Branford Marsalis was born in Breaux Bridge, Louisiana on August 26, 1960. He’s the oldest son of Ellis Marsalis and Delores Ferdinand Marsalis. Marsalis started playing the piano when he was 4. A few years later he started playing the clarinet. When he was 15, he started playing the alto sax. When he was 16, his younger brother, Wynton, asked him to join his band.

Marsalis studied at Southern University. There he took lessons from Alvin Batiste. Later he we studied at Berklee College of Music. After graduation, he played in Art Blakey’s Jazz Messengers with his brother Wynton for five months. Than he toured Europe with Clark Terry’s orchestra.