Jason Marsalis

Jason Marsalis

SatchmoFest 2010
Background information
Born (1977-03-04) March 4, 1977
New Orleans, Louisiana, U.S.
Genres Jazz
Occupation(s) Musician
Instruments Drums, vibraphone
Labels Basin Street
Associated acts Marsalis Family, Los Hombres Calientes, Marcus Roberts
Website www.jasonmarsalis.com

Jason Marsalis (born March 4, 1977) is an American jazz drummer and member of the Marsalis family of musicians. He is the youngest son of Dolores Ferdinand Marsalis and Ellis Marsalis, Jr.

Musical career

Marsalis was born in New Orleans, the son of Dolores (née Ferdinand) and Ellis Louis Marsalis, Jr., a pianist and music professor.[1] His brothers are Branford Marsalis, Wynton Marsalis, Ellis Marsalis III (1964), Delfeayo Marsalis, and Mboya Kinyatta (1971). Branford, Wynton, and Delfeayo are also jazz musicians.

Marsalis studied percussion at Loyola University New Orleans. He worked as a sideman in mainstream jazz, funk, and jazz fusion groups; a Brazilian percussion ensemble (Casa Samba); and a Celtic music group. He introduced percussionist Bill Summers to trumpeter Irvin Mayfield, and they founded Los Hombres Calientes. Marsalis then joined pianist Marcus Roberts. He has also played with John Ellis, Michael White, Shannon Powell, and the Marsalis family. He and his brothers and their father were named NEA Jazz Masters.[2] He is featured in Tradition Is a Temple, a documentary about New Orleans.

In 2009, Marsalis released his first album as a leader on vibraphone, entitled Music Update. The album received 4.5 out of 5 stars in DownBeat magazine. In The New York Times Ben Ratliff said that Marsalis was "an excellent musician trying out something risky without embarrassment."[3]

Selected discography

Jason Marsalis
Photo Hreinn Gudlaugsson
Jason Marsalis, Aarhus, Denmark (2009)
Photo Hreinn Gudlaugsson

As leader

As sideman

References

  1. Stated on Finding Your Roots, PBS, March 25, 2012
  2. National Endowment for the Arts (June 24, 2010). "National Endowment for the Arts Announces the 2011 NEA Jazz Masters". Washington: National Endowment for the Arts. Archived from the original on September 17, 2010. Retrieved July 19, 2010. For the first time in the program's 29-year history, in addition to four individual awards, the NEA will present a group award to the Marsalis family, New Orleans' venerable first family of jazz.
  3. Ratliff, Ben (July 22, 2009). "Offbeat, Nabokovian and West Coast Hip". The New York Times.
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