The Calhoun Community College Fine Arts Division is excited to announce famous jazz musician, Jason Marsalis, as its special guest for its ‘New Orleans, Then and Now’ Concert. The event will be held on Thursday, October 27, 7:00 p.m., at the Princess Theatre in Downtown Decatur. This event is FREE and open to the public.
From a young age, it was clear that Jason Marsalis had what it took to be great. Jason is the son of pianist and music educator Ellis Marsalis, and the youngest sibling of Wynton, Branford, and Delfeayo. Together, the four brothers and their patriarch Ellis, comprise New Orleans’s venerable first family of jazz.
At age 6, Marsalis took lessons from legendary New Orleans drummer James Black and later made his recording debut as a teenager on Delfeayo Marsalis’s 1992 release, Pontius Pilate’s Decision. He graduated from the New Orleans Center for Creative Arts (NOCCA) and studied percussion at Loyola University New Orleans. He worked as a sideman in mainstream jazz, funk, and jazz fusion groups, and played Celtic music with Beth Patterson. He introduced percussionist Bill Summers to trumpeter Irvin Mayfield, and they founded Los Hombres Calientes. Marsalis has also played with John Ellis, Dr. Michael White, and the Marsalis family.
Touring all across the country, Marsalis’s professional music career continued to grow. At the age of 21, Marsalis released his first record as leader, The Year of the Drummer. Music writer, Jim Macnie, commented on the record stating, “The debut was impressive, and his quintet put together a highly coordinated spin on blues motifs and Caribbean figures.” Los Angeles Times writer Don Heckman reviewed Marsalis’s second record, the 2000 release, Music in Motion, and described it as “impressive,” “the opportunity to display his technique in everything from brushwork and hard-driving jazz to offbeat meters and Brazilian rhythms…with ease, and purposeful, intelligent drumming.”
In 2011, Marsalis and his brothers Branford, Wynton, Delfeayo, and their father Ellis were named Jazz Masters by the National Endowment for the Arts (NEA).
“We are shaking things up here at the College, and I thought what better way to do that than to bring my long-time friend, Jason, as well as some very special surprise music guests, to put on an amazing concert for the community,” commented Dr. Matt Leder, Calhoun music instructor. “As a new instructor to this program, I am tasked with recruiting new talent for the college’s new showband. I am encouraging all aspiring musicians to attend the 10 am educational music workshop and Q&A session with Jason Marsalis to gain insight into today’s music industry,” added Leder.
‘New Orleans, Then and Now’ is a three- part event that will include the following:
- 10:00 am – educational workshop/Q&A session with Jason Marsalis at the ACA
- 7:00 pm – “New Orleans, Then and Now” concert at the Princess Theatre featuring Jason Marsalis and surprise musical guests (music includes traditional and more modern New Orleans styles)
- After-party jam session immediately following the concert in Downtown Decatur at The Brick. Musicians are encouraged to bring their instrument or voice and join in the musical selections.
This event was made possible by the generous support of the Alabama Center for the Arts Foundation and Calhoun Community College.
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