Delfeayo Marsalis

by Scott YanowImagine being the younger brother of Wynton and Branford Marsalis. It is little surprise that Delfeayo Marsalis took a while before making his debut on records. The son of Ellis Marsalis and the older brother of drummer Jason, Delfeayo was always interested in engineering and he started off as a busy record producer, studying both trombone and studio production at Berklee. In addition to his producing, he has written some of the most absurd liner notes ever seen, raving about his brothers while trying to pretend that he is an impartial observer. More importantly, Delfeayo Marsalis is a fine J.J. Johnson-inspired trombonist who toured with Ray Charles, Art Blakey's Jazz Messengers, and Abdullah Ibrahim before recording his first album as a leader in 1992. He has also been a member of Elvin Jones' Jazz Machine.