Ellis Marsalis Jr, Legendary Jazz musician has died at 85 from coronavirus complications. The New Orleans pianist and educator died on Wednesday.
His death was announced by Mayor Latoya and Jazz at Lincoln Centre, where his son Wynton is managing and artistic director.
“Ellis Marsalis was a legend. He was the prototype of what we mean when we talk about New Orleans jazz,” Cantrell said in a statement. “He was a teacher, a father, and an icon. And words aren’t sufficient to describe the art, the joy and the wonder he showed the world.”
Ellis Marsalis III, his son confirmed in a press phone interview, that his father’s death died of complications from the virus that is causing the global pandemic.
“Pneumonia was the actual thing that caused his demise,” the younger Marsalis said. He also stated that it was the resultant pneumonia from the coronavirus.
He added that he drove from Baltimore on Sunday to be with his father; as the latter was hospitalized in Louisiana which has been hit hard by the outbreak.
Ellis Louis Marsalis, Jr., was born on Nov. 14, 1934. He graduated from Dillard University in New Orleans with a BA in music education. He also taught at the first full-time public arts high school in New Orleans, the New Orleans Center for Creative Arts.
Marsalis became the guiding force behind a late-20th-century resurgence in jazz. Similarly putting four of his sons on a path to prominent careers.
His music students included Terrence Blanchard, Donald Harrison, Harry Connick, Jr. and four of his sons: Wynton, Branford, Delfayo and Jason Marsalis.