Crescent City ’Bone Brother Hits Santa Barbara

Trombonist-Bandleader Delfeayo Marsalis Brings his Uptown Jazz Orchestra Back to the Lobero

Delfeayo Marsalis | Photo: Zack Smith

The Marsalis jazz family dynasty has put its multi-thumbed imprint on Santa Barbara many times by now, especially given kingpin brother Wynton’s history of playing in town for decades, back to local club dates in his early days and with his more uptown Jazz at Lincoln Center on a regular basis. Tenor saxist Branford Marsalis has brought his steamy fine quartet through these parts, at Campbell Hall and then the Lobero Theatre.

And then there is Delfeayo, the trombonist brother who has his own special musical calling to offer the world. This Marsalis returns to the Lobero on Friday, March 7, with his swinging and New Orleans–grooving Uptown Jazz Orchestra (UJO).

When last we caught Marsalis and his Uptown gang, it was in the COVID-stamped Before Times of 2019. “We had a great time,” Marsalis recalls of that show. “The venue is really cool and perfect for capturing the Uptown sound.”

This time around, the band arrives in the wake of a strong recent album, Crescent City Jewels. Launched in 2007, the Uptown Orchestra is dually rooted in old school jazz and big band tradition and in the jubilant embrace of traditional New Orleans musical heat, from brass band culture outward. The latest album seems to summarize the UJO’s musical agenda, as the set list ranges from the festive Crescent City stuff of “Sidewalk Sizzle” and “Ooh Poo Pah Doo” (written by Harold Arlen and Truman Capote) to the deeper jazz fare of Marsalis’s own “Basie Moods” and an inventive new arrangement of Joe Henderson’s “Inner Urge.”

Delfeayo, who is, at 59, the third oldest of a five-brother brood from New Orleans, ventured into various roles in life and music, including a serious commitment to education — a legacy handed down by his father, pianist-pedagogue Ellis. The trombonist started the educational program “Swinging with the Cool School,” geared toward introducing traditional jazz to students young and old.

He has also produced the Jazz at Congo Square Festival, kicked off in 2021 and now an annual event involving music, poetry, dance and Black Masking Indians in the legendary New Orleans location some consider to be a literal birthplace of jazz.

In general, this Marsalis sibling has found his own routes to personal expression and jazz evangelism, keeping a positive spirit in the process. We can expect N’awlins-spiced good vibes, along with polished jazz chops, to be shivering the Lobero timbers on Friday night.

We checked in with Marsalis from the road last week.

This is a unique and special variation on the big band theme, linking New Orleans culture with timeless big band tradition. Was that the kind of mission statement from its launch in 2007, or did that evolve as you’ve gone along?

Our sound has evolved over the years and the thing that remains is the intensity of which we address the swing. Plenty of bands play with technical proficiency, fast, odd-meters, pyro-techniques, but really dealing with the swing is becoming a lost art. UJO was originally formed to play the Ellington/Strayhorn Nutcracker Suite, and since that time, we’ve added brass band, modern, and traditional New Orleans music to the repertoire.

One new-ish project is the Jazz at Congo Square Festival, taking the music to the virtual birthplace of jazz. Is that an expanding venture?

Yes. Some folks equate “jazz” with an older or more traditional sound, but I’m of the opinion that many different styles can be included in the “jazz” canon if presented the right way. Much the same, Congo Square has always been important to New Orleans and America, not just for what it represented in the 1800s, but because you feel a sense of calm and resilience there. We want to bring together as many folks as possible to celebrate both Congo Square and the music of today, not the past.

It is fairly remarkable that the Marsalis dynasty has produced so many notable musicians. There are a few examples in jazz, like the Jones brothers, but with even more siblings making a cultural impact. I assume it was just considered a done deal that the brothers would go into music, from Ellis’s lead. Is that fair to say?

No, that wasn’t really the plan, I believe we just were fortunate to receive good training in high school that has translated into professional success. My mother was the one who wanted a big family, and, in fact, had the musical relatives on her side. Her uncle, Wellman Braud, was Duke Ellington’s first bassist. My dad’s father was a businessman and didn’t think too much of music as a profession, so it’s a testimony to my dad that he followed his path.

Modern jazz in New Orleans is a tough thing. So, all that said, we all played instruments much like plenty of New Orleans families over the years — Neville Brothers, Battistes, Lasties, and most of the brass band community is related to Trombone Shorty and his family. That we all gravitated toward modern jazz is definitely an homage to father Ellis!

Do you play much within a brotherly fashion?

If the gig requires it, certainly. I try to always make the best musical decision for the situation, so it might mean playing soft or strong, or sometimes not at all, just supporting the other musicians. That’s important, too.

You have emphasized the role of education, something certainly that your father and Wynton have been deeply committed to. Can you explain the gist of your “Swinging with the Cool School” program?

“Swinging with the Cool School” began as a soft introduction to jazz for hip tots and adults right after Hurricane Katrina. We played in the Children’s Hospital weekly for a few months as a form of music therapy and eventually expanded the scope to the format we now use. It’s still a soft introduction to “jazz,” but now we play in schools.

The main objectives are to play live instrumental music both jazz and jazz-based, encourage the kids to clap, stomp or dance and most importantly, let them experience a group of musicians playing at a high level and having a good time. I want the students and teachers to leave thinking about how much they had fun and enjoyed the performance. That’s an element that I haven’t seen very much of in jazz performances — audience engagement and having a good time.

The sense I get from your latest album and the essence of UJO in progress is that you like to accentuate positive vibes, respect for deep jazz history and the importance of a good time in the process — a New Orleans mandate. Does that generally describe your approach to music and your message as an artist?

I wouldn’t say respect for deep jazz history so much, but the rest is fairly accurate.

A student recently asked me when jazz started, and I said it’s been recognized as starting in the late 1800s or early 1900s, but jazz began when the first human beat on an object for the purpose of expression. When the mother sang or hummed melodies to soothe her crying child. Jazz in its truest form is exactly what people need in the moment to make their world a better place. That’s the ideal that we try to represent in every show.