Listen to Alex Rawls’ “An OffBeat Christmas 2011″ playlist on Spotify Once upon a time, everybody cut a Christmas song. Country singers, R&B singers, surf bands and crooners—they along with countless jazz men and novelty artists cut celebrations of Santa, snow and the spirit of the season. These days, Christmas albums aren’t as ubiquitous as [...]
Tag Archives: Jason Marsalis
Tommy Sancton/Lars Edegran New Orleans Legacy Band, City of a Million Dreams (GHB Records)
June 1, 2011 – 12:57 am
Tommy Sancton’s notes to City of a Million Dreams include a photo taken during a performance at Preservation Hall in 1965. Sancton sits alongside his mentor and idol, clarinetist George Lewis. Clive Wilson holds up his trumpet alongside De De Pierce, while Lars Edegran faces his piano in the rear. A host of famous old [...]
Delfeayo Marsalis, Sweet Thunder (Troubadour Jass)
April 1, 2011 – 12:46 am
Duke Ellington composed music covering an extraordinary range of themes. His 12-song suite Such Sweet Thunder is not among his better-known works, but it is a beautiful and thoughtful piece of music that possesses all the coloration, dynamics and swing that Ellington is known for. Delfeayo Marsalis has been fascinated with this work for years [...]
The Marsalis Family, Music Redeems (Marsalis Records)
September 1, 2010 – 12:56 am
The family band has been a cornerstone of the American entertainment industry since the 19th Century, when singing families became the first domestic music stars. There’s something magic about the way blood relatives interact with each other spiritually and instinctively rather than technically. This is even more important in the African-American music tradition, in which [...]
August 2010 Letters
August 1, 2010 – 12:01 am
Sense of History Bravo and congratulations to Jason Marsalis for his frank and insightful piece in the July 2010 issue of OffBeat. His emphasis on the importance of a sense of history and “the jazz tradition” is right on. My only comment would be that, as a member of the generation of Jason’s distinguished father [...]
Marsalis Family Named NEA Jazz Masters
July 2, 2010 – 11:12 am
The Marsalis Family – Ellis, Branford, Wynton, Delfeayo and Jason – are the first family to be named en masse Jazz Masters by the NEA. They’re the first family to receive what has previously been an individual honor; also recognized with 2011 Jazz Masters recognition are Hubert Laws, David Liebman, Johnny Mandel and producer Orrin Keepnews. [...]
The Definition of a Jazz Nerd
July 1, 2010 – 12:09 am
I’ve been lucky to grow up as a privileged musician. I’ve been surround by a considerable amount of information and various influences from different genres of music. As a high school and college student, jazz students I knew were very knowledgeable about music and hungry for even more. Then in the early 2000s, something happened. [...]
YouTube du Jour: Delfeayo Marsalis
May 26, 2010 – 9:47 am
Tonight, Delfeayo Marsalis plays at 8 and 10 at Snug Harbor. Here he is from 2008′s Marsalis Family: A Jazz Celebration, playing “Sultry Serenade” accompanied by father Ellis on piano and brother Jason on drums.
