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Mads Tolling

"There is a generation of young string players who have come up with equal regard for the Bach Cello Suites and Jimi Hendrix’s Are You Experienced, for Beethoven’s String Quartets and the Mahavishnu Orchestra’s Inner Mounting Flame. They dig Dvorak, Debussy and Ravel but also have committed to memory John Coltrane’s A Love Supreme and Led Zeppelin IV.

"Violinist-composer-arranger Mads Tolling is definitely in that number. As a longstanding member for the last six years of both the fearless, genre-hopping Turtle Island Quartet and also bassist extraordinaire Stanley Clarke’s band, he is quite accustomed to shattering boundaries and pushing the envelope while dealing in the longstanding tradition of musical cross-fertilization (aka ‘fusion’). 'Being in those groups has influenced me a lot.' says the Copenhagen native, a violin prodigy at age 10 who graduated Summa Cum Laude from the Berklee College of Music in 2003. 'I would not be able to make this album had it not been for the whole wealth of musical experiences that I’ve gone through in those bands....'”

Liner notes by Bill Milkowski

"The Playmaker"

(Street date: October 20, 2009)

Mads Tolling, internationally renowned violinist, violist, and composer, is a member of the Grammy Award-Winning Turtle Island Quartet. As violist with the quartet, 2003-2007 and now as 1st violinist, 2007-present, he maintains an active touring and recording schedule as well as composing and giving master classes. As a soloist, he regularly tours as jazz violinist with the acclaimed bassist Stanley Clarke and his touring band. In 2006 as part of Turtle Island Quartet Mads won a Grammy for Best Classical Crossover album, "4+Four". For 2008 Mads is once again nominated for a Grammy with Turtle Island, this time for "A Love Supreme - The Legacy of John Coltrane". Tolling has received Denmark's Sankt Annae's Award for Musical Excellence as well as grants from Queen Margaret, the Sonning Foundation and the Berklee Elvin Jones Award. He has performed with Paquito d'Rivera, Kenny Barron, Joe Lovano, Stefon Harris, The Assad Brothers and Leo Kottke.

In 2007 Mads Tolling started his own trio and immediately recorded the album "Speed of light". The following year the trio expanded to a quartet. In it are some of the top Bay Area musicians, including Mike Abraham, guitar, George Ban-Weiss, bass and Eric Garland, drums. Mads Tolling Quartet plays all over the San Francisco Bay Area including Yoshi's and Yerba Buena Gardens and will tour nationally and internationally in 2009.

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8
Album Review

Bob Weir: Ace - 50th Anniversary Deluxe Edition (2CD)

Read "Ace - 50th Anniversary Deluxe Edition (2CD)" reviewed by Doug Collette


Befitting its heady milestone date, the title of Bob Weir's initial solo album, Ace, carries multiple meanings. First of all, it was the Grateful Dead guitarist, vocalist & songwriter's nickname at the time of its gestation and completion (his bawdy persona as such mirrored in the ultra-suave pose on the inside photo as well as the risque cover art). More importantly, the album's name is also a reflection of the gambling lore so prevalent in songs of the ...

9
Album Review

Daggerboard & The Skipper: Daggerboard And the Skipper

Read "Daggerboard And the Skipper" reviewed by Dan McClenaghan


For those who think they can tell an album's sound by its cover, think again in the case of Daggerboard and The Skipper. That cover art seems to have come from the walls of an inner sanctum of a Pre-Columbian pyramid. So what kind of music will that be? It is hard to find information on this release. Daggerboard seems to consist of the workings of percussionist/songwriter Gregory Howe and trumpeter/flugelhornist/songwriter Erik Jekabson, of Throttle Elevator Music fame, ...

6
Album Review

Zeena Quinn: Going My Way

Read "Going My Way" reviewed by Jack Bowers


With so many singers these days competing to tempt the ears of an ever-shrinking jazz audience, success often rests not only on the talents of the vocalist but on the songs he or she chooses to interpret. On Going My Way, San Francisco-based vocalist Zeena Quinn puts her best foot forward on the opening numbers, “Lover" and “So in Love" (it's hard to go astray with Rodgers and Hart or Cole Porter) but it takes her quite a while to ...

2
Album Review

Mads Tolling and the Mads Men: Playing the 60s

Read "Playing the 60s" reviewed by C. Michael Bailey


From the first arco tones, something sounds very familiar, yet hard to identify. The tone in question is big and full, dry, but not too much so. Were this tone a libation, it would be an Old Fashion. Sleek and commanding, yes, this makes me think of Svend Asmussen. This should be no surprise both wunderkind Mads Tolling and Asmussen are Danes with solid technical ability on the violin and a prodigious knowledge of the jazz songbook. Assmussen has just ...

3
Album Review

Mads Tolling Quartet: Celebrating Jean-Luc Ponty

Read "Celebrating Jean-Luc Ponty" reviewed by Glenn Astarita


Mads Tolling spent nine prominent years with the Turtle Island Quartet; here, with his quartet, the Grammy Award-winning violinist hails Jean Luc-Ponty at Yoshi's jazz venue in Oakland, CA. Tolling contributes two original compositions to complement six Ponty-penned works, amid other pieces culled from the legendary French violinist's expansive discography. It's a bit sleeker, when directly contrasting Ponty's epic jazz-fusion Enigmatic Ocean (Atlantic, 1977). But Tolling turns up the heat via his intensely soaring unison choruses with ...

266
Album Review

Mads Tolling: The Playmaker

Read "The Playmaker" reviewed by Woodrow Wilkins


Former wide receiver Michael Irvin earned his nickname, “The Playmaker," for his leadership and performance with the Dallas Cowboys. Violinist Mads Tolling honors several others whose play-making proficiency has helped their teams, whether in the athletic arena or on the stage. A two-time Grammy Award-winner, Tolling is a native of Copenhagen, Denmark. He is a member of the Turtle Island Quartet, but has also performed with Al Di Meola, Kenny Barron, Paquito D'Rivera and Leo Kottke. For The ...

332
Album Review

Mads Tolling: The Playmaker

Read "The Playmaker" reviewed by John Kelman


He's been around for a few years as a member of the Turtle Island Quartet, but for some he's best known for his work on Stanley Clarke's welcome return to fusion, The Toys of Men (Heads Up, 2007). Either way, The Playmaker isn't the violinist's first release as a leader--that would be Speed of Light (Self Published, 2008)--but it's the first to expand his trio, featuring guitarist Mike Abraham and bassist George Ban- Weiss, to a more powerful quartet with ...

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Recording

The Mads Tolling Quartet's "Celebrating Jean-Luc Ponty-Live at Yoshi's" Set for May 15 Release

The Mads Tolling Quartet's "Celebrating Jean-Luc Ponty-Live at Yoshi's" Set for May 15 Release

Source: Michael Bloom Media Relations

Mads Tolling, internationally renowned violinist, is a double Grammy Award-winner with the Turtle Island Quartet. Since 2007 Mads has led his own group, The Mads Tolling Quartet, and released three albums - with the latest, Celebrating Jean-Luc Ponty - Live at Yoshi's, coming out on May 15 of this year. His previous recording, the critically acclaimed “The Playmaker," features bass legend Stanley Clarke and jazz greats Russell Ferrante & Stefon Harris. Mads grew up in Copenhagen, Denmark and moved to ...

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Recording

Jazz Violinist Mads Tolling Releases the Playmaker, a Salute to Sports and Music Greats

Jazz Violinist Mads Tolling Releases the Playmaker, a Salute to Sports and Music Greats

Source: Michael Bloom Media Relations

Mads Tolling, internationally renowned violinist, violist, and composer, is a two-time Grammy Award winner. He is currently a member of the Turtle Island Quartet and soloist with bassist Stanley Clarke’s band. Born and raised in Copenhagen, Denmark, Mads moved to Boston to study at Berkeley College of Music. Mads was immediately recognized as a fresh voice in jazz, and his career went into full swing performing with top artists such as Al Di Meola, Kenny Barron, Paquito d'Rivera & Leo ...

“Tolling has a real gift for blending an unaffected folksy sound with sparse jazz licks that are the perfect complement to the atmospheric ambiance that grace most of these tracks. While Tolling is skilled at evoking a beautiful melody, he’s equally adept at filling out the sound with powerful double-stops and intricate harmonics…..” -Strings Magazine

“Mads Tolling Quartet Fires Up Oakland Venue Yoshi's with Furious Sound”…. “Mads' solo on "Star-maker Machinery" brought the house down and rightly so.” -The Daily Californian

“Now, as a bandleader, he'll showcase not just his flying bow and creatively nimble improvisation but also his eclectic arrangements…..” -SF Bay Guardian

“The set concluded with bassist Stanley Clarke’s tribute to Coltrane, "Song to John," played in a complex but musically gripping arrangement by Tolling.” -LA Times

“……with Tolling a dominant voice, also reminiscent of Jean-Luc Ponty’s more finessed fusion…..” -All About Jazz

“……Tolling's “Danish Dessert”, with a snappy New Age kind of swing, was a big hit……” -Grand Rapids Press

“……The beautiful viola sounds of Mads Tolling…… I can’t remember the last time I heard a viola being played so gorgeously.” -The West Australian

“A high point was Tolling's emulation of horn stylings from the era on "Resolution," mixing bursts of notes and drawn out higher tones, although his phrasing was more contemporary and glided smoother than Coltrane.” -All About Jazz

Primary Instrument

Violin

Willing to teach

Advanced only

Credentials/Background

Mads Tolling is a clinician for Yamaha and has given multiple masterclasses at various cities, including Vancouver, Toronto, Saskatoon, Montreal, Visalia, Los Angeles. Mads recently did a workshop at Mcqueen Highschool in Reno, NV.

Mads has in addition taught at Mark O'Connor's fiddle camp in San Diego in 2008.

Mads has a small roster of private students studying jazz violin.

Clinic/Workshop Information

Mads Tolling is a clinician for Yamaha and has given multiple masterclasses at various cities, including Vancouver, Toronto, Saskatoon, Montreal, Visalia, Los Angeles

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Photos

Concerts

Music

Recordings: As Leader | As Sideperson

In The Rain Shadow

Self Produced
2023

buy

Daggerboard And the...

Wide Hive Records
2022

buy

Going My Way

Self Produced
2020

buy

Interconnected

Self Produced
2020

buy

Playing the 60s

Self Produced
2017

buy

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