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Madison Rast

Madison was born and raised in North Carolina and attended the prestigious North Carolina School of the Arts in Winston-Salem. He received a bachelor's degree in music performance and attended graduate school at Virginia Commonwealth University in Richmond, VA. There he received a masters degree in jazz performance. Madison moved to Philadelphia in September 1999 and now teaches at Bucks County Community College.

He performs on a regular basis at clubs in and around Philadelphia and often in New York. Madison has played with countless musicians known well in both the New York and Philly areas, including John Swana, Bootsie Barnes, Bobby Watson, Orrin Evans, Mickey Roker, Terell Stafford, Barry Harris and Jimmy Heath.

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39
Album Review

Jim Levendis: The Big Band Project

Read "The Big Band Project" reviewed by Jack Bowers


Jim Levendis knew that time was running out. In his mid-seventies, the veteran Philadelphia-area trumpeter and educator had contracted ALS (Lou Gehrig's disease), the effects of which were rapidly sapping his energy and ability to function. As the disease progressed, Levendis confided in Len Pierro, a band mate in the Ward Marston band, that there was one thing he would dearly love to do while he was still able: record some of the big-band arrangements he had written over the ...

11
Album Review

Orrin Evans and the Captain Black Big Band: The Intangible Between

Read "The Intangible Between" reviewed by Paul Rauch


Pianist Orrin Evans has a deep understanding of the unshakeable bond between fellowship, humanity and the creative process. That knowledge has guided him through creating a remarkable catalog of music as both a leader and sideman, along the way, experiencing the fellowship of a collective of musicians he often refers to as “The Village." The Village is indeed real, and most aptly expressed musically through the The Captain Black Big Band, Evans' ensemble of anywhere between nine and ...

9
Album Review

Michelle Lordi: Drive

Read "Drive" reviewed by Victor L. Schermer


It's difficult to conceive how this wonderful album of restrained and subtly rendered ballads came to be called Drive, a term which leads the listener to expect a package of revved up swing or rock. However, you don't have to be a cryptologist to realize that it comes from the last track, “Drive," which contains the line “Who's gonna drive you home?" This sense of melancholy and hoped for love, like so much of the American Songbook, is the essence ...

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Performance / Tour

Bassist Madison Rast In Cheltenham PA, Wed. December 4th

Bassist Madison Rast In Cheltenham PA, Wed. December 4th

Source: Jim Miller

The Jazz Bridge first Wednesdays Neighborhood Concerts Series at the Cheltenham Center for the Arts, 439 Ashbourne Road in Cheltenham PA, presents bassist Madison Rast on Wednesday, December 4th. Showtime is 7:30 p.m., tickets are $10/$5 for students, and are only available at the door. For info: 215-517-8337 or visit Jazz Bridge. In a region populated by some of the finest bassists in the world, Madison Rast stands as among the most accomplished and among the most in-demand. Rast, who ...

Photos

Concerts

Music

Recordings: As Leader | As Sideperson

Be Still

Blue Collar records
2023

buy

The Big Band Project

Self Produced
2022

buy

The Intangible Between

Smoke Sessions Records
2020

buy

Color Theory

Posi-Tone Records
2017

buy

Drive

Self Produced
2015

buy

I-5

From: Be Still
By Madison Rast

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