NOW, A JAZZ MOMENT...

MUSIC: Magnolia Triangle

Wynton Marsalis:  My daddy was the coolest teacher you ever had!

TRUMPETER WYNTON MARSALIS STUDIED MUSIC WITH HIS OWN FATHER ? NOTED EDUCATOR, PIANIST, AND NOW NEA JAZZ MASTER, ELLIS MARSALIS.  WYNTON NOT ONLY LIVES TO TELL THE TALE, BUT HAS EVERLASTING RESPECT FOR HIS DAD AS A RESULT...

Wynton Marsalis:  You had never had a teacher like him that was that hip.  His specialty was dealing with hard-headed kids. Cause he had so many of them in his house.

ELLIS MARSALIS IS FATHER TO BRANFORD, WYNTON, DELFEAYO AND JASON ? ALL OF WHOM SOAKED UP HIS LESSONS...

Wynton Marsalis:  He put a lot of emphasis on being able to hear. Like he had you listen to stuff. And he also put a lot of emphasis on you understanding something. So what he would do, you would play a piece of music.  He'd say, 'What did you hear?' So just that as a question, you start 'Well, man, you know'?you started with a lot of 'You knows.' And he'd say, 'What did you hear?' So he waitin for you. And you start to tell him what you didn't hear. 'What did you hear?' And then you start to kind of talk about what you heard. Then he would teach you by ear. He wasn't big on, like, scales and theory and all of that. He'd say, 'You know, you gotta know your scales, you have to learn this, but you can't play a scale when you're playin.' You gotta play an idea. So you got to learn ideas.

MUSIC: up for punctuation, then fades under and out

THIS JAZZ MOMENT WITH WYNTON MARSALIS ON PIANIST AND EDUCATOR ELLIS MARSALIS WAS CREATED BY THE NATIONAL ENDOWMENT FOR THE ARTS.  I'M CHRISTIAN MCBRIDE.