This came out in 2003 – or at least that’s when I got it. Here’s what I said about it back then (with some minor editing):
Talk about the family that plays together.
Five members of the Marsalis jazz dynasty — pianist father Ellis, plus sons Wynton on trumpet, Branford on sax, Delfeayo on trombone and Jason on drums — combined their talents on this magnificent live tribute to Ellis that was held in their New Orleans home town upon his retirement in 2001. Covering everyone from Louis Armstrong to Ellis originals and styles from traditional ragtime to fiery bop, this tremendous set not only spans the decades of Ellis’s lengthy and influential teaching career, but simultaneously and succinctly covers the history of jazz. Harry Connick Jr. drops in to plunk out a few tunes as a tribute to the master, but the real highlights are family-affair cuts like Struttin’ With Some Barbecue and the Wynton-Branford duel Cain and Abel. Of course, that should be no surprise. After all, you know what they say about the family that plays together.
