Renowned jazz patriarch Ellis Marsalis is regarded by many as the premiere modern jazz pianist in New Orleans. Coming of musical age in the 1950s and 1960s, Ellis developed a lean and commanding approach to the piano trio and helped create a modern movement in New Orleans with his collective American Jazz Quintet and his own Quartet while also educating the next generation of jazz: Terence Blanchard, Donald Harrison, Nicholas Payton, Harry Connick Jr., Peter Cincotti, and, of course, all those Marsalis brothers. In 2011, Ellis and his sons were honored collectively with an NEA Jazz Master Award.
Start off the season with the warm tones of Ellis's holiday classics from his 2011 release, A New Orleans Christmas Carol.
"For the past 20 years, the name Marsalis has been synonymous with jazz." - USA Today
