Delfeayo Marsalis & The Uptown Jazz Orchestra

Active since: 2007

Uptown Jazz Orchestra’s mission is to promote the rich cultural legacy of American music through both entertaining and educational performances. Our educational shows are designed to give young people a greater awareness of important historical figures and musical traditions. All other shows are designed specifically with the intent of folks having a good time … hands clapping, toes tapping and rump shaking!

In 2007, NEA Jazz Master and Grammy Award winning trombonist Delfeayo Marsalis formed the Uptown Jazz Orchestra (UJO) for the purpose of keeping important jazz music traditions alive; such as riff-playing, spontaneous group improvisations, and collective New Orleans instrumental polyphony. At the time, Marsalis realized that the New Orleans music community was lacking the infusion of young homegrown talent outside of the great brass band tradition, and chose to form an orchestra that could present traditional, classic, and modern compositions with authenticity. Since that time, UJO has grown into one of the premier large ensembles in the world, releasing four CDs to critical acclaim, and touring locally, nationally, and internationally.

Delfeayo Marsalis

Born: July 28, 1965

Delfeayo Marsalis is one of the top trombonists, composers and producers in jazz today. Known for his “technical excellence, inventive mind and frequent touches of humor…”(Leonard Feather, Los Angeles Times), he is “…one of the best, most imaginative and musical of the trombonists of his generation.” (Philip Elwood, San Francisco Examiner.) In January 2011, Delfeayo and the Marsalis family (father Ellis and brothers Branford, Wynton and Jason) earned the nation’s highest jazz honor" a National Endowment for the Arts Jazz Masters Award.

Born in New Orleans on July 28, 1965, Marsalis was destined to a life in music. “I remember my dad (Ellis Marsalis) playing piano at the house, and me laying underneath the piano as a child, listening to him play. After briefly trying bass and drums, in sixth grade I gravitated towards the trombone, which was an extension of my personality. Early on my influences and inspirations included J.J. Johnson, Curtis Fuller, Al Grey, Tyree Glenn and Tommy Dorsey.” Marsalis attended the New Orleans Center for Creative Arts high school, was classically trained at the Eastern Music Festival and Tanglewood Institute, and majored in both performance and audio production at the Berklee College of Music.

Delfeayo Marsalis and the Uptown Jazz Orchestra's Jazz Party

By Delfeayo Marsalis

Label: Troubadour Jass Records
Released: 2020
Track listing: Jazz Party; Blackbird Special; 7th Ward Boogaloo; Raid on the Mingus House Party; Mboya's Midnight Cocktail; So New Orleans; Dr. Hardgroove; Let Your Mind Be Free; Irish Whiskey Blues; Caribbean Second Line; Mboya's Midnight Cocktail (Instrumental).

Delfeayo Marsalis Uptown Jazz Orchestra: Jazz Party

by Jerome Wilson
May 17, 2020

This album was recorded in 2019 but its message of unabashed joy is welcome these days for obvious reasons. The people responsible for it are Delfeayo Marsalis and Uptown Jazz Orchestra. The music is steeped in the various musical traditions of Marsalis' native New Orleans but brings in a few outside influences to enhance the fun. ...

Raid on the Mingus House Party

December 19, 2019

Album: Delfeayo Marsalis and the Uptown Jazz Orchestra's Jazz Party
By Delfeayo Marsalis
Label: Troubadour Jass Records
Released: 2020
Duration: 06:50