The current concert season reveals various trends and cross-connections, including The current concert season reveals various trends and cross-connections, including a certain six degrees of the New Orleans Marsalis family royalty. Last fall, Wynton Marsalis brought his esteemed Lincoln Center Jazz Orchestra to the Granada on a triumphant tour premiering Spaces. Recently, New Orleans saxist Derek Douget, whose résumé includes playing with Marsalis patriarch Ellis and son Jason, played the Lobero following a weeklong educational county residency.
Next up is Delfeayo Marsalis, another of the musical Marsalis brothers — which include Branford, Wynton, and the aforementioned Jason — who makes his Santa Barbara debut Friday at the Lobero. The acclaimed trombonist/bandleader/educator/producer’s Uptown Jazz Orchestra (UJO) takes serious (and joyous) account of the musical heritage of his birthplace, from its seminal jazz heritage circa the 1920s to the rougher-edged swagger of the city’s “street” music and brass-band savvy.
UJO released the 2016 album Make America Great Again, which is tinged with socio-political commentary, and plans to go for the jugular on its upcoming record, Jazz Party. Marsalis laid out the band mantra thusly: “When people ask, ‘What should we expected from the Uptown Jazz Orchestra?’ We say, ‘We bring everything about New Orleans, except the food.’”