NOW, A JAZZ MOMENT...

MUSIC: Willow Weep for Me

Jason Marsalis:  With my father, what's interesting is that his generation was the bebop music of the '50s.  But, when the music was changing he was always checkin' it out.  And not just jazz music, but popular music.  He was always checkin' it out, whatever the next thing was.

...DRUMMER JASON MARSALIS ON HIS FATHER, NEA JAZZ MASTER ELLIS MARSALIS...

Jason Marsalis:  Even in the 1970s when there was jazz fusion and pianists were playing a lot of electric keyboards.  He had electric keyboards, he had a Fender Rhodes and Fuzztone and Echoplex.  And I noticed that even as time went on, he still kept up.  I mean even when his own sons, when Wynton and Branford, was, you know when he heard them play, he'd made him think, "Well wait a minute, what are they doin' with this tune.  Oh this, oh this is a Wayne Shorter tune that I haven't hear in a while, from the Miles Davis quintet.  Let me go and check that out again."  And he was keeping up with what they were doing.  And then what was also interesting to me was, he was keeping up with musicians that weren't even out on the SCENE yet.  I remember in 1988 he was telling me about a musician, he said "Man there's this young bass player outa Philly named Christian McBride!"  Like, WHO?!

(laughs) I THINK I'VE HEARD OF HIM...

MUSIC: up for punctuation, then fades under and out

THIS JAZZ MOMENT WITH JASON MARSALIS ON HIS FATHER, PIANIST ELLIS MARSALIS, WAS CREATED BY THE NATIONAL ENDOWMENT FOR THE ARTS.  I'M CHRISTIAN MCBRIDE.