Ellis Marsalis, Jr., grew up in New Orleans when Dixieland music was everywhere.  But he turned instead to the bebop of Charlie Parker and Dexter Gordon, gathering with his friends outside a local album store as soon as the latest discs came out.  The jazz pianist reflects back on a half-century of music, as well as growing up in segregated Louisiana, performing with his famous sons (Wynton Marsalis ring a bell?), and teaching the next generation of jazz greats.

 

Jazz great Ellis Marsalis speaks on a jazz panel on Thursday, March 24, at 7 p.m. at UNLV’s Doc Rando Recital Hall.  The event is put on by UNLV’s Black Mountain Institute.

 

GUEST

Ellis Marsalis, Jr., jazz pianist