Ellis Marsalis Jr., the jazz pianist, teacher and patriarch of a New Orleans musical clan, died late Wednesday from pneumonia brought on by the new coronavirus, leaving six sons and a deep legacy.
Four of the jazz patriarch's six sons are musicians: Wynton, a Pulitzer- and Grammy-winning trumpeter, is America's most prominent jazz spokesman as artistic director of jazz at New York's Lincoln Center.
Branford, a saxophonist, has won three Grammies, led The
Tonight Show band and toured with Sting.