Mark Tonelli Trio
press release: Illinois-based guitarist and composer Mark Tonelli brings his trio to Cafe Coda. Before landing in Illinois, where he is director of guitar studies at Millikin University in Decatur, Mark had residencies in three major music hubs--- New York City, Dallas, and Kansas City. He has performed across the country in renowned venues including The Jazz Standard in NYC, The Jazz Showcase in Chicago, Blues Alley in Washington, D.C., Sharp Nine Gallery in Durham, NC, and The Blue Room in Kansas City, MO.
Mark has released three critically-acclaimed CD's on the MTonal Music label. The group performs Mark's award-winning original compositions as well as the music of David Bowie, Queen, and Tom Petty in unlikely but compelling jazz arrangements. Mark's music has been featured on National Public Radio's (NPR) All Things Considered, and he has been a winner or finalist in the Billboard Magazine World Song Contest, USA Songwriting Competition, and The Great American Song Contest.
Mark is also a member of saxophonist Arthur White's MERGE, a collective of musicians and composers that notable jazz journalist Scott Yanow calls "world-class players." MERGE's debut album, when you find it, was released in 2020 on the Artists Recording Collective label to critical acclaim. For ten years, Mark was the guitarist for the U.S. Army's West Point Jazz Knights, touring and performing in some of the nation's top venues and with a who's who of jazz legends including Benny Golson, Billy Cobham, Bobby Watson, Randy Brecker, Steve Turre, Rufus Reid, Bob Mintzer, John Riley, Claudio Roditi, Adam Nussbaum, as well as the Boston Pops and the New York Philharmonic Brass Quintet.
Mark’s trio will feature Racine-based Nate Lienhard on bass, who for five years was the bassist in famed drummer Joe Morello’s trio; and Dr. Matthew Endres on drums, professor of drum set, jazz history and the UW Marching Band drumline coordinator at the University of Wisconsin. The group will play an eclectic mix of jazz standards and Mark’s original compositions.
https://www.mtonalmusic.com/
https://music.wisc.edu/faculty/matthew-endres/
https://www.facebook.com/mark.tonelli