About the Event

Celebrate Mardi Gras with Delfeayo Marsalis and Uptown Jazz Orchestra! Since 2008, the Uptown Jazz Orchestra has been stretching the boundaries of what is expected from big bands, playing with an extraordinary sense of joy and fun that could only come from New Orleans. With influences from Louis Armstrong to Count Basie, James Brown to J. Cole, Delfeayo Marsalis and Uptown Jazz Orchestra performances help free the mind, warm the heart, and heal the soul. 

UJO’s unique approach stems from Marsalis’s experiences performing with music legends Ray Charles, Art Blakey, Elvin Jones, and Fats Domino. “The model of the band is that we can play music from any decade, with conviction and authority,” said Marsalis to the Santa Barbara Independent. “One minute you’re in the streets of New Orleans, the next at the Apollo, in a Mississippi juke joint or at a soulful church function. We’re definitely a feel-good band that focuses on entertaining folks from the first note to the last!”  

Delfeayo Marsalis 

As an acclaimed trombonist, composer, and producer, Delfeayo Marsalis has also dedicated his prolific career to music theatre and education. A member of the Marsalis family of musicians, including his father Ellis, the artist was destined to a life in music.  

At the age of 17, Marsalis began his career as a producer and has, to date, produced more than 130 recordings, garnering one Grammy® and several nominations. In 2000, he formed the Uptown Music Theatre, a non-profit organization that empowers New Orleans youth through dramatic arts training. He has written 18 musicals and composed more than 100 songs that help introduce kids to jazz through musical theatre. His Swinging with the Cool School “soft introduction to jazz” workshops have reached more than 7,500 students nationally.  

In 2008, he formed the Uptown Jazz Orchestra, a highly entertaining ensemble that focuses on maintaining important jazz traditions, such as riff playing, New Orleans polyphony, and spontaneous arrangements.