Jazz Articles about Mark Whitecage
About Mark Whitecage
Instrument: Saxophone, alto
Article Coverage | Calendar | Albums | Photos | Similar ArtistsThe Nu Band: In Memory of Mark Whitecage: The Nu Band Live At The Bopshop
by Mike Jurkovic
The fearless improvised legacy of veteran, free bop sax man Mark Whitecage may not hold a prominent place in the immediate lexicon of upstarts and legends, but the man could blow his horn. Whitecage could dice and slice a piece of music, solemn or otherwise, to shreds with his sharp metallic, testosterone tone then reassemble it seamlessly with his long, flowing phrases. So it is fitting and more than welcome that he brings it big time on this final recording ...
read moreNu Band: In Memory of Mark Whitecage: The Nu Band Live At The Bopshop
by Troy Dostert
One of the underappreciated veterans of free jazz, Mark Whitecage passed away in March of 2021, leaving a well-established legacy of strong recordings in which his searing yet soulful alto saxophone merged with many of the more visible figures on the scene. Joe McPhee, Anthony Braxton, and Annette Peacock are just a few of the luminaries who partnered with Whitecage over the years. Perhaps his most fruitful period was the late 1990s and early 2000s, alongside the musicians in the ...
read moreThe Nu Band: In Memory of Mark Whitecage: The Nu Band Live At The Bopshop
by Dan McClenaghan
Multiple reedman Mark Whitecage (1937-2021) may not have enjoyed the profile he deserved, but he was an extraordinary improvisational free-jazz force who recorded prolifically for CIMP Records. Bassist Joe Fonda, a member of Whitecage's Nu Band, enjoyed a forty year musical involvement with the man, and In Memory Of Mark Whitecage: The Nu Band Live At The Bop Shop is Fonda's posthumous tip of the hat to his old running mate. It is a recording bursting with the lifeforce --one ...
read moreMark Whitecage: BushWacked: A Spoken Opera
by Rex Butters
Mark Whitecage and The Bi-Coastal Orchestra step up to the podium to deliver the statement of sanity many people have been waiting on for five years. BushWacked takes aim at the deadly dada debacle that has inexplicably passed for government and foreign policy in the United States since the turn of the millennium. Whitecage and company surgically remove the masks from the gibbering ninnies and the slow-brained zombies who support them, using texts built of incisive previously published commentaries and ...
read moreMark Whitecage: BushWacked: A Spoken Opera
by Judith Insell
BushWacked takes a bold political stand, presenting a feeling through each track of anger, outrage and distrust of George W. Bush and his political regime. Joining Whitecage (alto sax and clarinet) are the members of the Bi-Coastal Orchestra: Rozanne Levine (alto and soprano clarinets), Bill Larimer (piano), Robert Mahaffay (drums) and Scott Steele (guitar), all of whom appear throughout as presenters of the spoken word material. The CD takes its text from news media excerpts (The Nation, ...
read moreMark Whitecage & The Bi-Coastal Orchestra: BushWacked
by Mark Corroto
It may be true that the “eye of the needle Jesus spoke of in the gospels has been widened by our current President Bush to allow for CEOs to drive their SUVs straight into heaven, but they won't, and they cannot, motor with their windows open as the voices of opposition grow louder. Such is the message from Mark Whitecage, saxophonist and leader of the Bi-Coastal Orchestra. Like recent recordings from Charlie Haden's Liberation Orchestra and the Chicago Underground Trio, ...
read moreMark Whitecage: Free Music with Purpose
by John Kelman
Now in his mid-sixties, saxophonist/clarinetist Mark Whitecage has seen jazz through almost all its periods, most noticeably from being the popular music of the day to its current regrettable state as a niche style. And with an all-encompassing interest, he has played it all. Starting at an early age he played in his father's various bands. “My first instrument," says Whitecage, “was a curved soprano; I was six years old and I couldn't fit anything else. I wanted to be ...
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