Feldman Geospatial Presents Mark Walker + the Rhythm of the Americas Quartet
Schedule
Thu Mar 28 2024 at 06:00 pm
Location
Long Live Roxbury | Boston, MA
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The show on Thursday, March 28 has changed. Due to an unexpected schedule change, pianist Alon Yavnai is unable to perform with his band at Long Live Roxbury.Grammy winning drummer Mark Walker has stepped up to the plate and pulled together a superb band in substitution for that night . . . Mark Walker + The Rhythm of The Americas Quartet featuring Mark on drums, Alain Mallet on keyboards, Edmar Colon on sax and Oscar Stagnaro on bass. This superlative band will perform beginning at 6 pm through 8:30 PM. This event is FREE and parking is FREE as well.
Feldman Geospatial has put together a cool Thursday night jazz series at Long Live Roxbury, a new craft brewery located at 152 Hampden Street in Boston (entrance is on George Street around the corner of the building). The lineup includes the Alon Yavnai Quartet March 28.
The show is FREE and runs from 6 to 8:30 pm. Parking is free either in the lot or on the street!
Pop-Up food will be available.
Here's the band:
Band will feature:
Mark Walker, drums
Oscar Stagnaro, bass
Edmar Colon, sax
Alain Mallet, keyboards
Drummer, composer and educator Mark Walker has been one of the most respected names on the jazz scene for four decades. He has performed on five continents with some of the best musicians in the world including 21 years with the band Oregon, many years with Paquito D’ Rivera, Michel Camilo and Arturo Sandoval and he appears on over 75 recordings, including two Grammy® Award-winning albums, four Latin Grammy®-winning albums, seven Grammy-nominated albums and one Latin Grammy®-nominated album.
Growing up in a family of artists in the urban jungle of Chicago’s Old Town in the 1960’s, Walker was exposed to a wide variety of music and art from an early age. He gravitated toward jazz in his teens, and was fortunate enough to hear many legends like Buddy Rich, Max Roach, Elvin Jones and Art Blakey live. At age 16, he took his first lessons with the “Dean of Percussion,” Roy C. Knapp, whose students included Gene Krupa, Louie Bellson and Hal Blaine. Knapp’s lessons in music theory, harmony and percussion hit Walker like a lightning bolt, and inspired him to become a professional musician right out of high school.
With a stubborn single-mindedness, he sidestepped the college route and moved away from home at age 17. Immediately, he began cutting his teeth as a working musician. He paid his dues around Chicago, and within a few years, became one of the most sought-after drummers in town, working with all kinds of ensembles from trio to big band. He performed with musicians like Howard Levy, Tommy Ponce, Johnny Frigo, Jazz Members Big Band, Buddy Childers Big Band, Patricia Barber, Akio Sasajima, and Made In Brasil. This gave him the foundation and inspiration he needed to advance his career.
He found himself working with men and women of all stripes, playing a wide variety of styles as his career began taking on a multicultural and multidirectional path. He fell in love with the rhythm and sounds of swing, funk, rock, ECM, the Caribbean and South America, while learning the repertoire of jazz, blues and Brazilian MPB. One of Walker’s first jazz record dates was with the legendary saxophonist Joe Henderson on an album by guitarist Akio Sasajima entitled “Akio and Joe Henderson.” He also recorded several albums with pianist Patricia Barber in the 1980’s, as well as with pianist Fred Simon. He also formed a duo with guitarist David Onderdonk, incorporating percussion and electronics, which he would later use with Oregon.
Eventually, he became an in-demand studio player, performing on albums and jingles by day, and jazz gigs by night. In 1989, his life changed when Paquito D’Rivera and Claudio Roditi came to Chicago for a week’s engagement, and needed a band that could handle both jazz and Latin styles. Pianist Howard Levy recruited Walker, and he and D’Rivera found a natural chemistry. At the end of the engagement, D’Rivera offered Walker the gig. The next 30 years would be a musical and cultural adventure for Walker, touring the world, recording with and eventually writing for D’Rivera. They recorded over 15 albums together, many of which won Grammy and Latin Grammy awards, such as “Funk Tango,” the first record to feature one of Walker’s compositions, entitled “What About That.” He was featured with D’Rivera in the film “Calle 54”(Miramax).
He performed as a guest artist with D’Rivera’s quintet with many orchestras and bands around the world such as the WDR and NDR big bands, the National Symphony Orchestra and many more abroad. Musicians from around the world came through Paquito’s ensemble during Walker’s tenure, such as guests Dizzy Gillespie, Yo Yo Ma, Rosa Passos, Arturo Sandoval, Bebo Valdez, Claudio Roditi and many more.
In the early 1990’s Walker toured the US, South America and Europe and recorded with legendary pianist/composer Lyle Mays (Pat Metheny Group) in a quartet featuring bassist Marc Johnson and saxophonist Bob Sheppard. This experience refined Walker’s musicianship, challenging and influencing him on a deep level in his performance and compositionally – which would later show itself in his future writing. At the suggestion of pianist Michel Camilo, Walker relocated to New York in 1995 and immediately got the gig with The Caribbean Jazz Project, featuring Paquito D’Rivera, Dave Samuels and Andy Narell. The band was similar to an international trade school, performing and arranging music using authentic rhythms of the Caribbean and South America in a jazz context. Members of the band were steeped in virtually all Latin American and Caribbean styles.
Shortly after that, Walker replaced Horacio “El Negro” Hernandez in the Michel Camilo Trio, which included bassists Anthony Jackson and James Genus. He worked with Camilo extensively for two years, touring and recording special projects including his trio and big band. Camilo’s music and concept pushed Walker to grow technically as well as musically, and Walker still works with Camilo as a sub on occasion.
While living in New York, Walker worked extensively inthe groups of Brazilian pianists Eliane Elias and Cesar Camargo Mariano, touring in the US, Europe and South America. In 1996, Pat Metheny Group bassist/producer Steven Rodby hired Walker to record with legendary world jazz group Oregon, featuring Ralph Towner, Paul McCandless and Glen Moore. At the end of the session, Towner offered Walker the gig, and a 23-year musical adventure began. He toured with the group in Europe, Asia, the U.S. and South America, recording eight albums, including three of his own compositions.
One of those compositions, “Deep Six,” earned Walker a Grammy® Award nomination in the category of “Best Instrumental Composition” at the 50th annual Grammy® Awards. Working with Towner was the ultimate lesson in composition, musicality and dynamics. Towner offered Walker a challenge to go deeper as a musician and composer. Walker expanded his setup to include hand percussion and electronics and developed his improvisational and writing skills further with the group.
In 2001, Walker joined the percussion faculty at Berklee and in 2005 moved to Boston. He authored the book “World Jazz Drumming” (Hal Leonard), and created curriculum at the school and online. He built a recording studio at his home and began producing his own music. In 2016, he felt he needed to refine his skills and re-define himself, so he enrolled in Berklee Online as a student and earned his Bachelor’s degree in Professional Studies. Studying composition, arranging, songwriting, music production and music business, he graduated in Spring 2019 (Summa Cum Laude), and used these new skills to find his voice and take charge of his own career.
After recording his music at Berklee’s studios with some of the top players on the NY/Boston scene, Walker released his first record as a leader, You Get What You Give, featuring special guest Paquito D’Rivera. The album, released on his own Fliposphere Music label in 2019, was critically acclaimed and reached #42 on Jazz Week, #14 on Roots Music Report and the top ten on the NACC radio charts.
Innerviews’ Anil Prasad wrote, “I'm a huge admirer of Oregon jazz group and its extended family's output. The band's drummer, Mark Walker, has an excellent debut solo album that was just released titled You Get What You Give. It's a kinetic and engaging effort that combines jazz and Afro-Latin approaches, featuring the great Paquito D'Rivera. Mark steps to the fore with a focus on creative original works, as well as imaginative arrangements of Wayne Shorter's "Speak No Evil," John Coltrane's "Moment's Notice" and Thelonious Monk's "Bye-Ya." Mark is one of the finest drummers working on the planet and one of the most important voices in the genre. Jazz fans worldwide will get a lot out of this hugely-enjoyable release.”
Encouraged by the success of his first solo album, Walker embarked on a new musical journey studying as a Masters student at UMass Amherst. After majoring in jazz composition/arranging and studying with Professor Jeffery Holmes and Dr. Felipe Salles, he graduated in May 2022.
Three days after graduating, he got the call from trumpeter Arturo Sandoval to join his band. He traveled to Europe, South America, Canada, the Caribbean and across the USA with Sandoval and the band before his departure in March 2024.
He is in the process of writing and arranging a big band record with an ensemble he calls the “World Jazz Orchestra,” which will be recorded later in 2024. He is also producing recordings with smaller groups, including a quartet featuring legendary saxophonist George Garzone. Walker performs on a new album project with guitarist Akio Sasajima, trumpeter Randy Brecker and guest Will Lee, entitled “Silence Between the Notes.”
Mark Walker is a Yamaha, Paiste, Remo, Vic Firth, Meinl and Prologix Artist. He currently teaches at Berklee College of Music, Berklee Online and New England Conservatory.
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Where is it happening?
Long Live Roxbury, 12 George St, Roxbury, MA 02119-2804, United States,Boston, MassachusettsEvent Location & Nearby Stays: