Branford Marsalis is the new artistic director at New Orleans music center named for his father
Award-winning musician Branford Marsalis is taking on a new job in his hometown of New Orleans
NEW ORLEANS (AP) — Branford Marsalis, the jazz saxophonist and composer acclaimed for his movie scores, Grammy-winning recordings and his stint as the leader of The Tonight Show band, is taking on the role of educator in a return to his hometown of New Orleans.
Marsalis was named Tuesday as the new artistic director for the Ellis Marsalis Center for Music, a donor-supported education and community center and the cornerstone of the Musicians' Village, a Habitat for Humanity housing development that benefited displaced musicians after Hurricane Katrina hit in 2005.
The center is named for Branford's late father, a pianist, teacher and patriarch of an accomplished family of New Orleans musicians that also includes Branford's brother, trumpeter and composer Wynton Marsalis. The elder Marsalis served as the artistic director when the center opened in 2012 until his death in April 2020.
“I didn’t move back to do this. I moved back to move back,” Marsalis, who has lived for years in Durham, North Carolina, said in an interview with The Associated Press ahead of the formal announcement. “This is the icing on the cake.”
