He is a member of the Marsalis family of jazz musicians: father Ellis Marsalis, Jr. (piano), and brothers Branford Marsalis (saxophone), Wynton Marsalis (trumpet), and Jason Marsalis (drum set). Delfeayo has two brothers who are not musicians, thus there is not as much mention about them in the media: Ellis Marsalis III (1964) is a poet, photographer and computer networking specialist based in Baltimore. Mboya Kenyatta (1970) is autistic and was the primary inspiration for Delfeayo's founding of the New Orleans based Uptown Music Theatre. Formed in 2000, UMT has trained over 300 youth and staged 8 original musicals, all of which are based upon the mission of "community unity."

While a gifted trombonist whom critics have termed "the most original modern voice of his generation, Delfeayo has recorded relatively few albums and is both more prolific and better known for his work as a producer of acoustic jazz recordings. Along with current "Tonight Show" engineer Patrick Smith, Delfeayo coined a phrase that was primarily responsible for the shift in jazz recordings from rock and roll production to the resurgence of acoustic recording. "To obtain more wood sound from the bass, this album recorded without usage of the dreaded bass direct" first appeared on brother Branford's Renaissance (Columbia, 1986), and became the single sentence to define the recorded quality of many acoustic jazz recordings since the late '80s.

Discography

• Pontius Pilate's Decision (Novus, 1992)
• Musashi (Evidence, 1996)
• Elephant Riders (by the band Clutch, Delfeayo plays on the track Cracker Jack) (Columbia Records, 1998)
• Minions’ Dominion (Troubadour Jass, 2006)

External links

• DelfeayoMarsalis.com Official Website
• All About Jazz:Delfeayo Marsalis
• Delfeayo Marsalis @ IMDB.com
• Delfeayo Marsalis & Jazz - Critical Essay
• Complete List of Performance and Production Credits (as of 2005)
• Delfeayo Marsalis live at the Hot House Chicago concert review
• Cd review of Minions Dominion at JazzChicago.net
• Delfeayo Marsalis Podcast Interview with ART+ about Minions Dominion