BIRD & BECKETT CULTURAL LEGACY PROJECT

Sunday, April 12th – 4:30-6:30 pm
Mark Levine Trio

Mark Levine wrote the book on jazz piano… specifically, The Jazz Piano Book (Sher Music, 2005 — but originally published in 1989), and has been instrumental in the education of many thousands of  jazz pianists… He himself studied in Boston and New York with legendary figures Hal Overton, Herb Pomeroy and Jaki Byard.

Along the way, Mark has shared the bandstand and recording studio with, among others, Woody Shaw, Bobby Hutcherson, Freddie Hubbard, Wallace Roney, Tito Puente, Milt Jackson, James Moody, Art Farmer, Dizzy Gillespie, Sonny Fortune, Eddie Harris, Stefon Harris, Eddie Henderson, Conrad Herwig, Clark Terry, Ingrid Jensen, Charlie Rouse, Bobby Watson, Chet Baker, Philip Harper, Mark Murphy, Art Pepper, Julian Priester, Bobby Shew, Steve Turre, Madeline Eastman, Enrique Pla and Poncho Sanchez… with particularly fruitful and intense extended stints with trumpeter Blue Mitchell and sax giants Joe Henderson, Harold Land and Dave Liebman, and with with latin jazz titans Mongo Santamaria,  Willie Bobo, Moacir Santos, Pete Escovido, Cal Tjader and Francisco Aguabella…

Mark has just recently published another book, called The Menu: How to Voice Standards at the Piano.  He recently returned from playing a jazz festival in San Luis Potosi in Mexico, and has been playing (with John Wiitala and Ron Marabuto) with Turkish saxophonist Hafez Modir. They have a gig coming up at the California Jazz Academy on May 22.Mark has invited trumpet player Chuck Mackinnon to sit in on his gig at Bird & Beckett on April 12.

Come hear all that Mark brings to the piano at Bird & Beckett this Sunday!