Ellis L. Marsalis, Jr.

Ellis Marsalis Jr., a Dillard University pianist and teacher, was the patriarch of a New Orleans jazz family and a professor who trained a generation of players. His own recordings and his sons’ careers made the Marsalis name synonymous with modern jazz.

• Pianist, educator, and longtime New Orleans jazz mentor.
• Faculty leader at the New Orleans Center for Creative Arts and the University of New Orleans.
• Inducted into the National Black College Alumni Hall of Fame in 2020.