RIP Ellis Marsalis

[MathOfInsects]

COVID-19 takes another.

[MAJUSCULE]

RIP Maestro :(

 

Was lucky enough to catch a quintet set at Snug Harbor back in 2017 and shake his hand on the way out. A giant has left us.

[ElmerJFudd]

This is surely sad news.

[Rusty Mike]

Just heard about it from my piano teacher. This one hurts.

 

Ellis is/was one my favorite pianists. He brought an elegance to jazz piano like nobody else. I was also lucky enough to catch him at Snug Harbor in 2015. Got a selfie and he autographed a CD for me.

 

Beyond being an amazing player, he was incredibly passionate about teaching and nurturing other musicians. He will certainly live on in the hearts of those he touched.

 

Very sad indeed.

[Joe Muscara]

Every time I was in NOLA, I missed him because we were not in town the nights he was playing. I didn't even know he stopped doing the Snug Harbor gig in January. I was hoping to catch him at some point.

[ElmerJFudd]

Nice piece done on him by NPR for his 80th birthday...

 

[video:youtube]

[Josh Paxton]

Dammit. This one hurts a lot.

 

I was lucky enough to be one of those who got to learn from him directly. In fact he was the reason I moved to New Orleans. I was finishing up my undergrad jazz degree, didn't think I was a good enough player to make a living at it yet, and decided to start looking into grad programs (which were uncommon at the time). One of my instructors offhandedly mentioned that he heard Ellis Marsalis was starting one in New Orleans. So I looked into it, auditioned, and to my immense surprise was accepted. And thus the course of my life changed rather drastically.

 

So for four semesters I had weekly piano lessons with him. People are often surprised when I say that during those lessons he showed me very little. What he did instead was to guide me toward working things out on my own, which of course turned out to be much more valuable. He expected a lot of his students, he could be blunt with his critiques, and he tolerated no "shuckin' and jivin'" (a favorite phrase of his, which I later used as the title of a tune). But it was all coming from a place of love for the music and wanting his students to be the best they could be.

 

One of the big things he talked about was the parallels between music and language. He likened learning jazz, or any form of music, to learning a new language. You start by learning individual words and simple phrases, and gradually you build up a vocabulary and learn to use it to express your own ideas in your own words. But throughout the process, whatever you say will be greatly influenced by what you listen to. And the "official" rules of the language will end up having far less of an impact on you than the specific voices you're exposed to every day â be it your parents, aunts and uncles, neighbors, cousins, grandma, and whoever else may be in the picture on a regular basis. The same is true with music, and so he never stopped stressing the importance of constantly listening to whatever it was you eventually hoped to sound like.

 

And he had a really interesting theory about jazz and trains, of all things. His postulated that a particular swing feel, from what we now call the "swing era," was directly tied into the rhythmic chugging of trains. During that era train travel was a large part of the everyday lives of a lot of people. But as it became less common, the commonly-practiced feel of swing changed and never went back.

 

His death is especially difficult for a lot of us because in addition to everything else he was, he also ended up truly being the last of a generation of New Orleans piano giants. We've lost so many in recent years â Dr. John, Art Neville, Fats Domino, Allen Toussaint, Henry Butler, Eddie Bo a few years before that. I heard a quote a little while ago that really stuck with me. It said, "Eventually you get to the point where all your heroes and mentors are gone, and all that's left is the person you are because of them." For New Orleans pianists, that's becoming ever more true astoundingly quickly.

[George88]

Condolences, Josh. I was a fan and can only imagine how you must feel. Sounds like you had a wonderful, life-changing experience studying with Ellis. No doubt he touched and inspired many like you. Thanks for sharing with us here.

[Joe Muscara]

I don't know how I forgot your connection to him, Josh, as I knew that you went to New Orleans because of his program there. I guess there's just been too much going on with all of this to keep on top of it. I'm sorry for your loss and I'm glad you got to have those experiences with him and that you're keeping the flame alive.

[BluesKeys]

So sorry for your loss Josh. I cannot imagine what he meant to you and your career!

[jeffincltnc]

I'm unbelievably grateful for having spent a morning with him, a cup of coffee and a long talk about jazz. My company held an event in New Orleans in 2016 and raised a very nice contribution for the Ellis Marsalis Music Center and Musicians Village, which was established by Ellis Marsalis, Branford Marsalis and Harry Connick, Jr. with Habitat for Humanity in 2006 following the destruction of the 9th Ward of New Orleans after Hurricane Katrina. We contributed to the construction of 72 homes for displaced jazz musicians, a music education & performance center, and instruments for children who could not afford them.

 

I was responsible for running this meeting for about 300 people in my company and he expressed his gratitude by spending the morning performing for us.

[Rusty Mike]

Josh, thank you for sharing your thoughts about this wonderful man. The rest of us only know him from a distance, and you've helped bring him a bit closer to us.

[Chris Link]

Had the pleasure of seeing him at Snug Harbor last fall. He was pretty frail and moved pretty slowly, but could still play. A sad day.

[zephonic]

RIP Ellis Marsalis

[David Emm]

This one pains me more than usual. The name Marsalis has always meant fluid, heartfelt playing that grabbed even my old prog ears, many years ago. Once the opening round of Covid has been addressed, I dearly hope for a vaccine that can prevent this. This family was part of the reason I came to more fully appreciate jazz. Bowed heads all around on this one.

[Legatoboy]

RIP Ellis . . .

[3rdAct]

Nice interview with Wynton Marsalis starting about 9 minutes into this 60 minutes story. He talks about losing his dad and the impact of the Coronavirus.