Jazz Articles about Mark Soskin

Ricky Ford: The Wailing Sounds of Ricky Ford: Paul’s Scene

by Richard J Salvucci
May 24, 2022

Is there a more underrated player than Ricky Ford? On any horn? Perhaps the fact that he took over Paul Gonsalves' chair in the (Mercer) Ellington orchestra when he was still a kid led people to think he had yet to prove himself. There was a brief stint with Charles Mingus. And there was his association with Lionel Hampton as a featured soloist. Ford showed up in a number of bands, most notably with Tom Harrell in Play ...

Denise Mangiardi: Brown Book

by Jerome Wilson
April 27, 2020

Denise Mangiardi dwells in two musical worlds, as both a jazz singer and an accomplished classical composer. She puts all her talents to good use on this CD, singing a collection of self-written ballads, folk songs and torch songs, over her own haunting arrangements. Mangiardi's moving string-writing appears on the two brief “Soundscape" instrumentals which bookend the album, as well as on the songs “The Exchange," “Waves," and “My Beauty"--which is really Thelonious Monk's “Ugly Beauty" with lyrics ...

Mark Soskin: Nino Rota

by Dan McClenaghan
April 28, 2012

Mark Soskin is probably best known for his work with saxophone legend Sonny Rollins. As Rollins' pianist from 1978 to 1991, he contributed to a string of several marvelous CD releases on the Milestone label. These included Dancing in the Dark (1987), which opened with a masterfully straightforward cover of the pop song, “Just Once," that featured Soskin's sparkling electric keyboards.Soskin's work with Rollins was mostly in the realm of jazz standards, Great American Songbook tunes, and the ...

Mark Soskin: Challenges Welcome

by R.J. DeLuke
August 10, 2010

In conversation with the immensely talented and engaging pianist Mark Soskin, the word “challenge" arises periodically. It's used in a good sense. Simply put, “I like to be able to be handed a challenge and then rise to it," he said in conversation, earlier in the summer of 2010. Diversity is also something he likes. The evidence is in the myriad of projects with which he has involved himself since leaving a golden gig with Sonny ...

New Classics: Mark Soskin Quartet with Ravi Coltrane at the Kitano Hotel

by Warren Allen
June 16, 2009

Mark Soskin Quartet with Ravi Coltrane The Kitano Hotel New York, NY May 2, 2009

Mark Soskin is one of the more underrated pianists working today. Perhaps best known for his sideman work alongside greats like Sonny Rollins and Herbie Mann, Soskin combines an always melodic approach with a rich vocabulary that draws on a wide range of influences.

On May 2, he brought a new quartet--featuring Ravi Coltrane on sax, Jay ...

Mark Soskin: Creating An Ever-Hopeful Day

by R.J. DeLuke
November 26, 2007

Mark Soskin listened to a litany of great jazz pianists growing up in Brooklyn and attending Colorado State University, where he was pursing classical studies before the jazz influences ushered in a switch to Berklee College of Music in the 1970s. The various styles and approaches to music went into forming his musical personality, as did listening to saxophone players. The result, over the years, has been Soskin's presence as an outstanding pianist offering his skills and ...

Mark Soskin: One Hopeful Day

by Jerry D'Souza
July 17, 2007

Pianist Mark Soskin has had a long and colorful career. Over the expanse of thirty-plus years he has been in varied settings. He was in the Latin music band Azteca before he went on to a fourteen-year association with Sonny Rollins. He has lived in New York City since 1981, where he continued to mark his presence with Sheila Jordan, Joe LaBarbera and Ravi Coltrane among others. He is at the helm here and with Chris Potter (saxophone), Bill Stewart ...