Product Description
Professor
M & M's Jive Detector is a super cool, very bluesy
instrumental jazz hit (in Bb lead-sheet format here, for tenor sax or other Bb instruments.) from pianist Mark
Massey's breakthrough jazz LP: API: Acoustic Piano
International. The piano and tenor sax interact, with sax and
piano doubling the main melody (performed by guest saxophonist Plas
Johnson--famed "Wrecking Crew" sax/woodwind player who was
featured on The Pink Panther Theme), plus sax and piano
in blues interplay and counterpoint. It's a great vehicle for musical
interplay, blues/jazz improvisation, and laid-back bluesy rhythm
section grooves. The API track featured Plas Johnson
on sax backed by the Mark Massey trio, with Eric Stiller on acoustic
bass and Aldo Bentivegna on drums.
ABOUT MARK:
In
2018, the California State Assembly and the Los Angeles County Board
of Supervisors issued proclamations recognizing Mark Massey as a
"Jazz Living Legend." Jazz pianist-composer Mark
Massey was born and raised in Lynwood, California, where he showed
early talent on piano, trombone, and drums. During high school, he
studied classical piano and played in the bands Synopsis (with
future trumpet giant Wayne Bergeron), and Sabor (with
Poncho Sanchez and the Banda Brothers). Mark played in the Pico
Rivera Stage Band, which won First Place at the Hollywood Bowl
Battle of the Bands. Mark graduated from California State University,
Long Beach (with Bachelors and Masters degrees in Music), where he
was recipient of the Carmen Dragon Fellowship for composition and he
was dubbed "A Young Giant" by the National Association Of
Jazz Educators.
Mark
has performed throughout the U.S., Europe, the former Soviet Union
(in the 1980s), Russia (2001), the Far East and India. He has worked
with Larry Carlton, David Benoit, Paul Horn, Hubert Laws, Louie
Bellson, the Side Street Strutters, Phil Upchurch, L. Subramaniam,
Freddie Hubbard, Maynard Ferguson, Yehudi Menuhin, Stéphane
Grappelli, and Tony Williams. Mark was featured in "The Four
Pianos In Concert" series along with pianists Paul Smith, Pete
Jolly and Steve Allen.
Mark
Massey's debut CD, Acoustic Piano International, has received wide
airplay on jazz radio. "API" featured nine of Mark's
original jazz compositions--including Professor M&M's
Jive Detector, offered here--inspired by his musical excursions
around the globe, along with Eric Stiller (bass) and Aldo Bentivegna
(drums), and guest artists Alex Acuña, percussion (Weather Report),
Justo Almario, flute (Mongo Santamaria), Plas Johnson, tenor sax (The
Pink Panther Theme), Bob Mintzer, soprano sax (The Yellow Jackets),
and Ron Stout, flugelhorn,
More
recently, Mark has been recording his iconic "Jazz Thoughts for
the Day" albums of original jazz improvisional compositions for
each day of the year. "Jazz Thoughts" for the months of
January through July have thus far been issued.
COMMENTS
FROM MAJOR CRITIC REVIEWS OF MARK MASSEY:
"Mark
Massey is awfully good. His friendly, lyrical, melodic piano has a
sound unto itself, API Coverbop and post-bop influenced,
contemporarily informed, and languishing solidly in the modern
mainstream. ...This is a very good trio that is together in many
aspects of jazz expressionism. In larger, more interactive settings,
Massey proves he has ideas that work well. ...Massey's talent being
exposed is a breakthrough. A majority of jazz listeners should find
this a worthwhile purchase, and a keeper. Recommended.
----MICHAEL
G. NASTOS, ALL MUSIC GUIDE (CD review of "Acoustic
Piano International")
Mark
Massey is an excellent straight-ahead pianist who often appears in
the L.A. area. ...his playing is consistently appealing. Of the trio
numbers, the often-introspective "Flowers For Dorothy," the
This product was created by a member of ArrangeMe, Hal Leonard's global self-publishing community of independent composers, arrangers, and songwriters. ArrangeMe allows for the publication of unique arrangements of both popular titles and original compositions from a wide variety of voices and backgrounds.