Mariah Parker's Indo Latin Jazz Quintet Returns to Yoshi's

Featuring Mariah Parker (composer, piano, santur) and a stellar lineup of musicians including Grammy award winning woodwind virtuoso Paul McCandless (known through his work with the seminal chamber jazz groups Paul Winter Consort and Oregon), trailblazing guitarist Matthew Montfort (Ancient Future), bassist and cellist Kash Killion (Sun Ra Arkestra, Cecil Taylor); and Indian tabla/jazz drum set pioneer Sameer Gupta (Marc Cary, VidyA, Chitresh Das, Anindo Chatterjee).

Back By Popular Demand at Yoshi's Jazz Club, Jack London Square, Monday, April 19, 8 pm 'Mariah Parker's Indo Latin Jazz Ensemble packed Yoshi's in Jack London Square, and the incredible live performance had the audience roaring and screaming for more of the Indo-Latin jazz rhythms filling the celebrated jazz club during the CD release event for Mariah Parker's debut recording, 'Sangria.' Blending the asymmetrical meters of East India with the driving syncopations of Latin jazz to create a fresh new sound, Parker draws musical inspiration from Cuba, Brazil, India and Spain.

The concert goers were so spirited and enthusiastic as the performance progressed throughout the evening, the roar of their response to Mariah Parker's compositions brought the jazz club to a feverish pitch that rocked the building to its foundation.' - Lynda Carson, BERKELEY DAILY PLANET

Mariah Parker is a composer and multi-instrumentalist whose main instruments are santur and piano. Her first instrument was the piano which she began playing at age 5. Later in music school, she fell in love with the sound of the santur when she heard it drifting across campus. The transition was a natural one given that the santur, along with its Western offspring, the hammered dulcimer, is the ancestor of the piano. The strings of the santur are played directly by the delicate hammers, creating a beautiful shimmering sound. The sound of the piano is also created by hammered strings, but mechanically triggered by the fingers striking the keys.

While completing her degree in music at UC Santa Cruz, she worked with ethnomusicologist Fred Lieberman and Mickey Hart on the 'Planet Drum' project. She has performed in the US and Europe, and worked with many musicians of note including composer Pauline Oliveros, the late Dumisani Maraire (renowned composer from Zimbabwe) and others. She has studied with jazz great Art Lande and Latin jazz pianist extraordinaire Rebeca Maule'on, and performs regularly with the trend-setting world music group Ancient Future.
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