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Event
The Mark Sweetman Trio
These days the number of jazz musicians that truly understand what it means to be a jazz musician is growing scarcer than mice in a cat pound. Refreshingly, Mark Sweetman, the Canadian-born drummer, has yet to divert from the spiritually enriched sound, soul and life that he discovered in his childhood. Born in Toronto, Sweetman recalls a vibrant jazz scene where he would spend night after night in the back of a jazz club called Bourbon St., sipping on ice water, soaking up the energy and melting away with the vibrant sound. There he witnessed tremendous acts like Bill Evans and Chet Baker who taught him what it meant to play with everything from the inside out. Perhaps his greatest influence came while witnessing guitarist Sonny Greenwich roar deep with a tone no other guitarist can duplicate.
In Sweetman, there is a lot of Greenwich. It is apparent in his spiritual mission and the joy and intensity that surround his music. Yet Greenwich was not the only power that awakened Sweetman's musical sense. There was also Sweetman's drum teacher whom he paired up with in Toronto when he was 16. Sweetman describes how his teacher was, totally into getting each student to find his own sound. With a definite focus on Coltrane, Elvin Jones, Miles Davis, and Tony Williams. It is in these drum lessons that Sweetman was taught more than just drums but life class where lessons about jazz theory soon became life lessons. In these pivotal moments Sweetman learned that the first rule of music was to never be afraid of producing one's own sound.
Sweetman unleashed his first cd in 1997, Inspired. As the title emphasizes, the seven tracks on the album are products of years of built up musical stimulation. The urgency to put out my own music was so great that I didn't have a choice, says Sweetman. I had spirituality in there that needed to get out for years. With a line up that includes such talents as Ralph Bowen, Dan Kleinman and Mike Boone, The Mark Sweetman Quartet is full of intensity representing a music that will take control of the mind and body as it continues to push deeper into more mystical depths. Ralph Bowen, the man as Sweetman refers to him, takes Coltrane's legacy into his own saxophone and gives the group its sparking electricity. A fellow Canadian, the two had met in the Toronto days when Ralph Bowen played with the son of Sweetman's drum teacher.
On a mission to record this vibrant sound, Sweetman went to go see Ralph at Ortlieb's Jazzhaus and recruited him in his musical quest. The deep natural sound of the group comes from Mike Boone who unselfishly plays the bass while Dan Kleinman floats around on the piano adding a sense of joy into the soulfully deep music. Four other world wide acclaimed cd's have been produced, with virtually the same quartet. Along the way Sweetman has picked as the only fortunate jazz band to open and Tour with the great Patty Labelle. Other venues over the last Thirty years include the great Kimmel center in Philadelphia, Various jazz venues and Festivals.
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LocationThe Living Room at 35 East (View)
35 East Lancaster Ave
ardmore, PA 19003
United States
Categories
| Kid Friendly: No |
| Dog Friendly: No |
| Non-Smoking: Yes! |
| Wheelchair Accessible: Yes! |
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