New Orleans’ first family of jazz, including UNO professor emeritus Ellis Marsalis and UNO adjunct professors Delfeayo and Jason Marsalis, was honored by the National Endowment for the Arts at the annual Jazz Masters awards in New York City.
The Marsalises became the first family of honorees in the history of the awards. The ceremony took place Tuesday, January 11 at Rose Hall at Jazz at Lincoln Center. The members of the Marsalis family, father Ellis and sons Wynton, Branford, Delfeayo and Jason, were among the 2011 class of Jazz Masters along with Hubert Laws, David Liebman, Johnny Mandel and Orrin Keepnews. Each of the inductees was introduced by an NEA Jazz Master from a previous year.
Each year since 1982, the Arts Endowment has conferred the NEA Jazz Masters Award to living legends who have made major contributions to jazz. Including the 2011 class, 119 awards have been given to great figures in American jazz.