The reigning patriarch of a whole generation of jazz, Ellis Marsalis, performs with his Quartet at the Napa Valley Opera House, Dec. 3 at 8 p.m. Marsalis will be joined by son Jason on drums, Derek Douget on saxophone and Bill Huntington on bass.

At his core, Ellis Marsalis is a modern jazz musician. The term may seem dated now, but it carried particular weight when Ellis was coming of musical age in the '50s and '60s -- especially in New Orleans, a city where tourism demanded that jazz musicians be nothing more than traditionalists.

Ellis was different, attuned to jazz's future. He developed a lean and commanding approach to the piano and helped create a modern movement in New Orleans with his collective American Jazz Quintet and his own Quartet while also educating the next generation of jazz: Terence Blanchard, Donald Harrison, Nicholas Payton, Harry Connick Jr. and of course, all the Marsalis brothers.

According to Ellis, "I never thought of myself as a teacher. I used to always look at myself as being a coach. Not devoid of instruction, but I was never that organized in my approach to what I was doing. I always tried to key off of wherever the student was and just figure out what I needed to present to them to move from point A to B."

Tickets for the Ellis Marsalis concert are $30, $40 and $50. For tickets visit the Opera House box office, call 226-7372 or log onto www.nvoh.org.