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Mark Guiliana was chosen as Best Jazz Drummer in the Modern Drummer Readers Poll 2017, while DownBeat dubbed him a Rising Star in its Critics Poll. JazzTimes aptly proclaimed: “Guiliana, a technical master with a rare sense of musicality, has over the past decade become one of the most influential drummers of his generation.
In association with Musicmaker
Mark Guiliana has become recognized as one of the world’s leading drummers, admired and in demand across the spectrum from jazz to rock to electronic music for his rhythmic sophistication, creative impulse, and individual sound. He has been in the vanguard of drummers creating a new vernacular on the instrument, blending virtuosity on acoustic drums with artfully deployed electronic beats and processing. Guiliana’s newest album as a leader – Jersey, released in September 2017 via Motéma Music – features his ever-compelling Jazz Quartet, with bassist Chris Morrissey, saxophonist Jason Rigby, and pianist Fabian Almazan. Describing the Jazz Quartet’s concept, Guiliana says: “Many of my releases as a leader have been driven by electronic-inspired beats and textures, but with Family First and now Jersey, it felt like the right time to present my music in an entirely acoustic environment. So the Jazz Quartet is my humble attempt to make a personal statement using the traditional palette of saxophone, piano, bass and drums. For the band, this lineup presents the challenge: How creative can we be inside this box – how much freedom and experimentation can we find? And I have to say that it’s always so exciting to hear the guys play this music in ways I never could have imagined.”
Guiliana was chosen as Best Jazz Drummer in the Modern Drummer Readers Poll 2017, while DownBeat dubbed him a Rising Star in its Critics Poll. JazzTimes aptly proclaimed: “Guiliana, a technical master with a rare sense of musicality, has over the past decade become one of the most influential drummers of his generation.” Along with leading his own groups – the acoustic Mark Guiliana Jazz Quartet and electronica-minded Beat Music – the drummer has appeared on a string of acclaimed recordings with others. The verve and precision of Guiliana’s drumming was a primer mover of Blackstar, David Bowie’s multiple Grammy Award-winning final album. Guiliana teamed with keyboardist Brad Mehldau as the duo Mehliana for the Nonesuch release Taming the Dragon, and he has also collaborated with such artists as saxophonist Donny McCaslin, guitar hero John Scofield, Soundgarden/Pearl Jam drummer-songwriter Matt Cameron, neo-soul singer-songwriter Meshell Ndegeocello, guitarist-vocalist Lionel Loueke, jazz bassist Avishai Cohen, reggae/hip-hop artist Matisyahu and jazz singer Gretchen Parlato.
Mark Guiliana’s astonishing, tentacular drumming alone confirms that Bowie’s last band, led by saxophonist Donny McCaslin, was one of his best, capable of anything.
The Guardian
Mark Guiliana, a technical master with a rare sense of musicality, has over the last decade become one of the most influential drummers of his generation.
JazzTimes
…a drummer around whom a cult of admiration has formed.
The New York Times
Rhythmic interplay and complex layers are key features of Guiliana’s style, so these characteristics permeated the entire set. The music is full of surprises, in form and content; in spite of this, the transitions were fluid, even when moving between radically different sections. Sometimes you’d wonder how the music arrived at its current point, so suddenly yet with such ease. Add to this the fact that Guiliana and his bandmates have a gift for intentionally blurring form, and you have an utterly absorbing musical experience, with beautiful twists and turns.
Jazzwise
Guiliana may well be at the forefront of an exciting new style of drumming…
Modern Drummer
What happens when you add hard bop drum masters Elvin Jones and Art Blakey to a 1980s Roland 808 drum machine, divide the result by J Dilla and then multiply to the power of Squarepusher? Answer: Mark Guiliana
Time Out London
…but it is Mark Guiliana – fast-becoming the most influential drummer of the new jazz generation following his starring role on David Bowie’s Blackstar – who is raising this still-emerging form to a new, more organic level.
Irish Times
For many observers, he’s the guy to watch if you want to know where the great art of drumming is right now— and where it could be headed.
Modern Drummer
Location of event
Venue Information - The Sugar Club
"It's a venue to die for. Wood panelled walls, plush banquette seating and a pristine sound system render the rest of Dublin's night-life cruddy in comparison."The Irish Times
After opening in 1963 The Irish Film Theatre closed its doors in 1985. It would be another 14 years before the space would be used again and so it was in August 1999 that The Sugar Club was born.