Jazz Articles

Ellis Marsalis: A New Orleans Christmas Carol

by Dan Bilawsky
November 14, 2011

Christmas music doesn't usually come into stores, radios and homes until Thanksgiving time but, in a year when snow covered the East Coast before Halloween, early arrivals seem to be the norm. Guitarist Doug Munro delivered a Django Reinhardt-styled set of holiday classics on A Very Gypsy Christmas (GotMusic, 2011) in September; pianist Geri Allen tackled songs of the season on A Child Is Born, which hit stores around Columbus Day; and now, 2011 NEA Jazz Master Ellis Marsalis joins ...

Ellis Marsalis: An Open Letter to Thelonious

by Michael P. Gladstone
July 4, 2008

Pianist Ellis Marsalis' An Open Letter to Thelonious is more than just another homage to the mystique and magic of Thelonious Monk's music.

Marsalis is no stranger to the Monk's music, but it is hardly an area of specialty for the patriarch pianist. As a native of New Orleans, he went against stereotype by not specializing in either trad jazz or R&B. Beginning in the late '50s, he played with mainstream players like Ed Blackwell, Cannonball and Nat ...

Ellis Marsalis Quartet: An Open Letter to Thelonious

by Woodrow Wilkins
June 19, 2008

To many, he is the patriarch of America's most celebrated jazz family. But to those who've heard him play, he's a talent not to be overlooked. Ellis Marsalis is one of the most respected among the New Orleans-based jazz artists. A former Marine, he played the circuit in New Orleans before hooking up with Ornette Coleman. Over the years, Marsalis built an extensive resume as musician, professor of music and, of course, father to Wynton, Branford, Ellis III, ...

The Ellis Marsalis Quartet: An Open Letter to Thelonious

by C. Michael Bailey
April 21, 2008

Thelonious Monk is jazz's biggest enigma. Called the “high priest of bebop," the jazz Monk composed and performed was anything but. Technically, Monk's time and tempo were impressive, but he was no dazzling speed wizard like Bud Powell or arpeggio painter like Art Tatum. He didn't compose bebop, but bebop leaders recorded his compositions. What Monk was...was Monk. He was the singular jazz spirit that makes jazz jazz and his songbook the richest in the music.

Monk's compositions, ...