Mark Walker + The Rhythm of the Americas Quartet in Concert

Feldman Geospatial presents Marc Walker + The Rhythm of the Americas Quartet in Concert featuring Edmar Colon on sax, Alain Mallet on keyboards, Oscar Stagnaro on bass and Mark Walker on drums on Thursday, March 28 at 6 pm at Long Live Roxbury, a craft brewery and taproom in Boston.

This show replaces the Alon Yavnai Quartet due to an unexpected change in schedules.

Drummer, composer and educator Mark Walker has been one of the most respected names on the jazz scene for four decades. He has performed on five continents with some of the best musicians in the world and appears on over 75 recordings, including two Grammy® Award-winning albums, four Latin Grammy®-winning albums, seven Grammy®-nominated albums and one Latin Grammy®-nominated album.

In the early 1990’s Walker toured the US, South America and Europe and recorded with legendary pianist/composer Lyle Mays (Pat Metheny Group) in a quartet featuring bassist Marc Johnson and saxophonist Bob Sheppard. This experience refined Walker’s musicianship, challenging and influencing him on a deep level in his performance and compositionally – which would later show itself in his future writing. At the suggestion of pianist Michel Camilo, Walker relocated to New York in 1995 and immediately got the gig with The Caribbean Jazz Project, featuring Paquito D’Rivera, Dave Samuels and Andy Narell. The band was similar to an international trade school, performing and arranging music using authentic rhythms of the Caribbean and South America in a jazz context. Members of the band were steeped in virtually all Latin American and Caribbean styles.

Hailing from Peru, Oscar Stagnaro studied at the Conservatory of Music in Lima while working extensively as a first-call session musician and live performer for many international artists and local bands. He moved to the U.S. in 1979, where he continued his studies with pianist/educator Mike Marra, and jazz great Jerry Bergonzi. Since then, Oscar has become one of the most in-demand performers the on the East Coast. His mastery of different music styles from jazz and fusion to Latin, Brazilian and South American music, has allowed him to travel the world performing with a virtual Who’s Who in the Latin and Jazz worlds respectively. Throughout his illustrious career, Oscar has accrued four Grammy® Awards with a total of six nominations.

Puerto Rican-born saxophonist, pianist, composer, arranger, educator Edmar Colón was awarded the prestigious Presidential Scholarship to attend Berklee College of Music with a dual major in Performance and Classical Composition, as well as a Masters’s degree in Global Studies at the prestigious Global Jazz Institute.

Colón has performed throughout the world, including at the Detroit Jazz Festival, Puerto Rico Heineken Jazz Festival, Toronto Jazz Festival, Panama Jazz Festival, Montreal Jazz Festival, and Monterey Jazz Festival, among others. Recently, he performed at the Kennedy Center for the Mary Lou Williams Jazz Festival, as well as the Abbey Lincoln tribute tour with GRAMMY-award winners Terri Lyne Carrington, Esperanza Spalding, Dianne Reeves, and Dee Dee Bridgewater.  Colón has performed with artists such as Bob “Rakalam” Moses, Joe Lovano, John Patitucci, Danilo Pérez, Danny Rivera, Hal Crook, Kenny Werner, Lionel Louke, John Michel Pilc, Patti Austin, Ledisi, Judith Hill, David Sanchez, Arturo Sandoval, George Garzone, Luis Enrique and Ivan Lins, among other notable artists.

Born in France, Alain Mallet moved to the States at the age of 21 to attend Berklee College of Music where he is now a professor in the ensemble and piano departments.
He has toured and recorded with some of the biggest names in Jazz and Pop including Phil Woods, Paul Simon, Paquito D’Rivera, Marc Johnson and Madeleine Peyroux.
He is a critically acclaimed producer, particularly for his work with Jonatha Brooke. His original compositions have been recorded by jazz greats such as Gary Burton, Dave Samuels and Paquito D’Rivera and published in the European Real Book (Sher Music).