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Dr. Mark Lomax, II

Critically acclaimed recording artist Dr. Mark Lomax, II has spent a lifetime in music. His father a pastor and mother, a composer of gospel music, introduced him to both gospel and jazz at an early age and he continued his study of gospel music with Dr. Raymond Wise, founder of the Center for the Gospel Arts. Besides performing with gospel choirs around the country, Lomax also boasts impressive jazz credentials. He toured with the Delfeayo Marsalis Sextet in 2005, and has worked with Clark Terry, Marlon Jordan, Azar Lawrence, Bennie Maupin, Billy Harper, Nicholas Payton, Ellis Marsalis, and Wessel Anderson, among others. Jazz Times says Lomax’s “forceful drumming would have made Elvin Jones proud.” Dr. Lomax holds a Doctor of Music Arts degree in composition from The Ohio State University. His myriad experiences have allowed him to create a wonderful blend of styles in his music. Whether he’s interpreting the Negro Spiritual through jazz, arranging gospel music for a symphony orchestra, or performing his original works, his music is relevant, probing, and inspiring. With his latest releases Blues People & The Art of Sound, Lomax synthesizes all his previous experiences, in gospel music, jazz, and classical music into a powerful personal concept. “It has never been about one or the other when it comes to human experience,” Lomax says. “It is always about the whole, the ability to celebrate our differences while building upon our similarities.”

In addition to performing and composing, Mark has taught college preparatory theory classes in the Columbus Public School system. He is currently a Community Research and Grants Manager at The Columbus Foundation and a lecturer specializing in the socio-political, and spiritual aspect of African-American art musics, race and using the arts to build community.

Dr. Mark Lomax, II is happy to endorse RBH Drums (www.rbhdrumsusa.com) and is represented by Welgrum Music ([email protected]).

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17
Album Review

Mark Lomax, II and Edwin Bayard - Ogún Meji Duo: Freedom Suite

Read "Freedom Suite" reviewed by Karl Ackermann


More than half a century after Sonny Rollins' civil rights statement Freedom Suite (Riverside, 1958), we have not advanced enough as a species to lay such sentiments to rest. The Ogún Meji Duo—drummer Mark Lomax, II and saxophonist Edwin Bayard—honor Rollins and the suite, with a new and different interpretation of his seminal work. This is the tenth release from the Ohio-based duo and it means to retain the spirit of the original work while bringing new energy to Rollins' ...

14
Album Review

Bayard, Hulett, Lomax: Trio Plays Mingus

Read "Trio Plays Mingus" reviewed by Karl Ackermann


In the year that would have been Charles Mingus' one-hundredth birthday, there is no shortage of reissues, tribute albums, and previously unreleased sessions such as The Lost Album from Ronnie Scott's (Resonance Records, 2022). But for drummer & composer Mark Lomax, the musical legacy of Mingus has special meaning. His Trio Plays Mingus gives new life to classic Mingus compositions and incorporates a couple of lesser-known works. Mingus preferred the big band format, and recorded only one leader ...

25
Album Review

The Ogún Meji Duo featuring Dr. Mark Lomax, II and Edwin Bayard: #BLACKLIVESMATTER

Read "#BLACKLIVESMATTER" reviewed by Karl Ackermann


The Ogún Meji Duo is drummer/composer/educator Dr. Mark Lomax, II and tenor saxophonist Edwin Bayard. The pair have worked together regularly in duo, trio, and quartet settings, and notably on Lomax' groundbreaking 12-CD digital box-set 400: An Afrikan Epic (CFG Multimedia, 2019). That collection recounts the four-hundred-year history of black people in America from 1619 Jamestown to the current condition of our country. #BLACKLIVESMATTER was recorded in 2014 to memorialize the hundreds of black, unarmed Americans who lost their lives ...

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Live Review

Mark Lomax II's 400: An Afrikan Epic at Lincoln Theatre

Read "Mark Lomax II's 400: An Afrikan Epic at Lincoln Theatre" reviewed by Mark Corroto


Mark Lomax II Lincoln Theatre 400: An Afrikan Epic Premier Columbus, OH January 26, 2019 Dr. Mark Lomax II had a problem. He was to premier his creation 400: An Afrikan Epic to a sold out audience at the historic Lincoln Theatre in Columbus, Ohio, but to do so, he was required to condense his three movement, twelve part heroic poem into a 45-minute performance. You get the feeling Lomax loves a challenge. Nearly ...

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Album Review

Dr. Mark Lomax, II: 400: An Afrikan Epic

Read "400: An Afrikan Epic" reviewed by Karl Ackermann


The origins of the continent's name are not clear, but in the language of most of its inhabitants, the spelling is Afrika. The colonizers from Portugal, Britain and France adulterated the spelling for uniformity to their own phonics beginning in the fifteenth century, as they launched the cultural marginalizing of tens of millions. Dr. Mark Lomax II chronicles the four-hundred-year history of Afrikan black people in America from the beginning of Jamestown slavery in 1619 to the current state of ...

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Album Review

Mark Lomax Trio: Isis and Osiris

Read "Isis and Osiris" reviewed by Dave Wayne


Record collectors and DJs are fond of the term “spiritual jazz." Like most colloquialisms, its meaning is nebulous and vague; more emotional than factual, more indicative of a feeling that the music projects, as opposed to a distinct lineage or coterie of musicians. For many, the term refers to jazz that incorporates African and Middle Eastern rhythmic and harmonic concepts, the application of abstruse philosophies such as Egyptology, overt displays of religious devotion (both Christian and non-Christian), and strong ties ...

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“Each of the seven movements of Lomax’s [Blues People] composition flowed seamlessly into the next, resulting in a continuous hour of powerful music.” - Jazz Columbus

“...a whole new paradigm for jazz drums that will leave you wrapped in on every beat.” - Improvijazzation

“(The State of Black America) is an impressively conceived and executed piece of work from the drummer-leader, one in which the gravitas of the title is adequately matched by the depth of both the composing and improvising of the trio.”- Kevin Le Gendre, Jazzwise Magazine (UK),

“This is a kind of playing that jazz would indeed be wise never to outgrow.” —Jeff Simon, Buffalo News

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Primary Instrument

Drums

Location

Columbus

Clinic/Workshop Information

Dr. Lomax is excited to uplift and edutain your students and community on a number of topics including: Black Composers, Jazz as Social Commentary, Black Music & Black Power in the Era of #BlackLivesMatter, and Talking Drums. Below are a few options that combine concert presentations with lecture/master class styled interactions. More information at: https://marklomaxii.com/presentations

Photos

Music

Recordings: As Leader | As Sideperson

Trio Plays Mingus

CFG Multimedia
2022

buy

Freedom Suite

CFG Multimedia
2022

buy

#BLACKLIVESMATTER

CFG Multimedia
2020

buy

400: An Afrikan Epic

CFG Multimedia
2019

buy

Drumversations

CFG Multimedia
2017

buy

Blues People

CFG Multimedia
2016

buy

400: An Afrikan Epic

From: 400: An Afrikan Epic
By Dr. Mark Lomax, II

Videos

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