Ellis
Memorial

Ellis Live at Snug Harbor 2005
The Park
The Snug Harbor Jazz Club believes that Ellis Marsalis deserves a prominent place in New Orleans history and its landscape. The jazz club has created a petition on Change.org that asks the City of New Orleans to honor the recently passed jazz legend by renaming Washington Square Square on historic Frenchmen Street to Ellis Marsalis Square. Mr. Marsalis was the father of modern jazz in New Orleans, teaching and influencing countless musicians over five decades and literally fathering four major jazz stars. He performed at the Snug Harbor, a half block from the park, for over thirty years before dying from Coronavirus April 1st.
Located at 700 Elysian Fields Avenue on three acres of land, the park is lined with grandiose oak trees, a walking path and a playground for the community’s youth. This plot of land comes at the end of one of the city’s most musically rich stretch of street. Known around the world for its culture and music, Frenchmen Street has hosted some of the country’s most revered New Orleans performers including Allen Toussaint, Harry Connick Jr, Mose Allison, Kermit Ruffins, the Neville Brothers, Branford, Wynton, Delfeayo & Jason Marsalis and of course Ellis Marsalis Jr.
Help us honor and remember him by signing the petition below and push to have the park renamed in memory of him and his contributions to the New Orleans community.
Sign the Petition Here:
Washington Square in New Orleans to be renamed for jazz legend Ellis Marsalis
In honor of the passing of beloved musician, composer, educator and 30-year Snug Harbor artist in residence Ellis Marsalis Jr. on April 1st 2020, Snug Harbor has hosted weekly livestreams from its social media channels on Fridays at 8:00pm cst ~ the time that Ellis would normally be playing live with his band at the club.
Since the jazz community cannot gather in person for proper memorials for Ellis Marsalis due to the Covid-19 pandemic, these livestreams feature different New Orleans musicians each week paying their personal tributes to the man nicknamed “E” by his friends and associates, a man that impacted them so much, both musically and personally. Each artist presents music inspired, or composed by Ellis, interspersed with stories and memories of times with him.
The series is dubbed "E-Day Live" because this is the Livestream version of what eventually will be a proper memorial tribute for Marsalis. Online donations during each broadcast directly support the participating musicians in this time of need. These Friday night livestreams are slowly coming to an end with only a few more performances left, be sure to tune in while you can!
Where to watch past performances: