Delfeayo Marsalis

An acclaimed trombonist, composer and producer, New Orleans-born Delfeayo Marsalis has also dedicated his prolific career to music theatre and education. Along with the Marsalis family of musicians including his father Ellis, the artist was destined to a life in music. “I remember my dad playing piano at the house, and me laying underneath the piano as a child, listening to him play,” he recalls. “After briefly trying bass and drums, in sixth grade I gravitated towards the trombone, which was an extension of my personality.” In 2011, the Marsalis family (Ellis, Delfeayo and his brothers Branford, Wynton and Jason) earned the nation’s highest jazz honor – a NEA Jazz Masters Award. As a music producer from the age of 17, Marsalis has produced more than 120 recordings for major artists. He has toured extensively and internationally with jazz legends such as Ray Charles, Art Blakey and Slide Hampton, as well as leading his own groups. he formed the Uptown Jazz Orchestra, which focuses on maintaining important jazz traditions such as riff playing, New Orleans polyphony and spontaneous arrangements. In 2000, Marsalis formed the Uptown Music Theatre. This non-profit empowers youth through musical theatre training. So far he has written 16 musicals based on historical themes and/or uniting the community, composed over 90 songs that help introduce kids to jazz through musical theatre, and reached thousands of students nationally with his Swinging with the Cool School jazz workshops. This Gold Coast Jazz Society performance is titled An Evening with the Delfeayo Marsalis Quintet. More at dmarsalis.com