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Tue, Sep. 5 2006

The Berklee Brothers are the rhythm team of drummer Mark Walker (USA) and bassist Oscar Stagnaro (Peru). They have been performing together for over a decade with Paquito D'Rivera, Caribbean Jazz Project, Andy Narell, Dave Liebman, the WDR Big Band, NDR Big Band and many more. They also happen to be professors at Berklee College of Music in Boston.

Augmented by various musicians, they fuse the spontanaety and swing of jazz with the rhythms of South America and the Caribbean. Upcoming performances in clude TCAN on September 15th and the Berklee Performance Center on September 27th. The band will include pianist Alain Mallet (France), saxophonist Daniel Ian Smith (USA) and percussionist Ernesto Diaz (Colombia).

Wednesday, Sept 27th, 8:15pm
Berklee Performance Center, 136 Massachussetts Ave. Boston, MA 02115
Mark Walker - Drums
Alain Mallet - Piano, Melodica
Daniel Ian Smith - Tenor, Alto and Soprano Saxophones
Oscar Stagnaro - Electric Bass
Ernesto Diaz - Congas, Percussion
with special guests
Ron Reid - Steel Pan
Paulo Stagnaro - Cajon, Percussion
"Berklee Brothers...You give us 45 minutes, we'll give you the world..."

Upcoming recording projects
Thu, Aug. 17 2006

Mark recorded with Saxophonist/Clarinetist Paquito D'Rivera at the MCG in Pittsburgh, PA in March of this year. The band featured musicians from Colombia, Peru, Curacao, Argentina, Israel, Cuba and the USA. The record should be out early 2007.

Mark also recorded with Dave Samuels and the original line-up of the Caribbean Jazz Project (with Paquito D'Rivera and Andy Narell), while at MCG. The band recorded 3 tracks, which are now included on the new CJP record "Mosaic", on Concord records.

Mark will be heard on four of the six tracks of steel pan virtuoso Andy Narell's forthcoming release on HeadsUp International.

Oregon (featuring Ralph Towner) is planning to record a new album at Tonstudio Bauer in Ludwigsburg, Germany in November 2006, after a tour of Europe.

Mark will be part of a new project Paquito D'Rivera will be recording in NYC in October using traditional rhythms of Curacao. The key player will be percussionist Pernell Saturnino, who is coordinating the project. A tour of the Caribbean will be planned for the release of this recording, sometime in 2007.

Mark will also be recording with Uruguayan guitarist/pianist Beledo while in NYC, playing music based on the Candombe rhythm from Uruguay.

Mark is producing a compilation CD featuring the percussion faculty from berklee College of Music. This will coincide with the recording of his own solo project.

"The Perfect Situation": an article about Mark in the Natick Bulletin and Tab on townonline.com
"Unbeatable, hopefully": an article about Mark in the Natick, MA, MetroWest Daily News.

New CD Releases:

NEW RELEASE! "Prime", the new CD from Oregon is released on Sept 13th on CamJazz! "Latin Jazz Latino"
Joe Gallardo & NDR BIGBAND recorded in Germany during Mark's most recent tour. "Paquito D'Rivera's rythm section... was invited especially for this recording. Oscar Stagnaro, Alon Yavnai and Mark Walker lay down the heat for the always alert NDR Bigband." Read the rest of the review here.
CD available from Skip Records.

"Here and Now - the Caribbean Jazz Project Live in Concert" (2-CD set on Concord records). This was recorded at MCG in Pittsburgh, PA, while Mark was suffering from a bacterial infection in his left elbow -- a drug-induced, but inspired performance.

"Schuur Fire" Diane Schuur and the Caribbean Jazz Project featuring Dave Samuels (April 1st release on Concord)

Mavis Staples - Mark is heard on percussion with guitarist Dave Onderdonk on a track for an upcoming release by Mavis Staples (the other Queen of Soul), produced by Jim Tullio and recorded in Chicago.

Chicago Children's Choir - Mark plays drums and percussion on three songs (www.ccchoir.org). Recorded in Chicago at Deaf Dog.

Cathy Richardson Band - Mark plays drums and percussion on nine songs (www.crband.com). Recorded in Chicago at Deaf Dog.

Jon Weber (genius pianist from Chicago) - "Simple Complex" featuring Gary Burton, Eric Alexander, Avishai Cohen, Diego Urcola and others. [This is dynamite!!!---vw] www.jonwebermusic.com

Paquito D'Rivera/ WDR big band/Claudio Roditi/Oscar Stagnaro, Mark Walker/ Pernell Saturnino/ Bill Dobbins "Big Band Time" (Termidor/Universal)

Jim Ridl's "Door in a Field" (Dreambox Media) with Jim Ridl - piano, Daryll Hall - bass, MW- drums. www.jimridl.com

Dave Gordon "Faux Real" (Southport) www.davegordonmusic.com

Andrew Sterman "Blue Canvas With Spiral" (Paxloon Music) Featuring Fred Hersch, Rashied Ali, Steve Rodby, Erik Friedlander, Bob Palmieri, Mick Rossi, Mark Walker and others. www.andrewsterman.com

Educational Activities:

Associate Professor of Percussion at Berklee College of Music; teaching Brazilian percussion and all-around drumset; Presenting new course: "South American Rhythms for Drumset"

Spring 2003:

new paquito d'rivera big band cd !!!

"Big Band Time" featuring Paquito, Claudio Roditi, Oscar Stagnaro, Mark Walker, Pernell Saturnino and WDR Big Band directed by Bill Dobbins has been released on Timba records in most European countries and North America!!

another grammy nomination

• Donato Poveda (Latin Pop): I recorded an album last year with Cuban singer/guitarist/composer Donato Poveda for the BMG label. Other players include Daniel Freiberg, Ira Siegel, Ruben Rodriguez and Marc Quinones. Not Latin Jazz, but a cross between Cuban music and James Taylor.
--Mark

45th Grammy Awards nominations:
Field 12 - Latin
Category 57 - Best Latin Pop Album
(Vocal or Instrumental.)
#3 "Bohemio Enamorado"
Donato Poveda
[BMG U.S. Latin]

recent sessions:

• Soundtrack to the Cuban film "La China Rosa"

• Chayanne (Latin Pop)

• Jim Ridl (Jazz)

• "Chameleon Drums 2" loop CD released through Sonic Stop (www.sonicstop.com):
Chameleon Drums #MWR01, featuring jazz and latin drummer Mark Walker, provides proof of the universal quality of music. Chameleon Drums is a rock/pop/dance/hip-hop acoustic drum library fused with a hint of Mark's latin sound that will startle and amaze you again and again. Wonderfully elegant rhythms in tempos ranging 65-140bpm are combined with breathtaking execution to produce an acoustic drum library that is definitely without equal in the world of loops today. This drum library serves as an excellent foundation to almost any style of music, hence the title. Chameleon Drums carries an MSRP of $34.95 and can be purchased separately or in a bundle for a discount of up to 20% off.

teaching:

• at Berklee College of MusicTues/Wed.; introducing a prototype lab this semester: "South American Rhythms for Drumset" features traditional rhythms of Brazil, Uruguay, Argentina, Venezuela, Colombia and Peru adapted to the drumset. I'm also planning an instructional book based on this course. • most Fridays at Drummers Collective

The video/DVD versions of Calle 54 are now out. Buy it here (DVD) or here (VHS).

• Check out the Andy Narell CD on Heads Up: Fire in the Engine Room on which Mark joined steel pan virtuoso Andy Narell for several tracks. Also featured were fellow CJP alumni pianist Dario Eskenazi and bassist Oscar Stagnaro.

• Mark organized Percussion Extravaganza 2000, a concert featuring Double Image (vibists/marimbists Dave Samuels and David Friedman), percussion great Milton Cardona and Mark's trio, with pianist Dario Eskenazi and bassist Oscar Stagnaro at New Jersey Performing Arts Center (NJPAC) on March 12, 2000.

• During the winter of 2000-01, Mark juggled tours with both Paquito's quintet (most of November) and Oregon (November-December), coming back long enough to spend the holidays with Michelle and Evan Ray. Then it was off to Germany again for a gig with the NDR Radio Big Band of Hamburg, directed by Joe Gallardo and featuring Dario Eskenazi on piano and Oscar Stagnaro on electric bass. And the Oregon Spring tour started in March 2001. Frequent flier miles are piling up....

• Oregon's latest CD, Oregon in Moscow, was nominated for four Grammies!! The double CD was released on the Intuition label in September, 2000. (Listen to cuts and get it at Amazon.com!) Critical reaction was a definite thumbs-up:
• Down Beat reviewed the CD in their November "hot box," a lead review written by four different journalists (John Mc Donough, John Ephland, John Corbett and Jim Macnie).
• Jazziz magazine featured the CD in a jazz-classical overview story in their January issue.
• jazzwise in England flipped. They did a big feature.
• Jazz FM, London is playing it day and night.
• Oregon In Moscow was the record of the month in Scala, the biggest magazine for classical and jazz music.
• Take a look at Rich Breen's page of pix from Oregon's 1999 sessions in Russia!

• The November 2000 issue of Modern Drummercarried a Yamaha ad featuring Mark.

• The NYC showing of Calle 54, the documentary by Fernando Trueba ("Belle Epoque") ended in late October, 2000. Calle 54 is a fantastic sampler of Latin jazz greats, including Bebo and Chucho Valdes in a live duet, Michelo Camilo, Gato Barbieri, the lateTito Puente, and Paquito D'Rivera and his gang (including our boy MW on the drums). When we saw it in Manhattan, the jaded New York audience applauded each number... it's distributed by Miramax, and maybe if enough people bug them they'll send it to your town too; even better, bring it out on video! A Spanish-language interview between Trueba and Michel Camilo can be found here and a clip from the film here.

• Paquito D'Rivera's Tropicana Nights (Chesky) tied with Michel Camilo and Tomatito's "Spain" (Lola) to win the 2000 Latin Grammy in the category for Best Latin Jazz Album.

• March 2000, Montclair, NJ:
New Jersey Chamber Music Society’s [NJCMS] Percussion Extravaganzatook place on Sunday, March 12^th. Renowned percussion ensemble, Double Image with Dave Samuels and David Friedman, performed with clarinet/saxophonist Paquito D’Rivera, drummer Mark Walker, bassist Oscar Stagnaro, pianist Dario Eskenazi and percussionist Milton Cardona.

• January 2000:
Paquito's quintet (with special guest Leny Andrade, the First Lady of Brazilian Song) paid a unique tribute to Duke Ellington recently. In a January 6th concert in Punta del Este, Uruguay, they performed Ellington tunes in all kinds of traditional Caribbean and South American rhythms including Candombe (Uruguay), Festejo (Peru), Samba and Bossa Nova (Brazil), Tango (Argentina) and, of course, swing! The band was also joined onstage by Uruguayan drum master Oswaldo Fattoruso and two other percussionists playing Candombe on three traditional Uruguayan drums (it don't mean a thing if it ain't got that black beans & rice!) After the concert Mark, Dario and Oscar performed a set with Leny Andrade in a smaller venue, where she brought down the house.

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Mark Walker: North to Oregon

(text of interview by Robin Tolleson in Modern Drummer, September 1998)

• Mark Walker brings a lot of experience to Oregon's latest release, Northwest Passage, and to their live shows. "This musical situation is so wide-open, there really are no limits," the thirty-six-year-old drummer says. "I don't have to play like [previous band percussionists] Trilok Gurtu or Colin Walcott, although I love the way they played. I can draw from my Latin and Brazilian influences, classical--even funk and rock--as long as it's blended right dynamically. I'm set up on the front line, so I've had to develop a soft touch but try to get as much intensity as possible with the group."

• Walker has been performing with saxman Paquito D'Rivera since 1989, appearing on five releases including the Grammy-winner [Best Latin Jazz Performance] Portrait of Cuba. He also played with the Lyle Mays Quartet from 1992 to 1994, and has been playing with pianist Michel Camilo over the past year.

• Walker began blending hand drums into his drumkit a few years ago on an album he recorded with guitarist David Onderdonk called Loose Contact. That approach attracted the members of Oregon, but Mark didn't actually play with the band until the recording session for Northwest Passage. "I didn't have a preconceived setup," he explains. "It evolved into more of a small bebop kit--three toms, small bass drum, piccolo snare, cymbals up the wazoo--with percussion on the side. Mounted to the left of my hi-hat is a ceramic doumbek, and I play a large djembe to the left of that so I can get some different hand sounds and deeper bass sounds.

• "I'm one of the first to bring the bass drum sound into Oregon's live show," Walker continues. "At first they were a little unsure about it, but once I got the right blend in the sound, it didn't bug them at all. My preference for that group would be an 18-inch bass drum, but I'm forced to use all kinds of bass drums on the road, so I just do the best I can with what I've got."

• Walker studied drumset with Roy Knapp and jazz drummer Joel Spencer in Chicago, but he is completely self-taught on percussion. "I didn't start until I got a call for a jingle on percussion. The producer asked if I played percussion and I said, 'Oh yeah, of course I do.' So I went out and bought a bunch of stuff and showed up. It went pretty well and I thought, 'Maybe I can do this--I just have to learn how to get some sounds.'

• "Oregon is a very different kind of gig," Walker suggests, "because it's about creating something new. Besides written compositions, we play a lot of free pieces. I've always thought that they are one of the best improvising groups, and I wasn't sure if I'd be able to fit in. But we've really become one, which is the best thing you can hope for."