Jazz pianist —teacher too
Ellis Marsalis admits that sometimes he is too much the teacher.
Certainly when he sits down at a piano keyboard it is easy to see him in that role.
The New Orleans jazz pianist is both musician and teacher since he joined the staff of the New Orleans Centre for Creative Arts 11 years ago. Sometimes, he says, when playing with his quartet he forgets to take off his teacher’s hat.
Perhaps that is understandable, since the three young musicians who make up the quartet have all been Marsalis’ students, either at the centre or privately.
This is more understandable, given Marsalis’ view of teaching. He sees it as a duty, but not an unpleasant one. “I believe people should pass on their talents. In doing that I have learned a lot. I really did not know what teaching was until I got my job 11 years ago. Since then I have been learning how,” he says.
Did he form his quartet 18 months ago with the intention of passing on his talents? “I wanted to mould a group and they (Noel Kendrick, Reginald Veal and Victor Goines) were the best musicians for what I wanted to do. There were other more experienced musicians but ...
"I know sometimes I think about us rather than me. People don’t go to hear a quartet. They go to hear a person, someone they hook on to. Sometimes I have to be a little bit more out front.”
The quartet will play at the Christchurch lswn
Hall this evening as the last concert of a fivenation tour.
Why New Zealand? “My agent organised it. He said ‘You want to do a tour?’ I’ll go anywhere to play. I may not go back ... but that doesn’t apply to New Zealand.” Ask Ellis Marsalis to describe his sort of music and he says, “Bebop, from about 1935 to 1960.”
Other musicians his age are playing another sort of music.
“I say I’m out of step because I don’t like to think everybody else is.” Perhaps it is because of his stated willingness to play all kinds of music.
“Jazz borrows from where it can. I borrow from all sorts of music.”
Among those musicians he listens to are two of his six sons. Branford and Wynton Marsalis have made names for themselves, Wynton as a trumpeter and Branford on saxophone and clarinet. Ellis Marsalis says he did not encourage or discourage their interest in music. He simply made sure once they decided to be musicians they had the best teachers.
He is pleased they are using their talents. His youngest son, Jason, aged nine, has the most natural talent of his children.
“He could sing jazz solos at four. People asked me: ‘Did you make him do that?’ I just say, ‘Have you ever tried to make a four-year-old do anything?’ ”
He insists there is no competition between father and sons.
"What we are doing is quite different. Mine is the seasoning on a meal. They are still building recipes.”
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Press, 24 June 1986, Page 8
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508Jazz pianist—teacher too Press, 24 June 1986, Page 8
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