Delfeayo Marsalis

In January at the Blue Note in Manhattan, trombonist/producer/composer Delfeayo Marsalis launches a tour in celebration of his new recording, Minion’s Dominion (Troubadour Jass), a tribute to the late great drummer Elvin Jones. While the recording proved to be one of the last for Jones, the tour is the first for Marsalis’ new quintet, featuring Anthony Wonsey, Mark Shim, David Pulphus and Jeff Fajardo. A long-time member of the Elvin Jones Jazz Machine, Marsalis is one of the most respected producers in jazz. The new recording and new tour provided an opportunity to ask Marsalis not only about his work with Elvin Jones but also about his views on playing and producing.

Delfeayo Marsalis

It was great [to play with Elvin] because everyone else in my band was heavily influenced by his playing. In a situation like that, it forces you to step up to the table in a certain kind of way. The great part of the human spirit is when you are in the midst of something that has potential for greatness; you have to rise to the occasion. And we all understood it was one of his last recordings.

Today a lot of jazz recordings don’t have the same link as the older-sounding records from a production standpoint and secondly are more European-based in sound. We were all excited –when you play with Elvin you know it will be swinging—no question! The European tradition in classical music is a great one, but some of those guys [European-influenced jazz musicians] are trying to use those conventions a lot. I really liked using Branford [on Minions Dominion] because he took ideas from the European tradition and brought in the American aesthetic—particularly using the swing bass.

JP. Minions Dominion was released about four years after it was recorded. Why the delay?
DM. I got my MA degree—that was two of the years! And I was waiting for the right time…..Katrina pushed things back, and I couldn’t come to terms with record labels so we formed this label, Troubadour Jass… and personally and I wanted to be sure everything was presented properly.

JP. Most of the tracks are your compositions. Other than “Brer Rabbit,” are these primarily new works written with this recording in mind? “
DM. “Lone Warrior” I wrote for Elvin, and we had played it for a while…All of these I wrote in the past five years. These were great for Elvin because his playing had so much variety, and we wanted to play music with variety, with swing and that groove element.

JP. You have said that the CD is a tribute to Elvin Jones, but the liner note says it is dedicated to Paul Herbert. Who is Paul Herbert?
DM. He’s a guy I played tennis with in New Orleans, who passed during Hurricane Katrina but not really related to Katrina, he had a heart condition, only 55. He inspired me, some of the things from tennis I used in gigs. When you play a lot, it gets performance-oriented. Paul would always say (regarding tennis), “Be less concerned about performance in a match and more focused on the fundamentals, on the technique of the game.” It’s an interesting correlation with the music. A term we use is “getting house”—that means you start playing something designed to get to the emotions of the audience, a lot of gimmicks. None of the guys here [in the band] do it, but sometimes on gigs with younger guys, you have to tell them to keep the music in focus. Elvin would tell them that. Of course you want to please the crowd!

Delfeayo Marsalis

JP. Tell me about the touring band—is this the first tour with this Quintet?
DM. Yes, this will be the first tour with my new band. The important thing was to find folks who are in tune with the elements of the music that I feel are important—first swing, and second to have and understanding of the complete lineage of the music……. Anthony [Wonsey, piano] played with Nicholas Payton for a number of years and I’ve watched him since he was a student at Berklee. He’s really serious and continually growing—that’s always important. Mark Shim’s on tenor sax—he has recorded his own music for Blue Note. He’s an interesting guy because he prefers the avant-garde and I like to have that element as a balance. So my challenge to him is to fit that sound into the structure of my concept of the music. David Pulphus [bass] is from St. Louis and lived in New Orleans for 15 years. He’s one of those guys who recently has come into his own as far as how he addresses the bass sound and tone. He played with Elvin--I played with Elvin with David and Anthony. Jeff Fejardo [drums] I met recently at Berklee—he’s still a student. He’ll be one of the next young guns, has great sensibility and lights the fire. He understands the lineage of the music. Elvin always tried to find musicians who were serious and had that understanding, and wanted to help them develop….

JP. I read that you started on trombone at 13—was that your first experience with an instrument? What attracted you to the trombone?
DM. Earlier, I dabbled with drums a little and it wasn’t my thing, and then bass, but it hurt my fingers. The trombone was meant for me, it fit my personality. The job of the trombone is to make sure everyone gets along, that the trumpet and sax get along. The trumpet is the lead in a New Orleans band, and the sax’s job is to make the trumpet sound good; and the trombone makes sure both of them sound good. The rhythm section supplies support…..The trombone separates the sax from the trumpet.

JP. Is it like being a middle child?
DM. Yes, so it is perfectly suited to me!

JP. You studied classical trombone for time. Did you ever consider classical performance instead of or in addition to jazz?
DM. No, but I enjoy the sound of classical music, the sound quality still attracts me. I learned from Branford how to use European conventions without losing the American sound. Wynton has that, too--he has recorded it and used to perform [classical music] a long time ago. It’s a beast, the level of commitment it takes [classical performance] is another whole thing.

Delfeayo Marsalis

JP. How has J.J. Johnson influenced your work, and what other trombonists—other musicians—have significantly impacted your style and compositions?
DM. Branford and Wynton. Other than JJ, other trombonists like Al Grey, Tyree Glynn, Jack Teagarden, Tommy Dorsey…I try to look for a unique quality. J.J. being the modern trombone—his clarity of attack has influenced me. Curtis Fuller, his flexibility, he played with so many different groups and different musicians. He was responsible for providing the trombone sound in modern context. J.J. led is own groups so he dictated what he would play, while Curtis would walk into a session and get the music down. We encounter all kinds of things and the point is to be ready--in a musical situation you never know what will have an effect…..

JP. Does your background as a producer impact your work as a performer?
DM. It really does, because the producer has to oversee all of what’s going on, being in tune with audience, the band and the music, and maybe we have to shift gears, we’ll start with one idea and change it up a bit.

JP. Does your experience as a performer influence you as a producer?
DM. Yes, when I hear the musicians—with my background in jazz, I’m thinking about what they are doing individually and collectively, how we can edit together to get best pieces. As a player that helps with the energy level. The two [roles] feed off of each other. I did it in reverse order, most start as players and come back as a producer later, but I was fortunate to have the production skills early on …..

JP. You now have three releases as leader recorded over about a decade. Are you likely to go into the studio more often? You mentioned in an interview last fall for EurWeb that it was time “For my second career, my second life” – is this touring and performing?
DM. When you don’t have a band, it makes no sense to record…. Now I have my own band and my duties with Elvin have ended. I’m looking forward to performing at the Blue Note with David Liebman next week. I have a few tricks up my sleeve!

JP. What’s next after the Midwest tour?
DM. Working on music. My next major tour is in April so it will be good to have some time off to work on recordings—I have a couple of projects to work on….

JP. It’s now been over a year since Hurricane Katrina. Do you think New Orleans will recover to become a jazz center again?
DM. I’m not sure New Orleans really was a jazz center before—more so in name. The musicians that were doing lucrative things were always out of town. Great musicians will still come from New Orleans… it won’t be the same for sure, but it will hopefully for the better.

Delfeayo Marsalis launches his Minions Dominion tour January 2-7 at the Blue Note in New York, followed by gigs throughout the Midwest (Minneapolis, Chicago, Detroit, Indianapolis). Click here for an article about the tour. This interview with the Jazz Police was conducted on December 27, 2006.