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Marilyn Mazur

Marilyn Mazur was born in New York in 1955. She has been living in Denmark since age six. As a child and teenager she played classical piano and danced ballet.

She started her musical career as a dancer with Creative Dance Theatre in 1971. As composer/pianist she formed her first band Zirenes in 1973. From 1975 she worked as percussionist, drummer and singer with various groups, and became known on the danish musicscene as the colorful percussionist/composer of the group Six Winds with drummer Alex Riel and as the leader of the all-women- musictheatre-group Primi Band.

Marilyn Mazur is educated at the Royal Danish Academy of Music, but is largely autodidact on her instruments, inspired by music from all over the world. She received the Ben Webster Award in 1983, and the same year started a jazz quartet with saxophonist Uffe Markussen. She continued to develope her very personal forms of musical communication with various - mostly european - artists.

In the beginning of 1985 she participated in the recording of Palle Mikkelborg’s "Aura" (CBS 463 351-2) with Miles Davis, who a few months later hired her for his band, with which she toured for long periods in most of the world. CD - Miles Davis: Live Around the World (Warner Bros 9 46032- 2). She also toured with Gil Evans Orch in 1986 - album: Gil Evans/Laurent Cugny Big Band Lumiere: "Rhythm-a-ning" (Emarcy 836401-2 & rerelease: Universal Music 836 401 - 2) and "Golden Hair" (Universal Music 838 773 - 2).

The year 1987 was dedicated to a world-tour with Wayne Shorter Quintet. In 1988 she was back with Miles Davis.

Some of the many other musicians she has been working with through the years are: Bobo Stensson/Rena Rama, John Tchicai, PierreDørge/NewJungle Orchestra (several records on Steeplechase), Thomas Clausen, Niels Henning Ørsted Pedersen, Jon Balke (CD: Further), Palle Mikkelborg & Dino Saluzzi, Kenneth Knudsen, Irene Schweizer, Lindsay Cooper, Peter Kowald, Arild Andersen, Andreas Vollenweider, Christy Doran, Charlie Mariano & Jasper van’t Hof (CD: Innuendo), Rita Marcotulli, Lena Willemark, Maria João, Don Alias, Marilyn Crispell, Eliane Elias and Marc Johnsson.

As a composer MM has a lifetime grant from the danish National Art Foundation. She also recieved prizes and grants from various other organisations.

In 1989 Marilyn Mazur decided to leave the Miles Davis- band in order to concentrate on creating concepts, music and the 7-piece international orchestra FUTURE SONG, which is still one of her main groups (CDs: Marilyn Mazur’s FUTURE SONG vBr 2105-2 + Small Labyrinths ECM 1559). This group does many special projects, i.e. with dancers and choir, but is especially characterized by very colorful concerts.

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9
Album Review

Palle Mikkelborg / Jakob Bro / Marilyn Mazur: Strands

Read "Strands" reviewed by Chris May


Like a door that keeps revolving in a half-forgotten dream, or the ripples from a pebble someone tosses in a stream... like a circle in a spiral, like a wheel within a wheel... and so on. There are more déjà vu moments in Strands than Marcel Proust could have waved a madeleine at. Three of the six tracks--"Gefion," “Lykaster" and “Oktober"--were first heard on guitarist Jakob Bro's ECM debut, Gefion (2015). Five of them--"Lykaster" and “Oktober" plus ...

15
Album Review

Palle Mikkelborg / Jakob Bro / Marilyn Mazur: Strands

Read "Strands" reviewed by Karl Ackermann


Strands brings together three of Denmark's finest artists, in their ancestral home. Palle Mikkelborg and Marilyn Mazur have a substantial history together, as does Jakob Bro but to a lesser extent. Bro penned five of the six compositions, one with Mikkelborg, who also contributed one of his pieces. In a storied career which dates to the '60s, Mikkelborg has recorded as a leader in only five previous projects. Nevertheless, his work with Dexter Gordon, Miles Davis, Gary Peacock, Terje Rypdal, ...

4
Album Review

Torben Westergaard: The Gori Project II

Read "The Gori Project II" reviewed by Geno Thackara


Sometimes an experience is too special and rewarding to simply leave as a one-off. If it requires traveling 8,300 kilometers across the hemisphere, then maybe you cannot continue making it a habit as regular as popping off to the pub on weekends, but the right repeat can still be worth the effort, even if it takes a few years. Or such has been the experience of Torben Westergaard with the lingering euphoria from 2019's The Gori Project (self produced), which ...

2
Radio & Podcasts

David Liebman & Jeff Coffin, Acamar Trio & More

Read "David Liebman & Jeff Coffin, Acamar Trio & More" reviewed by Maurice Hogue


Danish percussionist and drummer Marilyn Mazur has worked with some of the greats--Miles Davis, Wayne Shorter, Gil Evans, Jan Garbarek--but her latest project is unlike anything previously. She's assembled an ensemble of top women musicians from Scandinavia for her new Shamania release. It's a highlight of this episode of One Man's Jazz, and so is the return of the much-criticized Miles Davis release On the Corner. Saxophonists Jeff Coffin and Dave Liebman decided it was time to take another look ...

15
Album Review

Marilyn Mazur: Shamania

Read "Shamania" reviewed by Don Phipps


Marilyn Mazur's album Shamania is fascinating. Both impressionistic and abstract, it emphasizes wordless vocals and sounds while incorporating elements of global jazz and world music. The ten artists who play with Mazur are all women and hail from the Scandinavian avant-garde jazz scene. Mazur's compositions are like kaleidoscopic postcards. The set begins with the ethereal “New Secret," where vocals permeate over a soft, flowing rhythm as the music evolves into a bird-like dream. On the safari-sounding “Rytmeritual," the ...

Live Review

Reykjavik Jazz Festival 2018

Read "Reykjavik Jazz Festival 2018" reviewed by Luca Vitali


Reykjavik Jazz Festival Reykjavik, Iceland September 5-9, 2018 Iceland has produced, and continues to produce, many outstanding artists--some of them world-famous, such as Björk, Múm, Sigur Rós, Ólafur Arnalds, Gus Gus, Emiliana Torrini, Of Monsters and Men--which is quite remarkable if one thinks that the country has less than 350,000 inhabitants. 130,000 of these live in the capital, Reykjavik, the most Northerly European capital, vibrant and intriguing (even though perhaps not as much as the striking ...

Live Review

Reykjavik Jazz Festival 2018

Read "Reykjavik Jazz Festival 2018" reviewed by Luca Vitali


Reykjavik Jazz Festival Reykjavik, Islanda 5-9.9.2018 L'Islanda ha prodotto, e produce, una grande quantità di artisti, alcuni dei quali molto conosciuti a livello internazionale come Björk, Múm, Sigur Ros, Ólafur Arnalds, Gus Gus, Emiliana Torrini, Of Monsters and Men... il che, a pensarci bene, ha dell'incredibile, se pensiamo che il paese è popolato da meno di 350.000 abitanti, di cui ben 130.000 nella capitale Reykjavík -la più a Nord d'Europa, vivace e intrigante (anche ...

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6

Recording

New Symphonic Jazz By Jakob Buchanan, Featuring Aarhus Jazz Orchestra, Marilyn Mazur And Chopenhagen Royal Chapel Boys Choir with Conductor Carsten Seyer-Hansen

New Symphonic Jazz By Jakob Buchanan, Featuring Aarhus Jazz Orchestra, Marilyn Mazur And Chopenhagen Royal Chapel Boys Choir with Conductor Carsten Seyer-Hansen

Source: Lars Hannibal

Ever since it quietly emerged on the international scene in the late ‘60s, Scandinavian jazz carved out for itself a distinctive niche. Drawing on the influence of Miles Davis and Gil Evans, Scandinavian jazz embraced a free, spacious, experimental, and contemplative aesthetic. It has also been open to modern or contemporary classical music and collaborations with European folk and ethnic-musicians. This is not OUR Recordings first journey into Scandinavian Jazz; the critically acclaimed album Going to Pieces Without Falling Apart, ...

2

Recording

Hakan Brostrom With The Norrbotten Big Band Featuring Marilyn Mazur-"Episodes From The Future And The Past"

Hakan Brostrom With The Norrbotten Big Band Featuring Marilyn Mazur-"Episodes From The Future And The Past"

Source: Art of Life Records

Art Of Life CD & Digital Download Release Following up on his 2010 quartet release Refraction, featuring pianist Joey Calderazzo, Art of Life Records is pleased to present, Episodes from the Future and the Past, a new live recording by saxophonist, composer and arranger Håkan Broström. The 72-minute album was recorded live by Swedish Radio on October 19th, 2012 at Folkets Hus, Haparanda, Sweden and October 20th, 2012 at Kulturens Hus, Luleå, Sweden and features the 16-piece Norrbotten Big Band ...

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Award / Grant

Marilyn Mazur to Receive the International Eurocode - JTI Jazz Award

Marilyn Mazur to Receive the International Eurocode - JTI Jazz Award

Source: Michael Ricci

The First International EuroCore - JTI Jazz Award of 10.000 Euro will go to Marilyn Mazur. On Saturday April 24th, it was announced at Jazzahead in Bremen, that first international jazz musician to receive the new EuroCore - JTI Jazz Award of 10.000 Euro will be Marilyn Mazur. The award, that is given to “A prominent musical personality with international reach, an international profile and an international standard of musicianship," will be handed over at a price concert in Trier ...

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Award / Grant

Marilyn Mazur Receives Norwegian Telenor Culture Award

Marilyn Mazur Receives Norwegian Telenor Culture Award

Source: All About Jazz

Telenor's Culture Award for 2007 has been presented to the Danish-American percussionist, ensemble leader, and composer Marilyn Mazur. Marilyn Mazur has been awarded a sum of NOK 250,000 for her bold and boundless art, on the highest international level. The award ceremony was held in Brum Kulturhus on Tuesday night. “We congratulate Marilyn Mazur with Telenor's Culture Award for 2007, which is being presented for the twelfth time. For more than 35 years Mazur has impressed her audience with her ...

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Photos

Music

Recordings: As Leader | As Sideperson

The Gori Project II

Self Produced
2023

buy

Song & Wind

OUR Recordings
2023

buy

Strands

ECM Records
2023

buy

Meteora

Enja Records
2023

buy

Shamania

RareNoiseRecords
2019

buy

Maluba Orchestra

Stunt Records/Sundance Music
2019

buy

Strands

From: Strands
By Marilyn Mazur

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