Mood Indigo for Ellis Marsalis

While I am not deeply familiar with Ellis Marsalis or New Orleans jazz after the 1930, his loss was staggering for jazz. I knew his legacy best through his sons, Wynton and Branford. Sure, I disagree with much of Wynton's statements on jazz (the PBS documentary series was, despite some stronger early episodes, a bit of a disaster). However, his father was an early colleague of Ornette Coleman, proof of how open-minded Ellis was about innovators operating outside bop or New Orleans jazz. Indeed, Coleman's association with Ed Blackwell and Ellis Marsalis establishes his ties to the roots of jazz, if you will.