The Crescent City's most celebrated jazz family led by the patriarch, Ellis Marsalis, will tour for the first time beginning February 23, 2003. The concerts, to take place in U.S. and Canadian performing art centers, are in support of the eagerly anticipated February 4 album, The Marsalis Family: A Jazz Celebration (Marsalis Music), a PBS special to premiere February 20, and Spring DVD release.
All four multi-media events were inspired by and document the historic August, 2001 New Orleans concert, an occasion that marked Ellis' retirement from teaching duties at the University of New Orleans, and the school's establishment of a chair in his name. Before a packed house in the Kiefer UNO Lakefront Arena, the Marsalis family along with bassist Roland Guerin and a special guest appearance by Harry Connick Jr., were so inspired by each other's presence that, as Delfeayo puts it, the performance “reflected our family collectively and individually."
Branford Marsalis sums up the results by noting that “Everybody came to play the music as well as they possibly could play it." The spirited results, by turns fiercely swinging and deeply lyrical, confirm that the company and the occasion elevated each family member to new levels of eloquence.
MARSALIS FAMILY 2003 TOUR DATES:
February 23 - Ottawa, ONT National Arts Centre
February 24 - Toronto, ONT - Massey Hall
February 25 - Montreal, QC - Wilfrid Pelletier Hall
February 27 - Schenectady, NY - Proctor's
February 28 - Syracuse, NY - Landmark Theatre
March 1 - Newark, NJ - NJPAC
March 2 - Philadelphia, PA - Verizon Hall at the Kimmel Center
March 3 - Boston, MA - Symphony Hall, Celebrity Series
Also available on Marsalis Music: Branford Marsalis Quartet - Footsteps of our Fathers
Marsalis Music is distributed by Rounder Records in the U.S. and Universal Music in Canada. Log onto www.marsalismusic.com for more information.
For more information contact All About Jazz.
