Vale Ellis Marsalis - Rod Bishop pays tribute to a giant of American music

Ellis Marsalis (1935-2020)

Ellis Marsalis and sons

A couple of days ago, Covid-19 killed New Orleans royalty, the 85-year-old jazz pianist Ellis Marsalis.

Dad to musicians Wynton, Defreayo, Branford and Jason, he held down two shows on Friday nights at the jazz club Snug Harborin Frenchmen Street for over 30 years.

Two years ago, on our second night in New Orleans, we thought we’d gone to heaven. Some red wine, our tables shared with a local and his lovely Seattle relatives and the Ellis Marsalis Quintet playing sublime be-bop and 1960s acoustic jazz.

For the next month, we went to Snug Harbor every chance we had, including Defreayo’s 16-piece Uptown Jazz Orchestra who could hardly fit on the stage. The club holds maybe 100; no way they were playing for the money.

Last night, New Orleans mayor Latoya Cantrill tweeted:“He was the prototype of what we mean when we talk about New Orleans jazz”.

His great influences were Charlie Parker and Thelonious Monk, and apart from his sons, his pupils included Harry Connick Jr and Terence Blanchard.

Said Branford: “My dad was a giant of a musician and teacher, but an even greater father. He poured everything into making us the best of what we could be.”

Ellis Marsalis’s film appearances and soundtrack contributions include Treme, Labou, Chinese Coffee,The Mark of Beauty and He’s Just Not That Into You.