Delfeayo Marsalis & The Uptown Jazz Orchestra

Delfeayo Marsalis is a celebrated trombonist, composer, and producer whose extensive career spans music theatre and education alongside his family of musicians, notably his father Ellis. He has performed internationally with jazz legends including Ray Charles, Art Blakey, Max Roach, Elvin Jones, and Slide Hampton, while also leading his own ensembles. At seventeen, he launched his career as a producer and has since produced more than 120 recordings that earned one Grammy award and numerous nominations. In 2008, he established the Uptown Jazz Orchestra, an engaging group dedicated to preserving essential jazz traditions such as riff playing, New Orleans polyphony, and spontaneous arrangements. He also founded the Uptown Music Theatre in 2000, a nonprofit organization that trains youth in musical theatre. To date, he has written sixteen musicals rooted in history or community unity, composed over ninety songs introducing children to jazz through musical theatre, and reached more than five thousand students nationwide with his Swinging with the Cool School jazz workshops. Marsalis holds dual bachelors degrees in music performance and production from Berklee College of Music, a masters degree in jazz performance from the University of Louisville, and has received a doctorate from New England College.