Jazzman Ellis Marsalis, the patriarch of a family of big names in jazz, died Wednesday at the age of 85 after contracting the coronavirus, his son Branford announced to The New York Times. The pianist and teacher, who has appeared on dozens of albums over a decades-long career, is the father of trumpeter Wynton and saxophonist Branford Marsalis.
“It is with great sadness that I announce the death of my father, Ellis Marsalis Jr., as a result of complications from the coronavirus,” said his son Branford said in a statement on his website, adding that he had been hospitalized on Saturday. “My father was a giant in music and education, but an even bigger father,” said Branfor Marsalis. He put everything he had to allow us to develop the best of ourselves. “
Wynton Marsalis posted photos of himself on Twitter with his father saying: “Ellis Marsalis, 1934 – 2020. He died as he lived: accepting reality”.
Born in New Orleans, the center of the jazz world, in November 1934, Ellis recorded with Cannonball and Nat Adderley, Marcus Roberts and Courtney Pine. Alongside with being a “giant” jazzman, the patriarch of the Marsalis family was the mentor for his sons, Wynton and Branford, who became two of the most famous jazz musicians, he got involved in the New Orleans Center for Creative Arts, the University of New Orleans, and Xavier University of Louisiana.
The New York Jazz club at Lincoln Center, of which Wynton is artistic director, declared “to say goodbye, with sadness and a heavy heart to Ellis Marsalis, one of the most famous artists and music teachers of his time and of all time “.
