Trombonist to headline ‘Ocean Front Jazz’ show

Grammy Award-winning jazz trombonist Delfeayo Marsalis will perform in West Hawaii next month.

“Ocean Front Jazz,” an intimate evening of New Orleans-style jazz next to the ocean, will be held from 6 p.m. to 9 p.m. on Wednesday, April 11. Marsalis & The Jazz Alley TV Trio will perform, with Jr. Volcano Choy on trumpet.

The event, which will be held at the Mauna Kea Beach Hotel in South Kohala, is a kick-off jazz celebration for the 1st annual Big Island Jazz & Blues Festival 2012. The festival is May 31 through June 3. Visit www.bigislandjazzandbluesfestival.com for more info.

Tickets are $30. Kama‘aina room rates are available for this event. For more information, please contact Mauna Kea Beach Hotel at 808-882-7222.

Known for his “technical excellence, inventive mind and frequent touches of humor … ” (Leonard Feather, Los Angeles Times), Marsalis is “ … one of the best, most imaginative and musical of the trombonists of his generation.” (Philip Elwood, San Francisco Examiner.)

In January 2011, Delfeayo and the Marsalis family (father Ellis and brothers Branford, Wynton and Jason) earned the nation’s highest jazz honor — a National Endowment for the Arts Jazz Masters Award.

In addition, Marsalis has toured internationally with five renowned bandleaders. “Art Blakey taught me a lot about patience and how to construct a solo,” Marsalis said. “My compositions are influenced by Abdullah Ibrahim’s harmonies. Slide Hampton inspired me with the relaxation that he displays in his trombone playing along with his command of the instrument. With Max Roach, I learned that I had to be on top of my game every moment. And Elvin Jones, who I worked with for seven or eight years, taught me about humanity, expressing myself through my instrument, and how to keep time without relying on other players.”