Dennis Mackrel

Dennis Mackrel

Dennis Mackrel (born April 3, 1962 in Omaha , Nebraska ) is an American jazz drummer who has also emerged as a composer and arranger as well as a music teacher. He first became known internationally through his collaboration with the Count Basie Orchestra . He is also considered "one of the most complete studio specialists on the scene."

Live and act

Mackrel began playing drums at the age of two; at the age of ten in the stage orchestra of a theater production in Anchorage . He studied jazz with Frank Gagliardi at the University of Nevada , but also worked in the Las Vegas revue orchestras . After moving to New York City in 1981, he first worked in Broadway theaters and played in productions such as The First and A Chorus Line . In 1983 Count Basie brought him into his orchestra, to which he still belonged until 1987 (under Thad Jones and Frank Foster ) after the leader's death and for which he also arranged. Then he belonged to the Mel Lewis Big Band, which in 1990 became the Vanguard Jazz Orchestra , which he directed . He also worked regularly with Carla Bley , Slide Hampton , Toshiko Akiyoshi and Grover Mitchell . He later worked in other big bands, such as his Manhattan Symphony Jazz Orchestra , the Smithsonian Jazz Masterworks Orchestra , with Maria Schneider . Since September 2010 he has led the Count Basie Orchestra as the successor to Bill Hughes . As a studio musician, he has been involved in recordings by Diane Schuur , George Shearing , Randy Sandke , Carol Sloane , Hank Jones , Jerome Richardson , Natalie Cole and Quincy Jones , among others . In 2001 he toured with the Dizzy Gillespie Alumni All Stars , 2002 with the trio of Bill Charlap , the Grady Tate accompanied.

As a composer and arranger, he received a scholarship from the National Endowment for the Arts in 1983 . He wrote for McCoy Tyner (four arrangements for the Grammy- winning albums The Turning Point and Journey ), the WDR Big Band Cologne , the Danish Klüvers Big Band and the RIAS Big Band .

Lexical entries

• Martin Kunzler : Jazz Lexicon. Volume 2: M – Z (= rororo-Sachbuch. Vol. 16513). 2nd Edition. Rowohlt, Reinbek bei Hamburg 2004, ISBN 3-499-16513-9 .

Web links

• Web presence
• Dennis Mackrel at Allmusic (English)

Individual evidence

1. ↑ Kunzler, Jazzlexikon p. 783
2. ↑ Count Basie predicted in his memoir Good Morning Blues that he would become a "monster of drummers".
3. ↑ Bill Hughes, bandleader and director of the Legendary Count Basie Orchestra Announces Retirement ( Memento of the original from September 8, 2010 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice.  
4. ↑ Dennis Mackrel . In: All About Jazz . October 15, 2008. Archived from the original on November 6, 2011. Info: The archive link was automatically inserted and not yet checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. Retrieved July 16, 2011.