Jazz great Ellis Marsalis Jr dies after fighting coronavirus, says son

The patriarch of the New Orleans musical family died aged 85

Jazz musician Ellis Marsalis Jr died on Wednesday, April 1, after fighting Covid-19. He was 85. Getty Images  

Ellis Marsalis Jr, jazz pianist, teacher and patriarch of a New Orleans musical clan that includes famed performer sons Wynton and Branford, has died after battling pneumonia brought about by the coronavirus.

One of his sons confirmed on Wednesday, April 1 that Marsalia Jr had died aged 85.

Ellis Marsalis III confirmed in a phone interview that his father's death was brought about by the virus that is causing the global pandemic.

"Pneumonia was the actual thing that caused his demise. But it was pneumonia brought on by Covid-19," said the younger Marsalis, speaking of the disease caused by the coronavirus.

He said he drove from Baltimore on Sunday to be with his father as he was hospitalised. He said others in the family also were able to spend time with their father.

Patriarch of a musical family

Four of the jazz patriarch's six sons are musicians: Wynton, the trumpeter, is America's most prominent jazz spokesman as artistic director of Jazz at Lincoln Centre in New York. Branford, the saxophonist, led The Tonight Show band and toured with Sting. Delfeayo, a trombonist, is a prominent recording producer and performer. Jason, the drummer, has made a name for himself with his own band and as an accompanist. Ellis III, who decided music was not his gig, is a photographer-poet in Baltimore.

Said Ellis III: “I was with him in the hospital for six or seven hours yesterday. Branford was with him Monday, I was with him yesterday and Jason was with him today. He passed right after Jason departed.”

New Orleans Mayor LaToya Cantrell announced the musician's death in a sombre news release on Wednesday night. The elder Marsalis had continued to perform regularly in New Orleans until December.

“Ellis Marsalis was a legend. He was the prototype of what we mean when we talk about New Orleans jazz,” Cantrell said in her statement. “He was a teacher, a father, and an icon – and words aren’t sufficient to describe the art, the joy and the wonder he showed the world."

Because Marsalis opted to stay in New Orleans for most of his career, his reputation was limited until his sons became famous and brought him the spotlight, along with new recording contracts and headliner performances on television and on tour.

The Marsalis "family band" seldom played together when the boys were younger, but in 2003 toured in a spinoff of a family celebration that became a PBS special when the elder Marsalis retired from teaching at the University of New Orleans.

Harry Connick Jr, one of Marsalis's students at the New Orleans Centre for the Creative Arts, was a guest. He is just one of the many now-famous jazz musicians who passed through the Marsalis classrooms; others include trumpeters Nicholas Payton and Terence Blanchard, saxophonists Donald Harrison and Victor Goines, and bassist Reginald Veal.

Marsalis's wife, Dolores, died in 2017. He is survived by his sons.