January 5, 2007

A full step into the spotlight--Delfeayo Marsalis reaches a turning point
By Howard Reich, Chicago Tribune, Arts Critic

For roughly two decades, the name "Marsalis" practically has been synonymous with jazz, thanks to the work of trumpeter Wynton and saxophonist Branford, his elder brother.

But there's another Marsalis who may be on the verge of attaining wide recognition: trombonist Delfeayo (pronounced DEL-fee-oh).

Though not the youngest musician in the family (that would be another brother, drummer Jason), Delfeayo Marsalis ranks among the more accomplished jazz instrumentalists today--even if the general public hardly knows it. Having spent much of his career in a glass booth--thriving as a producer of recordings by his elder brothers and others--the younger Marsalis hasn't received a fraction of the attention he deserves as a virtuoso trombonist.

But that may be changing.

With the radiant new recording "Minions Dominion" (Troubadour Jass) to his credit and a national tour that brings him to HotHouse on Thursday, Marsalis finally is stepping wholly into the spotlight.

"I think this is the turning point," says Marsalis, speaking from his home in New Orleans. "The first 10 or 12 years of my career were dedicated to Branford, and the eight years after that to Wynton, and I learned a tremendous amount.

"Now I'm ready to deal with it."

The evidence rings out from every track of "Minions Dominion" Marsalis' most self-assured recording to date. Granted, his discography is slender. Having launched his recording career as bandleader with "Pontius Pilate's Decision" in 1992 and followed it with "Musashi" in 1997, Marsalis has been silent for nearly a decade--at least as a featured recording artist.

With "Minions Dominion" he comes out swinging, offering sleekly arranged original compositions--as well as a couple of standards--featuring such estimable players as brother Branford, New Orleanian saxophonist Donald Harrison, veteran pianist Mulgrew Miller and drum legend Elvin Jones.

Granted, none of the cuts pushes into innovative territory, nor was any designed to. On the contrary, Marsalis regards "Minions Dominion" as a reaffirmation of his back-to-the-roots musical philosophy. Uninterested in inventing new jazz languages, he prefers to refine the eternal, all-American verities of the music, placing particular emphasis on swing rhythm and robust-but-accessible solos.

"With the European influence on the music these days, there are not as many guys that are really dedicated to swinging," says Marsalis.

"Now the guys who want to create this new sound and have this new music, that's great.

"But I much would prefer to bring new elements to that basic American sound. I'm not trying to create a hybrid new music. ...

"Straight ahead--that's where I'm coming from."

Even so, neither "Minions Dominion" nor the concerts Marsalis has played over the years have looked longingly toward the past. As he suggests, Marsalis has been applying his distinctive voice to long-standing jazz traditions. At its best, this music echoes facets of New Orleans music (with its buoyant rhythms and blues-based harmony), yet makes the proceedings sound freshly current.

Marsalis can't say exactly why he's transitioning from producing to performing, but his father, the noted jazz pianist Ellis Marsalis, has a theory.

"When people get to be 40, they have to make certain decisions--40 is like a turning point," says Ellis Marsalis, observing that the fourth of his six sons passed the milestone in July, 2005.

"I feel happy about the direction Delfeayo is going in," adds Ellis Marsalis.

"Before, it never occurred to me to wonder: What would it be like to have two brothers ahead of you, Wynton and Branford, playing jazz, and then you're trying to play jazz, too?"

The implication, clearly, is that it could not have been easy following in the wake of elder brothers who have become internationally admired artists, as well as somewhat controversial figures (though the Marsalis family revivified interest in jazz in the 1980s, some observers have complained that they clung too closely to jazz tradition, at the expense of innovation). Despite the fame that attends his brothers' work, Delfeayo finally has decided to perform and record virtually full-time, facing inevitable comparisons.

He was encouraged, he says, by the model of drummer Elvin Jones (whom he toured with for years), who died in 2004 at age 76--a couple of years after "Minions Dominion" was recorded. That makes the belatedly released CD more than a landmark for Marsalis--it is also a salute to a fallen master.

"I look at Elvin like a father or a grandfather figure," says Marsalis, "the kind of guy that you have a certain reverence for. And you want to let folks know that this was a great man. ...

"And that sound of his, it changes you," adds Marsalis, referring to the great sweep and epic scope of Jones' work, which redefined jazz drumming during the past several decades.
Though Marsalis has performed periodically during his years as a producer, the recent heightening of his public profile has generated mostly positive response.

The New York Times has cited the "aching restraint" of his ballad playing, while the New Orleans Times-Picayune has applauded his ongoing work as a coach-mentor for young Crescent City musicians.

As for the perilous state of his hometown in the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina, Marsalis sounds committed to a city that he knows is still fighting for its life.

"I don't know what's going to happen, but I'm here, working on an after-school program" for kids, says Marsalis, who briefly lived in New York in the late 1990s but has spent most of his 41 years in America's first city of jazz.

"I'll be down here in the trenches. ...

"I think there's a need for what I've been offering in New Orleans, and I'm glad to be home."

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