Tuesday, September 24, the Ellis Marsalis Center in the 9th Ward Musicians Village opens its fall concert series, dubbed New Orleans Rising and designed to spotlight up-and-coming names in the jazz world. Playing this week will be Jason Marsalis and his Vibes Quartet.
Jason Marsalis
The youngest of the famed Marsalis brothers, Jason studied with legendary New Orleans drummer James Black and showed enough promise to get enlisted in his father Ellis’s band. As a drummer Jason toured extensively with pianist Marcus Roberts and in 1998 was a cofounder of Latin/jazz supergroup Los Hombres Calientes. He also played with vibraphone legend Lionel Hampton, which fuelled Marsalis’ own interest in playing vibes. Beginning with the acclaimed 2008 album Music Update, he switched from drums to vibes full-time, and his quartet now features a fully acoustic lineup of standup bass, piano, vibes and drums. Marsalis performs most Tuesdays at Irvin Mayfield’s Jazz Playhouse on Bourbon Street, playing everything from pop standards to more progressive original compositions.
The Marsalis Center opened in 2011 and fulfilled a dream by Marsalis and Harry Connick Jr. to open a music education and community center within the 9th Ward Musicians’ Village after Katrina; they and manager Ann Marie Wilkins spent years planning with New Orleans Habitat for Humanity to make the center a reality. Marsalis and Connick aimed to make jazz education readily available to young people in the 9th Ward and other disadvantaged communities; it offers performance training, college music scholarships and even homework help, so students can keep grades up while getting musical training. With its state-of-the-art studio and performance space, the Marsalis Center is a focal point of the Musicians’ Village, which occupies eight acres in the Ninth Ward and was built by 70,000 volunteers and donors.
Coming later in the series are vibraphonist James Westfall on October 22; and saxophonist Calvin Johnson November 19. There’ll also be a Nat King Cole tribute by vocalist Philip Manuel on December 10.
Jason Marsalis’ show begins at 6pm at the Marsalis Center, 1901 Bartholomew St. Admission is $3 general or $35 for a reserved seat.
