[5] Marsalis played tenor saxophone and piano during high school, and performed locally with a rhythm and blues band that included pianist Roger Dickerson.

After high school, Marsalis served a year in the Marine Corps where he performed on piano for the majority of his duty.

[7] Marsalis recorded nearly twenty of his own albums and was featured on many discs with such musicians as David "Fathead" Newman, Eddie Harris, Marcus Roberts, and Courtney Pine.

In 2010, The Marsalis family released a live album titled Music Redeems, which was recorded at The John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts in Washington, D.C., as part of the Duke Ellington Jazz Festival.

[14] Marsalis received a Grammy Trustees Award posthumously in 2023,[15] accepted in his absence by his son Jason and granddaughter Marley.

[17] The short documentary film titled Death Is Our Business by Frontline briefly covered the situation when investigating the pandemic's effects on the New Orleans funeral industry.

[19] The youngest of his sons is Mboya Kenyatta Marsalis, who is diagnosed with autism and has been cared for by his brother Delfeayo since their father's death.