Jazz Articles about Mark Soskin

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Roger Glenn: Reachin'

by C. Andrew Hovan
July 23, 2026

Sticking with a trend that has continued to thrive over the years, Craft Records' Jazz Dispensary imprint is now celebrating its tenth anniversary. Following on the heels of their reissues of The Visitors' Motherland (Muse, 1975) and Joe Henderson's Tetragon (Milestone, 1968), they have now tapped into the West Coast scene so well documented by Fantasy Records in the mid-'70s. Alongside jazz stalwarts such as Bill Evans, Cal Tjader, and Stanley Turrentine, the label was also knee-deep in the fusion and ...

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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 ...

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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 ...

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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 ...

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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 ...

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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 ...

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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 ...