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Mark Patterson

Mark Patterson, a Convergence member since 2000, attempts to keep a variety of music playing on his collection of twentieth-century trombones. He explored the roads of Japan with section-mates Jim Pugh, Bill Watrous, and David Taylor in Dave Matthews' Manhattan Jazz Orchestra; and toured the US and Europe with the Maria Schneider Jazz Orchestra, the Vanguard Jazz Orchestra, Barbra Streisand, and Steely Dan. He appeared or recorded with jazz artists Clark Terry, Sir Roland Hanna, Charli Persip, Jaki Byard, Dale Bruning, Eddie Palmieri, John Pizzarelli, Tom Pearson, The Westchester Jazz Orchestra, and the Gotham Jazz Orchestra (Mike Holober). In the concert hall, he appeared as soloist with the Ridgefield (CT) Symphony (including a trombone-premier of music from Eddie Sauter's Focus); and in the sections of such aggragations as the New York Pops, the Gotham Wind Symphony, the Concordia Orchestra, and the Central City Opera. He freely admits to having performed in Broadway shows (recently in "South Pacific" and "Spamalot"), and the trivia expert might detect his work in film scores. He champions new music with the ensemble Nobles of the Mystic Shrine. He also collects pencils, and has studied how to use them with Donald Keats, Bob Brookmeyer, Manny Albam, and Jim McNeely. The results have been performed or recorded by Convergence, the Westchester Jazz Orchestra, the Gotham Wind Symphony, the BMI Jazz Composers' Orchestra, and the aforementioned Nobles, among others. Mark teaches at NYU and is a clinician at camps and festivals across the country.

Gear

A trombone. An acoustic bass. Many percussion instruments. Endorsements from both the Nyack Water District and New York City Water Department to use their water in my spray bottle.


Tags

28
Album Review

Joe McCarthy's New York Afro Bop Alliance Big Band: The Pan American Nutcracker Suite

Read "The Pan American Nutcracker Suite" reviewed by Jack Bowers


Yes, Peter Tchaikovsky's timeless Nutcracker Suite is basically holiday music; and, yes, the 2022 holiday season is squarely in everyone's rear-view mirror. Even so, there is always room for a fresh approach to the annual festive staple, which is what drummer Joe McCarthy's New York Afro Bop Alliance Big Band brings to The Pan American Nutcracker Suite. The Nutcracker has been rhythmically amended before, but never quite like this, as McCarthy and the band use the strong ...

9
Album Review

Joe McCarthy's Afro Bop Alliance Big Band: The Pan American Nutcracker Suite

Read "The Pan American Nutcracker Suite" reviewed by Richard J Salvucci


"The Nutcracker" is a holiday staple and, as many musical and dance companies around the United States and Europe will tell you, thank Heaven for it. The musicians and performers may eventually lose their sanity from repeat performances, but the ballet is a money-maker as sure as holiday sales generate commercial profits for retailers. Besides, someone is inevitably hearing it for the first time, and children—even some adults—seem to enjoy it. This year, the season starts early with ...

34
Album Review

Mike Holober & Balancing Act: Don't Let Go

Read "Don't Let Go" reviewed by Jack Bowers


With Don't Let Go, pianist Mike Holober and the octet Balancing Act seemed to have found an ideal way to cross-breed classical motifs and contemporary jazz to produce a pleasurable listening experience. Then he added lyrics. Granted, not all lyrics are superfluous—even those that are either nebulous or indecipherable, as is too often the case here. It's simply that some listeners may be more receptive to an alternative in the form of, say, Marvin Stamm's trumpet, Dick Oatts' or Jason ...

20
Album Review

Mike LeDonne: It's All Your Fault

Read "It's All Your Fault" reviewed by Jack Bowers


Even though listed on only four tracks, organist Mike LeDonne's superlative Groover Quartet performs on every one of the nine selections on LeDonne's admirable new recording, It's All Your Fault--and that's a good thing, as each member of the quartet (LeDonne, tenor saxophonist Eric Alexander, guitarist Peter Bernstein, drummer Joe Farnsworth) is an accomplished soloist and ardent team player. On the album's remaining tracks, the quartet is assimilated into LeDonne's seventeen- member big band, a taut and high-powered unit that ...

Album Review

Mike Holober: Balancing Act

Read "Balancing Act" reviewed by Angelo Leonardi


Non è facile coniugare raffinatezza formale e tensione emotiva, meticolose orchestrazioni e libertà individuale, sottigliezze cameristiche e momenti jazzisticamente impetuosi. A capo del suo ottetto, Mike Holober offre un appassionante esempio di tutto ciò, realizzando il suo lavoro più maturo e ricercato, a distanza di sei anni dal precedente con la Gotham Jazz Orchestra (Quake, Sunnyside 2009). Pianista, compositore e insegnante al City College e alla Manhattan School of Music di New York, Holober s'è ...

12
Album Review

Mike Holober: Balancing Act

Read "Balancing Act" reviewed by Mark Sullivan


Pianist/composer Mike Holober has had an active career with big bands (including HR Big Band Frankfurt, WDR Big Band Cologne, Stockholm Jazz Orchestra, and the Westchester Jazz Orchestra in the U.S.). So he brings a refined approach to the composing and arranging on this octet recording. He set himself an ambitious goal: to feature a vocalist, but as another frontline instrument rather than the primary focus. “I wanted to use a singer and lyrics in extended form compositions--not wrapped up ...

6
Album Review

Mike Holober: Balancing Act

Read "Balancing Act" reviewed by Dan Bilawsky


Conceptualizing and creating music is a delicate balancing act, leaving composers to strive for symmetry between head and heart, reasoning and intuition, and structure and freedom. Who better to understand that than Mike Holober? Whether penning a piece or playing piano, Holober has always shown himself to be mindful of the need to find harmony between those and other opposing principles. It's his ability to do so that, in large part, has made him such a hot commodity in the ...

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Primary Instrument

Trombone

Photos

Music

Recordings: As Leader | As Sideperson

Don't Let Go

Sunnyside Records
2022

buy

The Pan American...

Angel Face Records
2022

buy

It's All Your Fault

Savant Records
2021

buy

Balancing Act

Palmetto Records
2015

buy

Quake

Sunnyside Records
2009

buy

Modern Man

Capri Records
2003

buy

When There Were Trains

From: Balancing Act
By Mark Patterson

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