm a player. I'm more inclined to the instant gratification that entails."
February 5, 2003 * Vol. 14, No. 6
© 2004 Metro Pulse
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