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The Mark Masters Ensemble: Blue Skylight
by Dan McClenaghan
Mark Masters has made his name in the banderleader/arranger arena fronting The Mark Master Ensemble, in various forms, with personal tributes to past masters: saxophonist Dewey Redman, Duke Ellington, trumpeter Clifford Brown, and present master, alto saxophonist Lee Konitz, who played as the featured artist on One Day With Lee (Capri Records (2000). These are all top notch recordings, affording Masters the opportunity to craft his own beguiling interpretations of the artistries of recognized giants of jazz. With ...
Continue ReadingThe Mark Masters Ensemble: Everything You Did: The Music of Walter Becker and Donald Fagen
by Jack Bowers
Another tribute album from leader / arranger Mark Masters whose splendid ensemble has previously paid homage to trumpeter Clifford Brown, saxophonist Lee Konitz, trombonist Jimmy Knepper and the Gershwin brothers (Porgy & Bess Redefined). This time around it's the music of Walter Becker and Donald Fagen, better known by their collective name, Steely Dan. The album, says Masters, is “a quartet recording with an ensemble," and said foursome is comprised of trumpeter Tim Hagans, tenor saxophonist Billy Harper, bassist Hamilton ...
Continue ReadingMark Masters Ensemble: Everything You Did - The Music of Walter Becker & Donald Fagen
by AAJ Italy Staff
Qual è stata la lezione degli Steely Dan? Avvicinare il pop al jazz. Semplice, no? Non proprio, perché Donald Fagen e Walter Becker avevano davanti a sé varie possibilità e infinite soluzioni di sintesi. Non hanno scelto certo quella più mainstream, più scontata. Non era da loro, professionisti e perfezionisti fino alla nausea. Costruivano melodiche accattivanti e seducenti (vogliamo parlare di “Deacon Blue"?) su un'impalcatura armonica più complicata, con tessiture articolate e brillanti. Si facevano accompagnare nelle interminabili session, da ...
Continue ReadingMark Masters: Everything You Did
by Dan McClenaghan
Rock band Steely Dan released Pretzel Logic (ABC) in 1974. The album was big, one its most successful. But with younger audiences unfamiliar with jazz, the disc surely must have caused some confusion, along the lines of: “What in the world is this 'East St. Louis Toodle-oo?' And what are they talking about with 'Parker's Band?'" The former tune, a three-minute instrumental, closed out side one and it was, of course, from the pen of composer/bandleader Duke Ellington. The latter, ...
Continue ReadingMark Masters: Everything You Did
by Jeff Dayton-Johnson
Bandleader/arranger Mark Masters has recorded a set of Steely Dan tunes with a big band, which can be set on the shelf next to his celebrated albums dedicated to the music of George Gershwin, Duke Ellington and Dewey Redman. A Dan jazz album makes sense. It's clear from the rock band's '70s albums that Donald Fagen and Walter Becker warmly loved jazz: the intro to their hit “Rikki Don't Lose That Number" is lifted directly from pianist Horace Silver's “Song ...
Continue ReadingMark Masters Ensemble: Ellington Saxophone Encounters
by Greg Simmons
It could be argued that the core of bandleader Duke Ellington's wonderful textural sound was the way he harmonized his reed section, with great woody chords and lush polyphonic melodies. That reed section, with the great Johnny Hodges leading on alto, stalwarts like Paul Gonsalves on tenor and Harry Carney on baritone, as well as shorter-term itinerants like the incomparable tenor player Ben Webster, was one of the most well-oiled machines in jazz history. It was glorious. So ...
Continue ReadingMark Masters Ensemble: Ellington Saxophone Encounters
by Edward Blanco
Longtime big band arranger/bandleader Mark Masters happens to be President of the Pasadena, CA-based non-profit American Jazz Institute (AJI), while baritone saxophonist great Gary Smulyan sits on its Advisory Board. Together, the two have often joined forces on musical projects intended to foster and promote jazz; Ellington Saxophone Encounters is another one of their AJI collaborations, this time with the nine-piece Mark Masters Ensemble supplying the musical muscle.Don't be misled by the title of the album, this is ...
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