Pianist Ellis Marsalis Performs at Finale of Da Camera's Free Concert Series Celebrating Jazz Appreciation Month at Discovery Green

For the finale of their free Da Camera JAM at Discovery Green series celebrating Jazz Appreciation Month, Da Camera of Houston and Discovery Green present pianist Ellis Marsalis and his quartet, Thursday, April 26 at 6:30 pm at the downtown park. Marsalis is a renowned musician from New Orleans and patriarch of the legendary Marsalis family. The evening begins with an opening set by advanced jazz students from the High School for the Performing and Visual Arts.

A native of New Orleans, Ellis Marsalis has made over 20 recordings. As a leading educator at the New Orleans Center for Creative Arts, the University of New Orleans and Xavier University of Louisiana, Marsalis has influenced the careers of countless musicians, including Terence Blanchard, Harry Connick Jr. and Nicholas Payton, as well as his four musician sons: Wynton, Branford, Delfeayo and Jason. In 2007, Marsalis received an honorary doctorate from Tulane University for his contributions to jazz and musical education. In 2008, Ellis Marsalis was inducted into the Louisiana Music Hall of Fame. The Ellis Marsalis Center for Music at Musicians’ Village in New Orleans is named in honor of Ellis Marsalis.

Discovery Green is located at 1500 McKinney, with several parking options, including metered, garage and surface lots available for park visitors. Da Camera JAM at Discovery Green is made possible by a grant from the Kinder Foundation.

Celebrate Jazz in Houston during April, The Smithsonian National Museum of American History’s Jazz Appreciation Month (JAM). The series, in its second year, is organized by Discovery Green and Da Camera of Houston with guest artistic advisor Robert “Doc” Morgan, a retired jazz educator from Houston’s High School for the Performing and Visual Arts (HSPVA) who has taught some of today’s great jazz performers. Morgan was honored by his former students at Discovery Green’s very first concert in 2008 and more recently at a two-night engagement at New York City’s TriBeca Y featuring Houston jazz stars, which received great acclaim in The New York Times.

The free concert occur on on the Anheuser-Busch Stage and Fondren Performance Space. Concerts may be affected by rain -- check for weather updates on discoverygreen.com. Concessions are also available at The Lake House. Blankets, lawn chairs and picnics are welcome, but please do not bring glass containers or alcoholic beverages into the park

The concert is free and tickets are not required. For more information, go to dacamera.com/jamatdiscoverygreen or call 713-524-5050.

Da Camera of Houston
Da Camera of Houston, founded in 1987, was created with the intention to produce a series of thematically programmed concerts designed to attract new listeners to the concert hall. By bringing together leading American and international musicians, specifically selected for each program, Da Camera concerts offer a broad range of repertoire and musical styles while ensuring a product of outstanding musical excellence. Members of the Houston Symphony and faculty of Rice University’s Shepherd School of Music, University of Houston’s Moores School and others are often included in Da Camera programs, expanding the opportunities for locally based musicians of national acclaim and enriching our community by enhancing the musical life of artists who choose to live here.

Discovery Green
Discovery Green is a 12-acre park created by a public-private partnership between the City of Houston and the non-profit Discovery Green Conservancy. Since the park opened in 2008, it has welcomed more than 3 million visitors and hosted more than 800 public and private events. The Discovery Green Conservancy works with hundreds of programming partners to present three dynamic programming seasons each year most of which are FREE and open to the public. As a non-profit organization, the Conservancy raises all the funds needed for the programming that Houstonians enjoy.

Da Camera of Houston’s concerts feature small ensembles performing chamber music, jazz, early music and contemporary music.  A vital institution in the world of chamber music, Da Camera is a source of innovative programming, notably Artistic and General Director Sarah Rothenberg’s programs connecting chamber music with literature and the visual arts.  Da Camera is a nationally acclaimed for provocative chamber music programming, as well as a jazz series with a unique balance between renowned performers and emerging artists.