Mark Guiliana has become recognized as one of the world’s leading drummers, admired and in demand across the spectrum from jazz to rock to electronic music for his rhythmic sophistication, creative impulse, and individual sound. He has been in the vanguard of drummers creating a new vernacular on the instrument, blending virtuosity on acoustic drums with artfully deployed electronic beats and processing. All About Jazz calls him “a beat poet of another sort…one of the few drummers who can creatively straddle and blur the electro-acoustic dividing line.” One thing is for sure – over the last decade, Mark Guiliana has become “one of the most influential drummers of his generation” (JazzTimes).
BEAT MUSIC
With Beat Music – Guiliana’s electric band featuring a number of varied guests, hard-edged grooves and synthetic-organic fusions blend with filmic atmospherics and vocals, all driven by Guiliana’s sonic ingenuity and percussive virtuosity. In the Spring of 2019 Motéma Music released BEAT MUSIC! BEAT MUSIC! BEAT MUSIC! to great acclaim. The album earned Guiliana a Grammy nomination for Best Contemporary Instrumental Album. “Electronic music is a huge inspiration for me,” he explains. “The first time I heard Squarepusher’s Feed Me Weird Things, it hit me like the first time I heard Tony Williams with Miles. Then hearing Aphex Twin was like hearing Elvin Jones with Coltrane. Experiencing that electronic music ‘” its precision, discipline, timbral imagination ‘” was just as profound for me as hearing those jazz drumming icons. So, marrying the discipline of electronic music with the improvisational sense of jazz is a lot of what the Beat Music is about.”
MARK GUILIANA JAZZ QUARTET
Guiliana’s album Jersey, released in September 2017 via Motéma Music, features his ever-compelling Jazz Quartet, with bassist Chris Morrissey, saxophonist Jason Rigby, and pianist Fabian Almazan. Describing the Jazz Quartet’s concept, Guiliana says: “Many of my releases as a leader have been driven by electronic-inspired beats and textures, but with Family First and now Jersey, it felt like the right time to present my music in an entirely acoustic environment. So the Jazz Quartet is my humble attempt to make a personal statement using the traditional palette of saxophone, piano, bass and drums. For the band, this lineup presents the challenge: How creative can we be inside this box – how much freedom and experimentation can we find? And I have to say that it’s always so exciting to hear the guys play this music in ways I never could have imagined.”
There are no tour dates listed for this artist.
HI-RES IMAGES
BEAT MUSIC
^ Photo Credit: Justin Bettman
BEAT MUSIC POSTER
(pdf, psd, and font)
LIVE
^ Photo Credit: Deneka Peniston
SPACE HEROES
^ Photo Credit: Joe Del Tufo
VIDEO
Jazz Night in America – BEAT MUSIC Live at Rough Trade NYC (Embed)
GIRL – Music Video (Embed)
BIOGRAPHY/PROGRAM NOTES
BEAT MUSIC Press Release: Download (doc)
SPACE HEROES Program Notes: Download (doc)
Official Website: www.markguiliana.com
CURRENT RELEASE
BEAT MUSIC! BEAT MUSIC! BEAT MUSIC! (Motéma Music, April 12, 2019)
Please contact IMN’s Director of Marketing with any additional questions.
From The Sound And The Letter A Conversation With Mark Guiliana By: JACOB GRAHAM “On Saturday, 18 January 2020, I sat down to talk with drummer Mark Guiliana at the Moxy Hotel in the Lower East Side of Manhattan, NYC. Mark’s project, Beat Music, would put on an electrifying performance that evening at NUBLU 151 to close out the NYC...
Posted Jan 27th, 2020
From Pollstar NYC Winter Jazzfest Details 2020 Programming BY: PHIL GALLO “The 16th annual NYC Winter Jazzfest will celebrate the centennial of Art Blakey, the jazz history of Detroit and the legacy of late trumpeter Marcus Belgrave and present drummer-composer-bandleader Mark Guiliana, the festival’s Artist-In-Residence, in at least six configurations. Staged in more than a dozen venues across Manhattan and...
Posted Oct 25th, 2019
From Pop Matters Mark Guiliana’s Beat Music Finds the Jazz in Electronica By: WILL LAYMAN “Drummer Mark Guiliana is a creative instrumentalist who works in two genres with equal success. As a jazz drummer, he is first call, playing in the New York scene with the finest musicians and, famously, part of the jazz group that David Bowie collaborated with...
Posted Aug 22nd, 2019
From wbgo.org The Artistic Duality Of Drummer Mark Guiliana, on Jazz Night in America By:SIMON RENTNER “Drummer/composer Mark Guiliana traverses many musical landscapes, from modern jazz (Brad Mehldau), Tunisian oud music (Dhafer Youssef), Hasidic reggae (Matisyahu), or legendary rock (David Bowie.) However, these days, his primary mode for expression is displayed in two distinctly different sounding bands: the acoustic The...
Posted Jul 12th, 2019
From Downbeat Downbeat Review: Mark Guiliana BEAT MUSIC! BEAT MUSIC! BEAT MUSIC! By: TAMAR SELLA “The mustard-yellow optics of the cover, the single-word track titles in caps and the repeated exclamations of the album’s name all lead to the attention-grabbing sonic expanse of Mark Guiliana’s BEAT MUSIC! BEAT MUSIC! BEAT MUSIC! On the third release of Guiliana’s dynamic Beat Music,...
Posted Jul 1st, 2019
Hailed by The New York Times as ‘a drummer around whom a cult of admiration has formed,’ Mark Guiliana brings the same adventurous spirit, eclectic palette and gift for spontaneous invention to a staggering range of styles. Equally virtuosic playing acoustic jazz, boundary-stretching electronic music, or next-level rock, he’s become a key collaborator with such original sonic thinkers as Brad...
Posted Apr 12th, 2019
From Jazziz 10 New Jazz Albums You Need to Know About: April 2019 By: Matt Micucci Mark Guiliana, BEAT MUSIC! BEAT MUSIC! BEAT MUSIC! (Motéma Music) Release date: April 12 Drummer-composer Mark Guiliana’s Beat Music is an ensemble of forward-thinking musicians who share a passion for electronic music, genre-defying and in-the-moment creativity. Their new album, BEAT MUSIC! BEAT MUSIC! BEAT...
Posted Mar 27th, 2019
From Houstonia Magazine Making Space for A New Kind of Jazz Quartet By: Hannah Che If you thought Mark Guiliana’s new group, Space Heroes, had something to do with astronauts, think again. “I get asked about the name a lot – it just refers to the space within the music,” Guiliana explains. “In a jazz quartet the piano by definition...
Posted Mar 20th, 2019
From BookAuthority 90 Best Creativity Books of All Time As featured on CNN, Forbes and Inc ‘” BookAuthority identifies and rates the best books in the world, based on public mentions, recommendations, ratings and sentiment. This includes maintaining the most comprehensive collection of book recommendations from domain experts such as Elon Musk, Warren Buffett, Prof. Daniel Kahneman, Sheryl Sandberg, and...
Posted Feb 14th, 2019
From BBC Radio 3: J to Z Mark Guiliana and Makaya McCraven By: Dominic Tyerman for Somethin’ Else More highlights from a standout set by drummer Mark Guiliana and his jazz quartet, recorded live at Ronnie Scott’s in London. Mark Guiliana is one of the most sought-after drummers on the contemporary scene, with a signature style informed by the rhythms...
Posted Jan 21st, 2019
From Cincinnati CityBeat Recommended Cincinnati Concerts: Mark Guiliana Space Heroes at Music Resource Center (Nov. 16) By: Mike Breen Mark Guiliana is one of the biggest young talents in Jazz ‘” he’s often rated highly in ‘Best Jazz Drummer’ polls, most recently earning top honors for the genre in Modern Drummer magazine’s 2017 readers’ poll. But Guiliana’s talents and résumé...
Posted Nov 15th, 2018
From SFJAZZ On The Record: Mark Guiliana In 12 Songs By: Rusty Aceves Dhafer Youssef ‘” ‘Odd Elegy’ from Abu Nawas Rhapsody (2010) Guiliana makes a major impression on Tunisian oud virtuoso Youssef’s 2010 release, featuring bassist Chris Jennings and piano star-in-the-making Tigran Hamasyan. This live video from the 2010 Jazz Sous les Pommiers festival captures their otherworldly musical telepathy....
Posted Nov 5th, 2018
From BBC Radio 3 – J to Z Mark Guiliana in concert This week on J to Z we’ve got an exclusive recording of the Mark Guiliana Jazz Quartet’s recent live show at Ronnie Scott’s, featuring Jason Rigby on tenor sax, Fabian Almazan on piano, and Chris Morrissey on bass. The show features tracks including “Our Lady,” a sultry rendition...
Posted Oct 29th, 2018
From Jazztronic: On the Corner – SFJAZZ JAZZTRONIC: MARK GUILIANA FINDS FERTILE GROUND BETWEEN JAZZ AND BEAT MUSIC By: Richard Scheinin The cosmic question: How do we become who we are? In the case of Mark Guiliana, the path has been as random as it is organic. Taking up the drums on a whim when he was 15, he was...
Posted Oct 26th, 2018
From WBGO Behold Three Dimensions of Drummer Mark Guiliana From the 2018 Montreal Jazz Festival By: Simon Rentner This past summer the Montreal Jazz Festival featured drummer Mark Guiliana in its Invitation series, presenting three different projects over three nights at the Church of the Gesù. Guiliana likes to fluctuate between the acoustic and the electric. While his acoustic quartet...
Posted Sep 25th, 2018
From the Washington City Paper Fall Arts & Entertainment Guide 2018 Mark Guiliana gained a huge boost in notoriety because of his playing on David Bowie’s final recording, Blackstar, in which the music icon teamed up with a group of New York’s finest jazz musicians. Even before then, Guiliana was one of the most innovative drummers on the scene, playing...
Posted Sep 18th, 2018
From Distrito Jazz Mark Guiliana Quartet, los 400 golpes By: I. Ortega Mark Guiulana se ha convertido, en los últimos tiempos, en un musico casi imprescindible en el mundo del jazz. Son famosos sus proyectos junto al bajista Avishaï Cohen, Brad Mehldau, Dhafer Youssef o el gran Bowie, junto al que toco en ‘Blackstar’, su disco póstumo. Con esto ya...
Posted Jul 12th, 2018
From Drum China Walk between jazz and electronic music | Drummer China interview with drum master Mark Guiliana By: Vida On May 18-19, 2018, a jazz quartet led by the famous drummer Mark Guiliana landed in Beijing and performed brilliant performances for many jazz fans for two consecutive days at Blue Note Beijing. Whether it is the musicians’ exquisite performance...
Posted May 23rd, 2018
From London Jazz News FEATURE: Mark Guiliana (RCM Festival of Percussion, 6 May and touring) By: Dan Paton Mark Guiliana is justly renowned for contributing to a new language in contemporary jazz and at the drum kit, one that draws as much from electronic music as it does from the jazz tradition. However, his headline appearance at the Royal College...
Posted Apr 11th, 2018
From MusicRadar Behind the kit with Mark Guiliana: “What can really go wrong on stage? Nothing can go wrong.” By: Rich Chamberlain What is your biggest strength as a drummer? ‘I’d like to say consistency and reliability. My goal is to be at my best every time that I am playing music. I try to live in a way to...
Posted Mar 13th, 2018
From Band on the Wall Mark Guiliana on Bowie’s Lasting Influence, Future Collaboration, and the Direction of the Jazz Quartet By: Band on the Wall You’ve just completed a short residency in New York with Donny McCaslin’s group. Does playing with Donny, Jason and Tim still elicit memories of the Blackstar sessions and do you believe that the project has...
Posted Feb 28th, 2018
From The Institute of Contemporary Music Performance Watch David Bowie’s Drummer Mark Guiliana’s ICMP Masterclass By: ICMP Our London drum students were in the presence of musical greatness when one of the world’s most exciting drummers, Mark Guiliana, visited ICMP for a masterclass. From his acclaimed solo releases including latest album ‘Jersey’ to playing on David Bowie’s final LP ‘Blackstar’,...
Posted Jan 10th, 2018
From wgbo.org Mark Guiliana Traces His Evolution in Rhythm (And Tries to Outrun the Robots) on The Checkout By: Simon Rentner Mark Guiliana’s trademark isn’t limited to one style, but rather accentuated across a broad spectrum of modern sounds, from Brad Mehldau to David Bowie. His most recent album, Jersey (Motéma), is an acoustic jazz effort that honors his roots...
Posted Jan 5th, 2018
From Jazz History Online Too Good to Leave Behind By: Thomas Cunniffe MARK GUILIANA QUARTET: ‘JERSEY’ (Motéma 233) ‘Jersey’ is drummer Mark Guiliana’s tribute to his home state, and like its subject, Guiliana’s quartet has a tough exterior, but contains many surprises just below the surface. The album is all acoustic’“a departure from his electronic-based album ‘Family First’‘“but the sounds...
Posted Jan 4th, 2018
From NPR Music The 100 Best Songs of 2017 By: NPR Music inter-are by Mark Guiliana Before he was known as David Bowie’s final drummer, before he had even gathered a reputation for next-wave beat science, Mark Guiliana was trained as a jazz musician. The band he helpfully calls his Jazz Quartet is a vehicle for that expression, but hardly...
Posted Dec 14th, 2017
From Philly Voice Mark Guiliana’s Jazz Quartet Reps New Jersey with New Album By: A.D. Amorosi New Jersey-born drummer Mark Guiliana has been playing the electronic music, nu-jazz game for 15 years. He made a name for himself with star sessions and sparkling, leader albums that show off his brand of innovation. Side jobs and studio gigs with Avishai Cohen,...
Posted Nov 28th, 2017
From Rhythm Magazine & MusicRadar The 9 best jazz drummers in the world right now By: MusicRadar Team 2017 highlight: Mark Guiliana is known to have a broad spectrum of influences, and his cutting edge take on jazz has always embodied that spirit. But on Jersey, the 2017 album from the Mark Guiliana Jazz Quartet, he demonstrates that his edgy...
Posted Nov 27th, 2017
From jazzwise Mark Guiliana Jazz Quartet create acoustic alchemy at Ronnie Scott’s By: Eddie Myer Mark Guiliana is associated with a certain level of jazz-fusion high intensity, but tonight’s gig, in support of the new album Jersey is billed as a different turn for his career. As if to emphasise the fact, the first number begins with no sound from...
Posted Nov 15th, 2017
Jazz In Europe Mark Guiliana Tours his new release Jersey The worldwide tour continues as the Mark Guiliana Jazz Quartet completes their sweep of Europe and Scandinavia, and launches the second leg of the U.S. Tour at The Jazz Standard in NYC, November 28-29! His new album Jersey, available now on Motema Music, features his compelling Jazz Quartet, with saxophonist...
Posted Nov 9th, 2017
From The Ottawa Citizen Mark Guiliana Jazz Quartet CD reviewed By: Peter Hum The jazz drummer’s new album, released last week, is a triumph of distilled, highly expressive music. Released Friday, the quartet’s new album, Jersey, documents just how striking Guiliana’s band, which includes tenor saxophonist Jason Rigby, pianist Fabian Almazan and drummer Chris Morrissey, can be. Like Guiliana, they’re...
Posted Oct 2nd, 2017
From The New York Times The Playlist: Hear Beyoncé Join ‘Mi Gente,’ Plus 9 More New Songs By: Giovanni Russonello Mark Guiliana, Jersey Mr. Guiliana is a drummer now best known for playing on David Bowie’s final album, the darkly magnificent ‘Black Star.’ That’s just one highlight in a wide-ranging career, but you’ll be forgiven for hearing echoes of Bowie’s...
Posted Sep 29th, 2017
From All About Jazz Mark Guiliana: Jersey By: Geno Thackara With an all-encompassing style that keeps him in high demand throughout the jazz world and beyond, perhaps it’s unsurprising (if unfortunate) that Mark Guiliana boasts only a handful of titles to his own name. The middle of the 2010s saw him drumming in sessions with Dave Douglas or Avishai Cohen...
Posted Sep 28th, 2017
From The Irish Times Mark Guiliana Jazz Quartet: Artfully poised between tradition and invention By: Cormac Larkin Hailed as one of the pioneers of contemporary drumming, and latterly showered with attention following his appearance on David Bowie’s valedictory Blackstar album, Mark Guiliana is best known for adapting the impossible-to-play grooves of electronic music to the drum set. Jersey, however, is...
Posted Sep 20th, 2017
From DownBeat Music Preview: Guiliana Returns Home on ‘Jersey’ As both leader and collaborator, the versatile drummer Mark Guiliana spends much of his time exploring jazz’s fascinating fringes, producing some of his best music in the place where EDM and free-improv intersect. He first rose to prominence as a member of bassist Avishai Cohen’s trio, in which he contributed deft...
Posted Sep 8th, 2017
From All About Jazz Mark Guiliana Jazz Quartet: Jersey By: Vic Albani Ho conosciuto Mark Guiliana una decina di anni fa in un ristorante di Parigi al tempo di una delle sue prime tante collaborazioni con Dhafer Youssef e (in quel caso) con Tigran Hamasyan. A parte l’ininfluente curiosità ovviamente “italiana” di quello strano cognome che sembrava frutto di un...
Posted Aug 29th, 2017
From All ABout Jazz Mark Guiliana: a natural progression of research By: Angelo Leonardi Mark Guiliana’s leading exponent of the new generation of drummers / leader Mark Guiliana is to release the new album of his previewed jazz quartet, Jersey (Motema Music), featuring the presence of pianist Fabian Almazan in place of Shai Maestro. A stage of his long summer...
Posted Aug 28th, 2017
From Jazzwise Mark Guiliana makes mark as Jazz Middelheim’s artist-in-residence Jazz Middelheim is a great jazz fest situated in front of an old mansion in a park just outside of Antwerp ‘” a gathering small enough to provide an intimate atmosphere, but big enough to book some stellar names. This year’s artist-in-residence was Mark Guiliana. The drummer opened the festival...
Posted Aug 15th, 2017
From WBGO Take Five: Mark Guiliana Reps ‘Jersey.’ Plus Louis Armstrong, Tyshawn Sorey, Uri Gurvich, Kris Davis By: Nate Chinen Mark Guiliana Jazz Quartet, ‘inter-are’ Would it be fair to say Mark Guiliana has been typecast? He’s a drummer best known for his advances along the axis of groove, most visibly with the surging Donny McCaslin Quartet, which served as...
Posted Aug 8th, 2017
From Times Of Malta Watch: ‘Play with others’, world-renowned drummer urges musicians By: Herman Grech Mark Guiliana gives a very simple piece of advice to budding and established musicians out there: just keep playing with other musicians. “It might be easier to get distracted and play alone. I’ve grown more as a musician by playing with others rather than through...
Posted Jul 21st, 2017
From Batteur Magazine Mark Guiliana: From Bebop To Pop To read more click here
Posted Jul 11th, 2017
From Ottawa Citizen Jazzfest review: Mark Guiliana Jazz Quartet does contemporary acoustic jazz proud By: Peter Hum These days, It usually strikes me as quaint at best and gratuitous at worst for a jazz group to have the word ‘jazz’ in its name. Sure, decades ago it worked for Art Blakey and the Jazz Messengers, the Art Farmer/Benny Golson Jazztet...
Posted Jul 5th, 2017
From knkx The New Cool: Mark Guiliana, Drummer Up Front By: Abe Beeson When a friend recently told me that drummer Mark Guiliana is not just swinging through the Northwest with saxman Donny McCaslin’s group next month, he’s also bringing his own band to town this fall, it was juicy news indeed. Guiliana is one of the most beloved drummers...
Posted May 30th, 2017
From Modern Drummer 2017 Modern Drummer Readers Poll Winners: Mark Guiliana wins top “Jazz Drummer” and “Recorded Performance/Audio” The year 2016 was a landmark for jazz/electronica drummer Mark Guiliana, who toured extensively in support of the first acoustic jazz album under his leadership (Family First) and experimental electroacoustic recordings by trumpeter Dave Douglas (Dark Territory) and saxophonist Donny McCaslin (Beyond...
Posted Apr 6th, 2017
From The Guardian Best albums of 2016: No 3 Blackstar by David Bowie By: Dorian Lynskey To say that David Bowie’s final album was coloured by his death two days after its release, and the revelation that he recorded it beneath the terminal shadow of cancer, would be an understatement. It was flooded by it. Few albums have ever been...
Posted Dec 14th, 2016
From The Financial Times Mark Guiliana Jazz Quartet, Ronnie Scott’s, London ‘” review The music flowed naturally in this gig from the drummer and his band By: Mike Hobart Contemporary left-field jazz likes to pepper its narratives with historical references. At this gig, featuring a sax and rhythm quartet led by drummer Mark Guiliana, light polyrhythmic chatter was set alongside...
Posted Oct 25th, 2016
From The Guardian David Bowie’s last three songs: decoding the final transmission Bowie’s Lazarus soundtrack contains three new songs from his final recording sessions. A first listen shows a great artist racing through a final burst of creativity By: Dorian Lynskey …Bowie was never one for straightforward autobiography. His lyrics, even from a song as beloved as Life on Mars?,...
Posted Oct 20th, 2016
From Citizen Jazz L’ÉQUILIBRE SELON MARK GUILIANA By: Denis Desassis Mark Guiliana est venu à Nancy Jazz Pulsations, précédé d’une réputation flatteuse que les faits vont avérer. Le batteur s’est notamment fait connaître aux côtés d’Avishai Cohen avec lequel il a joué pendant cinq ans, mais aussi de Brad Mehldau. Surtout, son nom a circulé auprès d’un public dépassant de...
Posted Oct 14th, 2016
from interviews.guitarcenter.com Mark Guiliana is the ultimate embodiment of the ‘DIY musician.’ A percussionist, educator, producer and composer, Guiliana has definitively earned a name for himself in today’s jazz community, and has played for some incredible artists, none more beloved than the late David Bowie. In addition to his vast amount of session work, Guiliana leads two groups of his...
Posted Jul 12th, 2016
from gearpatrol.com HOW TO LISTEN TO JAZZ By: John Zientek Jazz music is an ever-evolving fusion of style, a national art form embodying the metaphor of America as a complex cultural melting pot. From the start, early American musical elements ‘” West African rhythms, elements of spirituals and the blues, and America’s marching band instruments, brass and reeds ‘” came...
Posted Jul 6th, 2016
from nytimes.com Review: John Scofield, Brad Mehldau and Mark Guiliana Debut as an All-Star Trio By: Nate Chinen The new-groove super trio making its world premiere at the Blue Note this week ‘” John Scofield on guitars, Brad Mehldau on keyboards, Mark Guiliana on drums ‘” plants its flag at the convergence of ruggedness and finesse. Just past the midpoint...
Posted May 30th, 2016
Mark Guiliana is the guest drummer on Late Night with Seth Meyers this week!
Posted May 2nd, 2016
from blog.gretsch.com Mark Guiliana: A Jazzer For Today By: Fred Gretsch I want to start this article about Gretsch drum artist Mark Guiliana with a quote from a review of his 2013 recording, A Form of Truth, taken from Relix magazine: ‘There are musicians that the general public recognizes for their greatness, and then there are the musicians that other...
Posted Feb 15th, 2016
From nytimes.com On David Bowie’s ‘Blackstar,’ Turning to Jazz for Inspiration By Nate Chinen “A lot of questions arose when David Bowie unveiled ‘Blackstar,’ the 10-minute title track of his new album, as a music video in November. What was the meaning of the clip’s sci-fi surrealism? What had inspired its ominous lyrics? And, perhaps more practically, who were these...
Posted Jan 4th, 2016
From rollingstone.fr Blackstar de David Bowie : l’homme qui marche‘¦ Blackstar David Bowie: the man walking… By Sophie Rosemont “David Bowie sait écrire une musique pour tout le monde‘¦ mais il ne la fait pas comme tout le monde. Enregistré avec le groupe du saxophoniste new-yorkais Donny McCaslin, ‘… est une prise de risque, un live bouleversant et un aboutissement...
Posted Dec 16th, 2015
From mojo4music.com ‘This Is Fresh!’ The Secrets Of David Bowie’s ‘… Album By MOJO Staff “‘This is fresh. This came from a different space,’ longtime Bowie producer/confidant Tony Visconti says of the album, whose title track is premiered in full on Sky Atlantic tonight (November 19) at 8.45pm GMT. Visconti goes on to explain how their approach to ‘… differs...
Posted Nov 19th, 2015
From bbc.com Bowie hires jazz artists for new album By Mark Savage “Rock star David Bowie has hired a group of young jazz musicians to push his 25th album in a new direction. “Having jazz guys play rock music turns it upside down,” Bowie’s producer Tony Visconti told Mojo magazine. Called ‘… (Blackstar), the record will be released on 8...
Posted Nov 19th, 2015
From laweekly.com Beat Music: The Los Angeles Improvisations By Gary Fukushima “Drummer Mark Giuliana has had a pretty good run the past few years. For starters, last November he made the cover of Modern Drummer. He’s been on tour the past year, playing gigs with trumpeter Dave Douglas, Brad Mehldau (in their duo project, Mehliana) and his own quartet. He...
Posted Aug 25th, 2015
From timeout.com Mark Guiliana Beat Music “Immense drum talent Mark Guiliana (who’s worked with everyone from Gretchen Parlato to Bobby McFerrin to Dhafer Youssef) leads his band Beat Music through tracks powered by Guiliana’s tricksy and driving grooves. Support comes from genre-defying trippy five-piece Native Dancer.” To read the full article click here
Posted May 1st, 2015
From huffingtonpost.com 14 for ’14: Favorite Music of the Year By Ari Sadowitz “Mr. Guiliana put out three albums this year, and while My Life Starts Now lacks the fervor found here, February’s Mehliana: Taming the Dragon duet with Brad Mehldau is a masterpiece. As a composer/leader, this record sees the Beat Music moniker reach new heights on the west...
Posted Dec 30th, 2014
From musicradar.com 10 best new drummers in the world right now: 2014 poll results revealed By Rhythm Magazine “2014 highlight: After collaborating with the likes of Meshell Ndegeocello, Wayne Krantz and Gretschen Parlato, drummer/composer Guiliana released his solo debut, My Life Starts Now, in 2014. His drumming is informed by the hard bop of Art and Elvin but he also...
Posted Dec 15th, 2014
From jazztimes.com Mark Guiliana Starts a Rousing New Chapter: A Man and His Groove By Brad Farberman “Screaming horns, wandering bass, shadowy drums and a piano that sounds like it’s being punched. That’s free-jazz, right? Not according to the driving, electronic-music-minded drummer Mark Guiliana, who co-leads Mehliana, a duo with pianist Brad Mehldau; can be heard on recordings by bassist...
Posted Dec 11th, 2014
From irishtimes.com Mark Guiliana: My Life Starts Now By Cormac Larkin “To say that Mark Guiliana is a drummer’s drummer is not necessarily to recommend his music to general listeners. The 34-year-old New Jersey native has become the patron saint of a new generation who move freely between the acoustic, human- centred instrumentalism of jazz and the processed world of...
Posted Oct 10th, 2014
From downbeat.com Mark Guiliana: New Dialogue By Ken Micallef “The electronic music style drum ‘n’ bass had a watershed year in 1996. Initially labeled ‘dance music’ as fans in underground London clubs jolted their bodies to the music’s jackhammer rhythms and sampled cyber melodies, the far-reaching tendrils of drum ‘n’ bass would boil musicians’ brains for years to come. e...
Posted Oct 1st, 2014
From allaboutjazz.com Mark Guiliana: Emulating The Source By Ben Scholz “Over the past ten years, electronic music and jazz have developed a curious relationship. As programmers and DJs sought to remove the human element from their beats and loops, acoustic musicians sought to apply the tight, complex patterns of house and trance music to their traditional instruments. Drummer Mark Guiliana...
Posted Aug 28th, 2014
From timeout.com Mark Guiliana’s Beat Music “Drummer Mark Guiliana, a leader of the field of electroacoustic fusion, launches a new label, Beat Music Productions’“along with a pair of inaugural releases’“at this guest-star-studded late-night hang. Expect tight, spacey funk-soul-jazz-tronica aplenty.” To read the full article click here
Posted Aug 28th, 2014
From idrummag.com Mark Guiliana Releases My Life Starts Now & Beat Music: The Los Angeles Improvisations By ianc “September 2014 will see Mark Guiliana diving head first into the launch of his new record label, Beat Music Productions. The label will be flying out of the gate with two new recordings,My Life Starts Now, and Beat Music: The Los Angeles...
Posted Jul 31st, 2014
From jazztimes.com Drummer Mark Guiliana to Launch Own Label By Jeff Tamarkin “Drummer Mark Guiliana, who has appeared on more than 30 recordings and recently partnered with pianist Brad Mehldau in the duo Mehliana, will launch his own label, Beat Music Productions, on Sept. 2. The maiden releases on the label will be two albums led by Guiliana, My Life...
Posted Jul 29th, 2014
Mark Guiliana has become recognized as one of the world’s leading drummers, admired and in demand across the spectrum from jazz to rock to electronic music for his rhythmic sophistication, creative impulse, and individual sound. He has been in the vanguard of drummers creating a new vernacular on the instrument, blending virtuosity on acoustic drums with artfully deployed electronic beats and processing. Guiliana’s newest album as a leader – Jersey, released in September 2017 via Motema Music – features his ever-compelling Jazz Quartet, with bassist Chris Morrissey, saxophonist Jason Rigby, and pianist Fabian Almazan. Describing the Jazz Quartet’s concept, Guiliana says: “Many of my releases as a leader have been driven by electronic-inspired beats and textures, but with Family First and now Jersey, it felt like the right time to present my music in an entirely acoustic environment. So the Jazz Quartet is my humble attempt to make a personal statement using the traditional palette of saxophone, piano, bass and drums. For the band, this lineup presents the challenge: How creative can we be inside this box – how much freedom and experimentation can we find? And I have to say that it’s always so exciting to hear the guys play this music in ways I never could have imagined.”
Mark Guiliana has become recognized as one of the world’s leading drummers, admired and in demand across the spectrum from jazz to rock to electronic music for his rhythmic sophistication, creative impulse, and individual sound. He has been in the vanguard of drummers creating a new vernacular on the instrument, blending virtuosity on acoustic drums with artfully deployed electronic beats and processing. Now, Guiliana unveils SPACE HEROES, featuring the “two horn” front line of saxophonists Jason Rigby and Mike Lewis or trumpeter Shane Endsley, and bassist Chris Morrissey.
Guiliana was chosen as Best Jazz Drummer in the Modern Drummer Readers Poll 2017, while DownBeat dubbed him a Rising Star in its Critics Poll. JazzTimes aptly proclaimed: “Guiliana, a technical master with a rare sense of musicality, has over the past decade become one of the most influential drummers of his generation.” Along with leading his own groups – the acoustic Mark Guiliana Jazz Quartet and electronica-minded Beat Music – the drummer has appeared on a string of acclaimed recordings with others. The verve and precision of Guiliana’s drumming was a prime mover of Blackstar, David Bowie’s multiple Grammy Award-winning final album. Guiliana teamed with keyboardist Brad Mehldau as the duo Mehliana for the Nonesuch release Taming the Dragon, and he has also collaborated with such artists as saxophonist Donny McCaslin, guitar hero John Scofield, Soundgarden/Pearl Jam drummer-songwriter Matt Cameron, neo-soul singer-songwriter Meshell Ndegeocello, guitarist-vocalist Lionel Loueke, jazz bassist Avishai Cohen, reggae/hip-hop artist Matisyahu, and jazz singer Gretchen Parlato.
Mark Guiliana’s astonishing, tentacular drumming alone confirms that Bowie’s last band, led by saxophonist Donny McCaslin, was one of his best, capable of anything.
The Guardian
Mark Guiliana, a technical master with a rare sense of musicality, has over the last decade become one of the most influential drummers of his generation.
JazzTimes
…a drummer around whom a cult of admiration has formed.
The New York Times
Rhythmic interplay and complex layers are key features of Guiliana’s style, so these characteristics permeated the entire set. The music is full of surprises, in form and content; in spite of this, the transitions were fluid, even when moving between radically different sections. Sometimes you’d wonder how the music arrived at its current point, so suddenly yet with such ease. Add to this the fact that Guiliana and his bandmates have a gift for intentionally blurring form, and you have an utterly absorbing musical experience, with beautiful twists and turns.
Jazzwise
Guiliana may well be at the forefront of an exciting new style of drumming…
Modern Drummer
What happens when you add hard bop drum masters Elvin Jones and Art Blakey to a 1980s Roland 808 drum machine, divide the result by J Dilla and then multiply to the power of Squarepusher? Answer: Mark Guiliana
Time Out London
…but it is Mark Guiliana ‘” fast-becoming the most influential drummer of the new jazz generation following his starring role on David Bowie’s Blackstar ‘” who is raising this still-emerging form to a new, more organic level.
Irish Times
For many observers, he’s the guy to watch if you want to know where the great art of drumming is right now’” and where it could be headed.
Modern Drummer