At the moment, there can be no second line jazz parade to honor one of New Orleans’ most revered musicians. Social distancing during the coronavirus pandemic is preventing a traditional send-off for Ellis Marsalis, Jr. The jazz pianist’s family said he died of pneumonia caused by COVID-19 on April 1.
Like many across the globe, Ellis’s son and world-renowned jazz trumpeter and composer Wynton Marsalis is grieving the loss of a loved one from a distance. Marsalis was unable to travel from New York to New Orleans to be with his father in his final days.
This week on 60 Minutes, Marsalis told correspondent John Dickerson about his final conversations with his father and spoke of the many lessons from his childhood.
“He was always embracing the larger humanity,” Marsalis said of his father. “He felt that. He believed it. He played it. He taught it. And you know, he accepted death in that way also.”
Photos and video courtesy of nola.com/The Times-Picayune, Jeremy Tauriac and Getty Images.
The video above was produced by Keith Zubrow and Sarah Shafer Prediger. It was edited by Sarah Shafer Prediger.
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