By Rebekah Danaher
Fans of venerable pianist Ellis Marsalis might not know that
he made his first attempt at jazz music on the tenor saxophone before seriously
pursuing the piano.
Marsalis told a Beloit
audience Thursday of an encounter he had as a lad with accomplished jazz
musicians in a professional jam session. He left the session never to play the
sax again, but he stuck with the piano and is today hailed as the patriarch of
modern jazz.
The New Orleans
musician spoke at the Beloit Public Library - one of several engagements
scheduled for this week and next. Marsalis is a guest of Beloit
College as its Victor E. Ferrall, Jr. Artist-in-Residence.
Marsalis's eldest son Branford -
also a well-known jazz musician - had received an honorary degree from Beloit
College a number of years ago and
Marsalis said he had always planned a visit to Beloit.
“I like cold weather,” he said. “But Wisconsin's
concept of cold weather is colder than I like. So I chose spring.”
Though he never believed in forcing his own children to play
music, Marsalis said he learned early on in his career of the importance of
practice. He also discovered how crucial good teachers are and always sought
the best for his children, an effort that paid off. Four of his six sons -
Branford, Wynton, Delfeayo
and Jason have earned international fame.
Marsalis humored the crowd by telling of one son's
short-lived irreverence for music, recalling an incident when the youngster
“took a trumpet into the lawn and put a fire cracker in it.”
Questions from the audience turned Marsalis's
talk toward the Katrina-ravaged south and the politics surrounding the
hurricane response.
Marsalis refrained from placing any direct blame but
insinuated that Gov. Kathleen Blanco was ill-equipped to handle the
catastrophe.
“She's nice. She'd be good as a mayor of a little town of
10,000 people,” he said.
Though there was some dysfunction at the city level as well,
Marsalis was quicker to defend New Orleans Mayor Ray Nagin,
saying he was the low man in the chain of command.
Marsalis shook his head as he recounted numerous errors made
at all levels of government, not only in response to the hurricane but even
before it arrived.
“A lot of money came down and went this way and that way,”
he said, referring to federal dollars that could have been used to fix the weak
levee system.
Rather than an issue of race, Marsalis said the government's
sluggish reaction to the hurricane appeared to be more a matter of
socioeconomics.
Marsalis reminded listeners that the hurricane affected more
than New Orleans.
“Katrina has taken on a New Orleans
face,” he said. “But there were three states devastated by Katrina.”
Many displaced people will return to New
Orleans, Marsalis believes, but said the legacy of
jazz will have nothing to do with the rebuilding effort.
“Jazz music is supported by the tourist dollar,” he said.
The French Quarter, where the festivities and music is
rooted, was not destroyed, he explained.
The perspective there is “all flowers,” he said.
Meanwhile, the rest of the country recoups what was lost.
Marsalis said he was blessed to have suffered very little,
even during Hurricane Rita that hit his home harder than Katrina.
His son Branford and popular musical artist Harry Connick, Jr. have planned a Musicians' Village in New
Orleans in conjunction with Habitat for Humanity for
those musicians who were left homeless by the storm. And though he's rumored to
be involved with the project, Marsalis jokingly brushed off any credit.
“Someone decided to name it after me,” he said. “That is the
beginning and the end of my involvement with that project.”
Asked what effect the hurricane had on the jazz culture in New
Orleans, Marsalis explained that many musicians
actually live throughout the country and have always come and gone. They will
continue to play in the reviving city, he is certain.
“The musicians will be and do what they've always done,” he
said.
Posted: 4/22/06
Source: Daily News
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