Legendary jazz pianist and Music Family Patriarch Ellis Marsalis, passes away at the age of 85, due to complications caused due to Coronavirus. He reportedly went into the hospital over the weekend with symptoms of pneumonia.
Ellis Louis Marsalis Jr. was born on Nov. 14, 1934. He graduated from Dillard University in New Orleans with a B.A. in music education, and that was the field to which he devoted himself. Apart from being a celebrated musician, the star was very much hailed for his deeds as an educator.
Despite playing with such notable jazz musicians as Cannonball and Nat Adderley, he was most proud of his wonderful students, who included Terence Blanchard, Donald Harrison, Harry Connick Jr. and four of his sons: Wynton, Branford, Delfeayo and Jason Marsalis.
Mayor of New Orleans LaToya Cantrell had confirmed his obituary on her official twitter page. She added a note: "Ellis Marsalis was an icon — and words aren’t sufficient to describe the art, the joy & the wonder he showed the world. May we wrap his family in our love & our gratitude, & may we honor his memory by coming together in spirit— even as the outbreak keeps us apart, for a time."
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