Mark Tonelli
West Point, New York, United States | INDIE
Music
Press
"...thoughtful and delightful... subtle and seemingly effortless is Mark Tonelli’s guitar playing... finger fire set to original compositions... Mark gets involvement from his group and yet has the patience that shows he’s completely comfortable to let the music do the talking... the listener gets to hear how clever Mark can turn phrases within phrases... Smartly, he finds the balance to let the listener know he’s the leader without being overbearing." - Don Mooney
“I found the ensemble to
be quite talented…Tonelli is quite an able composer… plenty of rich sonorities and blended voices… Nice stuff.”
- Jason Bivins
“…packed with stellar musicianship… Made every patron feel as if it was a personal jazzfest at their own living room.” - Darin Wakely
“Tonelli’s tone is pure and
reminiscent of the legends…
Powerful straight-up jazz guitar.”
- Fred Starr
“…Fans of pure jazz will find The Mark Tonelli Group’s self-titled debut to be well worth their time… Excellent jazz guitar album.” - Internet Ed
“…super musicians…an excellent experience.”
- Forrest Murphey
"... Tonelli has penned some very cogent compositions for our edification.....And, his group reveals them wondrously from the inside-out. All his sidemen ply their respective crafts prodigiously, creating a kind of a copious impovisational slate of cool jazz. The group presents a panoply of solid musical syncopation containing both a reassuring as well as a quiet quintessence of pure bebop.... The group sounds superb. Bravo guys!!" - George W. Carroll
"... this CD brims with a quieter, more satisfying intelligence... [Tonelli's] solos expertly shift between rhythmic phrases and warm flurries... a hard bop celebration... really good!" - Kenneth Egbert
“...the horn sections are brilliant in layered phrases.”
- Allaboutjazz.com
Discography
Full-Length CD's by The Mark Tonelli Group:
Chasing The Myth
The Mark Tonelli Group
Photos
Bio
"Packed with stellar musicianship," says Dallasmusic.com, The Mark Tonelli Group has been performing for two decades on the East Coast and North Texas areas.
The group has released two critically-acclaimed CD's, "The Mark Tonelli Group" and "Chasing The Myth" (MTonal Music). Mark’s music has been featured on National Public Radio (NPR), and he has won awards from Billboard Magazine and The Great American Song Contest for his songs.
The Mark Tonelli Group has performed at the 55 Bar, The Ft. Worth Jazz Festival, The Cottonwood Art Festival, The Dallas Museum of Art, The Bath House Cultural Center in Dallas, and on many concert series. The group was featured on the inaugural season of the award-winning and innovative web show The Digital Cafe Tour, sponsored by Fender, D'Addario, and Audix Microphones.
Mark has enjoyed a busy career as a sideman with artists such as Clay Aiken, Jon Faddis, Rita Moreno, Carol Channing, Lynn Seaton, Greg Bissonette, Ed Soph, The Coasters, Andrea McArdle, and The Platters.
Mark relocated to New York to accept a position as the guitarist for the West Point Band’s Jazz Knights, performing across the country at venues such as the Kennedy Center (Washington, D.C.), The Rock ‘n’ Roll Hall of Fame (Cleveland), the Jazz Showcase (Chicago), and the Count Basie Theatre (NJ). With the Jazz Knights Mark has performed with a who's who of jazz legends: Benny Golson, Billy Cobham, Bobby Watson, Randy Brecker, Steve Turre, Rufus Reid, and Bob Mintzer.
Mark has been featured on numerous recordings and television programs with the Jazz Knights such as the PBS special “Unity Through Diversity” with Serbian piano star Marina. His music is featured on the Jazz Knights CD “At First Light” and Allaboutjazz.com says of Mark's composing “the horn sections are brilliant in layered phrases.”
When not busy performing or composing, Mark can be found writing articles for magazines like Downbeat and Guitar Player, and teaching music at St. Thomas Aquinas College.
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