Ellis Marsalis R.I.P. (COVID-19 victim)

[ghost of miles]

Via WDSU-New Orleans.  Hearing from a non-journalistic source that it was of COVID-19 complications.  Here's a statement from the mayor of New Orleans.

Edited April 2, 2020 by ghost of miles

[Brad]

Wow! What a shame. RIP. 

[ghost of miles]

This may or may not pop up as a sort of interesting footnote in forthcoming Ellis obits, but didn't he play with Ornette for awhile in the 1950s?

[Hardbopjazz]

This is getting to be too surreal. 
R.I.P., Ellis. Thoughts with the Marsalis family.

[chewy-chew-chew-bean-benitez]

RIP

[GA Russell]

RIP Ellis Marsalis!

My second jazz concert was a Roland Kirk jam session in which both Ellis and his buddy Alvin Batiste participated.  I think 1967.  I think he was a member of Al Hirt's band at the time.

This was an afternoon show in a parish gymnasium.  There were little kids running around, so I've wondered if two of them were Branford and Wynton.

[B. Goren.]

RIP Mr. Marsalis.

[soulpope]

R.I.P .... 

[danasgoodstuff]

RIP

[clifford_thornton]

14 hours ago, ghost of miles said:

This may or may not pop up as a sort of interesting footnote in forthcoming Ellis obits, but didn't he play with Ornette for awhile in the 1950s?

I believe so?

Sad news. I had read that he'd been ailing since late last year. Either way, awful news. RIP.

[ghost of miles]

From Wynton Marsalis’ Facebook page:

My daddy passed away last night. We now join the worldwide family who are mourning grandfathers and grandmothers, mothers and fathers, sisters and brothers— kinfolk, friends, neighbors, colleagues, acquaintances and others.

What can one possibly say about loss in a time when there are many people losing folks that mean so much to them? One of my friends lost both her mother AND father just last week. We all grieve and experience things differently, and I’m sure each of my five brothers are feeling and dealing in their own way.

My daddy was a humble man with a lyrical sound that captured the spirit of place--New Orleans, the Crescent City, The Big Easy, the Curve. He was a stone-cold believer without extravagant tastes.
Like many parents, he sacrificed for us and made so much possible. Not only material things, but things of substance and beauty like the ability to hear complicated music and to read books; to see and to contemplate art; to be philosophical and kind, but to also understand that a time and place may require a pugilistic-minded expression of ignorance.

His example for all of us who were his students (a big extended family from everywhere), showed us to be patient and to want to learn and to respect teaching and thinking and to embrace the joy of seriousness. He taught us that you could be conscious and stand your ground with an opinion rooted ‘in something’ even if it was overwhelmingly unfashionable. And that if it mattered to someone, it mattered.

I haven’t cried because the pain is so deep....it doesn’t even hurt. He was absolutely my man. He knew how much I loved him, and I knew he loved me (though he was not given to any type of demonstrative expression of it). As a boy, I followed him on so many underpopulated gigs in unglamorous places, and there, in the passing years, learned what it meant to believe in the substance of a fundamental idea whose only verification was your belief.

I only ever wanted to do better things to impress HIM. He was my North Star and the only opinion that really deep down mattered to me was his because I grew up seeing how much he struggled and sacrificed to represent and teach vital human values that floated far above the stifling segregation and prejudice that defined his youth but, strangely enough, also imbued his art with an even more pungent and biting accuracy.

But for all of that, I guess he was like all of us; he did the best he could, did great things, had blind spots and made mistakes, fought with his spouse, had problems paying bills, worried about his kids and other people’s, rooted for losing teams, loved gumbo and red beans, and my momma’s pecan pie. But unlike a healthy portion of us, he really didn’t complain about stuff. No matter how bad it was.

A most fair-minded, large-spirited, generous, philanthropic (with whatever he had), open-minded person is gone. Ironically, when we spoke just 5 or 6 days ago about this precarious moment in the world and the many warnings he received ‘to be careful, because it wasn’t his time to pass from COVID’, he told me,” Man, I don’t determine the time. A lot of people are losing loved ones. Yours will be no more painful or significant than anybody else’s”.
That was him, “in a nutshell”, (as he would say before talking for another 15 minutes without pause).

In that conversation, we didn’t know that we were prophesying. But he went out soon after as he lived—-without complaint or complication. The nurse asked him, “Are you breathing ok?” as the oxygen was being steadily increased from 3 to 8, to too late, he replied, ”Yeah. I’m fine.”

For me, there is no sorrow only joy.  He went on down the Good Kings Highway as was his way, a jazz man, “with grace and gratitude.”
And I am grateful to have known him.

- Wynton

[Kevin Bresnahan]

RIP to a wonderful pianist. I was glad to have been able to support his last recording. It was recorded at his 80th birthday and he sounded a lot younger.

Here's a picture from one of his last swings through the Boston area.

[Justin V]

With all of the passion on both sides of the Wynton debate, I think that Ellis has been lost in the shuffle a bit.  That is a shame.  From what I've heard, he was an elegant pianist with touch to spare.  Thank you for the music, Mr. Marsalis, and rest in peace. 

[sidewinder]

May he RIP. Always enjoyed his playing on ‘Fathers and Sons’.

[Peter Friedman]

I like these three albums by Ellis Marsalis. Will pull one to play later today or tomorrow.

[gmonahan]

No matter where one stands on them, the family he sired, taught, and encouraged has had a formidable impact on America's greatest art form. And he was a fine pianist.  RIP.

 

 

 

gregmo

[JSngry]

 

[duaneiac]

Sad news.  I've enjoyed this CD and this track in particular:

Rest in Peace, Mr. Marsalis and may comfort and courage be with your family at this time.

[BFrank]

12 hours ago, ghost of miles said:

From Wynton Marsalis’ Facebook page:

My daddy passed away last night. We now join the worldwide family who are mourning grandfathers and grandmothers, mothers and fathers, sisters and brothers— kinfolk, friends, neighbors, colleagues, acquaintances and others.

What can one possibly say about loss in a time when there are many people losing folks that mean so much to them? One of my friends lost both her mother AND father just last week. We all grieve and experience things differently, and I’m sure each of my five brothers are feeling and dealing in their own way.

My daddy was a humble man with a lyrical sound that captured the spirit of place--New Orleans, the Crescent City, The Big Easy, the Curve. He was a stone-cold believer without extravagant tastes.
Like many parents, he sacrificed for us and made so much possible. Not only material things, but things of substance and beauty like the ability to hear complicated music and to read books; to see and to contemplate art; to be philosophical and kind, but to also understand that a time and place may require a pugilistic-minded expression of ignorance.

His example for all of us who were his students (a big extended family from everywhere), showed us to be patient and to want to learn and to respect teaching and thinking and to embrace the joy of seriousness. He taught us that you could be conscious and stand your ground with an opinion rooted ‘in something’ even if it was overwhelmingly unfashionable. And that if it mattered to someone, it mattered.

I haven’t cried because the pain is so deep....it doesn’t even hurt. He was absolutely my man. He knew how much I loved him, and I knew he loved me (though he was not given to any type of demonstrative expression of it). As a boy, I followed him on so many underpopulated gigs in unglamorous places, and there, in the passing years, learned what it meant to believe in the substance of a fundamental idea whose only verification was your belief.

I only ever wanted to do better things to impress HIM. He was my North Star and the only opinion that really deep down mattered to me was his because I grew up seeing how much he struggled and sacrificed to represent and teach vital human values that floated far above the stifling segregation and prejudice that defined his youth but, strangely enough, also imbued his art with an even more pungent and biting accuracy.

But for all of that, I guess he was like all of us; he did the best he could, did great things, had blind spots and made mistakes, fought with his spouse, had problems paying bills, worried about his kids and other people’s, rooted for losing teams, loved gumbo and red beans, and my momma’s pecan pie. But unlike a healthy portion of us, he really didn’t complain about stuff. No matter how bad it was.

A most fair-minded, large-spirited, generous, philanthropic (with whatever he had), open-minded person is gone. Ironically, when we spoke just 5 or 6 days ago about this precarious moment in the world and the many warnings he received ‘to be careful, because it wasn’t his time to pass from COVID’, he told me,” Man, I don’t determine the time. A lot of people are losing loved ones. Yours will be no more painful or significant than anybody else’s”.
That was him, “in a nutshell”, (as he would say before talking for another 15 minutes without pause).

In that conversation, we didn’t know that we were prophesying. But he went out soon after as he lived—-without complaint or complication. The nurse asked him, “Are you breathing ok?” as the oxygen was being steadily increased from 3 to 8, to too late, he replied, ”Yeah. I’m fine.”

For me, there is no sorrow only joy.  He went on down the Good Kings Highway as was his way, a jazz man, “with grace and gratitude.”
And I am grateful to have known him.

- Wynton

I thought this tribute by Wynton was very interesting. Not what I was expecting when I started reading it.

[ep1str0phy]

3 hours ago, BFrank said:

I thought this tribute by Wynton was very interesting. Not what I was expecting when I started reading it.

Speaking only for myself, there's no right or wrong way to mourn, but if there's any universal truth that I subscribe to in matters of bereavement, it's that loss makes family of us all.

This takes me back a couple of months to when Kobe Bryant passed away. I'm a Bay Area guy now but I grew up (mostly) in LA, so things like LA basketball are part of my blood. All I can remember was that for at least a couple of weeks, the Clippers-Lakers beef was subsumed under this macrocosmic feeling of extreme grief. I think that the world--and not just America and not just California and not just the jazz world--can share a bit in that feeling today.

Not that my opinion really matters here, but I think Wynton's words are heartfelt and beautiful in their own (profoundly sad) way. The neocon v. progressive jazz wars were this huge, consuming phenomenon that dictated so much of how people came to interface with this music in the past several decades. I don't think it's unfair to say that there are many who would have staked their "lives" on their allegiance to one faction or another. As serious as your life and all that. 

This thing that's happening in the world right now is literally as serious as your life, and whatever previously separated the Marsalises from the avant folks seems so, so small right now.

I don't want to co-opt this memorial thread to ramble, but we're experiencing a kind of doomsday in jazz's cultural habitus--all of the in-person gigs canceled, the culture of group performance put on hold, our elders more imperiled than ever--and, again speaking only for myself, we've had to adjust super fast. I've found myself caring less about ideological schisms and more about, well, people.

I'm using this as an opportunity to celebrate lives, careers, and contributions like Ellis's that I might not have interfaced with on any deep level before now. I've returned to the American Jazz Quintet material--with all four of those core guys now gone--and found music full of life. That's really more than enough right now. 

 

[mikeweil]

On 2.4.2020 at 11:44 PM, JSngry said:

 

I love that album, too. What a loss ....... R.I.P.