Page 50 - KC Cunningham Issue

Mark Small

Award Winning Jazz Saxophonist
By Jaime V. Habert

wouldn't go for it. They said "There's the members and there's the
help. You're on the side with the help and don't cross that line".” This
line didn’t last very long as Mark’s education and talent brought him
the success he so deserved.

The awards and accomplishments of Small are too many to list. From
winning 1st place in the 2001 East Coast Jazz Festival, to being a
Semi-finalist in the 2002 Thelonious Monk Saxophone Competition,
Mark has impressed musicians and audiences alike. Small’s undeni-
able talent is also what landed him a position as a tenor saxophonist
for Jazz crooner, Michael Buble. As a part of Michael Buble’s band,
Mark had the opportunity to travel the globe, playing the jazz stan-
dards that so many of us love. It was on this tour that Small’s broad
education and extensive performance experience came into use. “We
were doing a television show in Australia and I hadn't seen any of the
music,” Small explains, “The tour manager asked me if I was ready to
play and the music director, standing behind him, shook his head as
if for me to not mention that I hadn't even seen the music, so I said
"sure am". Went out and played it down without a problem”.

Throughout the tour, Mark had a few chances to explore the cities
in which he played. “It's really hard to get motivated to research
the right places to go when you're in a new city everyday … it’s fun
to just wander sometimes”. The tour provided Mark with more than
experience; he was given memories to last a lifetime. “That tour was
scary, exciting, and intimidating all in one. But I realize those experi-
50 ences are the ones you end up cherishing the most when you make it
through them”.

During the tour, Mark took every opportunity to exercise his creativity.
“I tried to keep up with practicing which was difficult when you're in
such close quarters at a venue. No one wants to hear you exercis-
ing your musical ideas for hours,” explains Small, “It's easy to lose
Mark Small’s education, a Master’s of Music in Jazz Performance sight of that when you're playing the same music for 170 shows
from the New England Conservatory and Bachelor’s of Music from a year”. The creativity that had been building while on tour is now
the University of Connecticut, is impressive. What’s even more being expressed in numerous ways, including teaching, performing,
impressive is the career he’s created for himself. We at San Diego and recording. Small has been giving private instruction, teaching
Woman were thrilled to sit down with Jazz saxophonist Mark Small. at universities, and working various clinics throughout the area. It
is obvious the satisfaction that Mark finds in nurturing the talent of
Going from playing birthday parties to amphitheatres is what every young and up-and-coming musicians. Currently, he hones his own
musician dreams of and that’s exactly what Mark Small has done. skills playing with some of New York’s finest musicians, such as the
Growing up in Connecticut, Mark became infatuated with the saxo- Village Vanguard Jazz Orchestra, the 2009 Grammy Winners for
phone at age 13. By high school, he had formed a quartet with his Best Jazz Ensemble, and one of his musical inspirations growing up.
friends and began playing local events and parties. The ability to do In addition to live performances, Small has created a fantastic CD
what he loved and get paid for it was such an opportunity for Small entitled “Bronze” with co-lead Walter Smith that is currently available
that he knew he wanted to pursue music as a career. Supportive for purchase through Fresh Sound/New Talent Records at www.fresh-
parents helped to make this choice an easy decision. “My parents soundrecords.com. To hear a sampling of Mark’s music visit:
were always very supportive,” explains Small, “they would have been www.Myspace.com/MarkSmallGroup.
happy no matter what I did as long as I enjoyed it”. This encourage-
ment led Mark to attend the University of Connecticut and receive a
Bachelor’s of Arts in Music and ultimately, a Master’s Degree in Jazz
Performance from the prestigious New England Conservatory.

While attending school, Small worked various jobs, one of which
led him to the houses of Paul Newman and Michael Bolton. “I was
working for a rental company that would deliver and set up party
tents,” reveals Small, “I remember delivering to all sorts of people’s
homes, like Paul Newman and Michael Bolton”. Mark’s other position
reminded him of the career he wanted to pursue. “I remember bar
backing at a country club in Rowayton, Connecticut,” details Small,
“A band played one night and I got talking to the saxophonist who
said he'd love to have me sit in. The management of the club
March/April 2010