Home » Jazz Musicians » Mark Weinstein
Mark Weinstein
Flutist, composer and arranger, Mark Weinstein began his study of music at age six with piano lessons from the neighborhood teacher in Fort Green Projects in Brooklyn where he was raised. Between then and age 14 when he started to play trombone in Erasmus Hall High School, he tried clarinet and drums. Playing his first professional gig on trombone at 15, he added string bass, a common double in NYC at that time.
Mark learned to play Latin bass from Salsa bandleader Larry Harlow. He experimented playing trombone with Harlow’s band and three years later, along with Barry Rogers, formed Eddie Palmieri’s first trombone section, changing the sound of salsa forever. With his heart in jazz, Weinstein was a major contributor to the development of the salsa trombone playing and arranging. He extended jazz attitudes and techniques in his playing with salsa bands. His arrangements broadened the harmonic base of salsa while introducing folkloric elements for authenticity and depth. The only horn in a Latin jazz quintet led by Larry Harlow at the jam session band at Schenks Paramount Hotel in the Catskills, soloist and arranger with Charlie Palmieri in the first trumpet and trombone salsa band in NYC, arranger and featured soloist along with the great Cuban trumpet player Alfredo Chocolate Armenteros in Orchestra Harlow, and with the Panamanian giant Victer Paz in the La Playa Sextet, and with the Alegre All Stars, Mark’s playing and arranging was a major influence on Salsa trombone and brass writing in the 60s and 70s.
Mark continued to record with Eddie Palmieri, with Cal Tjader and with Tito Puente. He toured with Herbie Mann for years, played with Maynard Ferguson, and the big bands of Joe Henderson, Clark Terry, Jones and Lewis, Lionel Hampton, Duke Pearson and Kenny Dorham. In 1967 he wrote and recorded the Afro-Cuban jazz album, Cuban Roots for the legendary salsa producer Al Santiago. It revolutionized Latin jazz; combining authentic folkloric drum ensembles with harmonically complex extended jazz solos and arrangements. Chick Corea was on piano and the rhythm section included the finest and most knowledgeable Latin drummers: Julito Collazo, Tommy Lopez Sr. and Papaito (timbalero with La Sonora Matancera).
In the early 1970’s Mark took time off from music to earn a Ph.D in Philosophy with a specialization in mathematical logic. He became a college professor and remains so until this day. When he returned to the music scene in 1978 playing the flute, he wrote produced and recorded the Orisha Suites with singer Olympia Alfara, the great Colombian jazz pianist Eddy Martinez and percussionists Steve Berrios, Julito Collazo, Papaito and Papiro along with an Afro-Cuban chorus. Unreleased until recently, music from the Orisha Suites became the theme for Roger Dawson’s Sunday Salsa Show on WRVR.
Read moreTags
Mark Weinstein: In Jerusalem
by Hrayr Attarian
Flutist Mark Weinstein has made a career of fusing world music elements with jazzy sensibilities with finesse and style. On In Jerusalem he tackles the rich Hasidic heritage of song. He and his band interpret both secular and religious tunes as well as original compositions with delightful spontaneity and ethereal diapason. The Sabbath hymn Repozaras" opens with Weinstein's flute dancing over bassist Gilad Abro's oud like strums and dual thumping gallop of drummer Haim Peskoff and percussionist Gilad ...
read moreMark Weinstein: Latin Jazz Underground
by Dan Bilawsky
Has flautist Mark Weinstein run out of ideas on how to merge various dialects of Latin jazz with other musical tongues? The answer is a resounding no." Latin Jazz Underground finds Weinstein saluting the loft jazz scene of the '70s by tackling the work of jazz iconoclasts-turned-icons--pianist Andrew Hill and saxophonists Ornette Coleman and Sam Rivers--and like- minded originals. That concept, in and of itself, doesn't distinguish this project, as plenty of people have traveled down those thorny paths, so ...
read moreMark Weinstein: Todo Corazon
by Dan Bilawsky
Mark Weinstein's modus operandi is simple: He follows his interests at any given time. He found success as a groundbreaking salsa trombonist early on, but that didn't stop him from leaving his horn behind and entering the realm of academia. He earned a Ph.D in Philosophy, with a specialization in mathematical logic, and started teaching at the college level, but music's magnetic effect pulled him back into performing. He returned to the scene in the late '70s, born anew as ...
read moreMark Weinstein: El Cumbanchero
by Dan Bilawsky
Exploring music with the intellect of an ethnomusicologist, the imagination of an artist, and the technical savvy and musical know-how to combine the two is no easy feat, but Mark Weinstein is more than capable of pulling it off. For the flautist's latest Latin feast, he turned his attention toward a fusion of jazz and charanga music, a form of Cuban music that features the flute as the lead voice in an ensemble that also contains a string section, percussion, ...
read moreMark Weinstein: Jazz Brasil
by Raul d'Gama Rose
Mark Weinstein has quietly established himself as one of the most wildly inventive flutists in modern memory. He is also one of the finest virtuoso players in the entire spectrum of 20th and 21st century music. His only rivals may well be the late Eric Dolphy, the Canadians, Jane Bunnett and Bill McBirnie, and, of course, the great James Galway. Weinstein is radically different from Dolphy, who imparted a speech-like quality to his flute, inspiring the mighty John Coltrane in ...
read moreMark Weinstein: Jazz Brasil
by Edward Blanco
Flautist Mark Weinstein has been a major force in the Latin jazz genre for some time, releasing projects almost yearly. Though the body of his discography falls squarely within the Afro-Cuban form which remains his passion, he has slowly gravitated towards the Brazilian sound, releasing three Brazilian-style projects, for Jazzheads, since 2005. On Jazz Brasil, Weinstein presents a selection of jazz standards, dipped in a Brazilian stew to add that special genre flavor to each track. Of course, what is ...
read moreMark Weinstein: Jazz Brasil
by Dan Bilawsky
Jazz Brasil continues flautist Mark Weinstein's odyssey through the world of Latin jazz. The former trombonist-turned-philosophy-professor-turned-flute-phenom has delivered a steady stream of Latin jazz releases that highlight material from well-known Latin American composers, deal with original material, and deliver Latin-ized takes on jazz classics. His previous release, Timbasa (Jazzheads Records, 2010), tackled Cuba with percussion-heavy gusto, and Weinstein now turns his sights westward from that locale, visiting the music of Brazil. Weinstein and his more-than-capable quartet cover ...
read moreAlbum of the Week: El Cumbanchero, Mark Weinstein
Source:
The Latin Jazz Corner by Chip Boaz
El Cumbanchero Mark Weinstein Jazzheads Cuba's musical history is vast and it holds a wide number of styles and approaches, but in many cases, Latin Jazz continues to investigate only a small slice of that musical horizon. In the early days of the style, Latin Jazz was built upon dance traditions, a natural fit which served the development of the style well. The use of Cuban dance styles didn't act as a starting point though; it ...
read more
Mark Weinstein QT (Mon) Kaiku (Tue) Kim Bock QT (Wed) Yoon Sun Choi and the E String Band (Thu) Jeremy Udden QT (Fri) This Week at Cornelia Street Cafe
Source:
Jim Eigo, Jazz Promo Services
CORNELIA STREET CAFE 29 Cornelia Street, NYC, New York212-989-9319 between West 4th and Bleecker Sts, Greenwich Village 1 Subway to Sheridan Square; A, C, E, B, D, V, F to West 4th St. This Week At Cornelia Street Cafe Mon Dec 17, 8:30PM MARK WEINSTEIN QUARTET Mark Weinstein, flutes;Santi Debriano, bass;Chembo Corniel, congas;Willie Martinez, drums;Misha Tsiganov, piano Tue Dec 18, 8:30PM KAIKU Jaana Kantola;Paula Jaakkola, vocals ...
read more
Mark Weinstein's Brazilian Quartet at Cornelia St. Cafe October 4
Source:
Two for the Show Media
Flautist/composer Mark Weinstein will be performing with his Brazilian Quartet at Cornelia Street Cafe in NYC on Wednesday, October 4th at 8:30 PM in Celebration of his recent Jazzheads Release O Nosso Amor.
Mark Weinstein (flutes); Nilson Matta, (bass); Helio Alvez (piano); Rogerio Boccato (drums) October 4th, 2006 Flautist/Composer Mark Weinstein Cornelia Street Cafe 29 Cornelia Street Greenwich Village, NYC For information call 212.989.9319 $8 cover, One Set: ...
read more
Mark Weinstein to perform at Cornelia St Cafe, NYC on August 30th, 2006
Source:
Two for the Show Media
Flautist/composer Mark Weinstein will be performing at Cornelia St. Cafe in NYC on Wednesday, August 30th at 8:30 PM in Celebration of his recent Jazzheads Release O Nosso Amor
Mark Weinstein (Flute), Ed Cherry (Guitar)
LISTINGS INFORMATION: Flautist/Composer Mark Weinstein, Cornelia St. Caf. 29 Cornelia St. Greenwich Village-NYC - For information call 212.989.9319,$8 cover, One Set: 8:30 pm
Nowadays few flutists and musicians can match the creative talent of Mark Weinstein. This man is a musical phenomenon"--Maximillien De Lafayette, World ...
read more
Mark Weinstein's New CD Release "O Nosso Amor"
Source:
All About Jazz
Mark Weinstein's New CD Release O Nosso Amor on Jazzheads Records Available May 9th, 2006
Weinstein, of course, is a jazzman, and a legend at that, particularly in the Afro-Latin/Afro-Cuban jazz sphere"--Shifra Tanzt
Mark Weinstein offers to the world his spectacularly beautiful new recording O Nosso Amor, a project that gloriously combines the superb musicianship and compositional talent of this brilliant jazz innovator. O Nosso Amor (the follow up to the critically acclaimed Algo Mas) displays the magic ...
read more
Photos
Music
El Cumbanchero
From: El CumbancheroBy Mark Weinstein