Mark Guiliana Jazz Quartet - Family First: The Alternate Takes (2015)

Artist Biography by Thom Jurek
Mark Guiliana is a drummer, trombonist, electronicist, composer, and the founder of Beat Music. He was born in Florham Park, New Jersey in 1980. From childhood on, he had been interested in music of all kinds, but he didn't actually begin formal drum studies until the age of 15 with 4Front drummer Joe Bergamini. While in high school, he played in various ensembles, from big band to rock and prog rock bands to funk. He attended William Patterson University in his home state, where he majored in jazz studies under John Riley and Kevin Norton.
After graduating in 2003, Guiliana joined Avishai Cohen's studio and touring groups. He appeared on six albums with the band. As an outlet for his other musical interests he a co-founded the "experimental-garage-jazz" trio HEERNT. The group released the full-length Locked in a Basement in 2006.
In addition to his work with Cohen and in HEERNT, Guiliana played in session and live capacities with a diverse range of artists including Me'Shell NDegéocello, oudist Dhafer Youssef, Matisyahu, Gretchen Parlato, Brad Shepik, and Bobby McFerrin.
Guiliana issued a self-titled EP in 2010. In 2012 he formed a new band called Beat Music; the ensemble issued its debut EP later that year. He released the digital album A Form of Truth in 2013. Co-produced by Ndegéocello, the set melded jazz, dub, funk, glitch, hip-hop, rock, and more, with a variety of session players including guitarist Nir Felder, saxophonist David Binney, and four different bassists including his co-producer. Later in the year, Guiliana and Brad Mehldau formed the adventurous, genre-blurring duo Mehliana. Their debut offering, Mehliana: Taming the Dragon, appeared on Nonesuch in February of 2014.

With the June 4, 2015 release of Family First, drummer/composer/bandleader Mark Guiliana and his Jazz Quartet featuring Jason Rigby (tenor saxophone), Shai Maestro (piano) and Chris Morrissey (bass), brilliantly created a melodic and rhthymic landscape that delighted audiences and provoked rave reviews from critics. Family First marked the third release in a year on his own Beat Music Productions (following up My Life Starts Now and Beat Music: The Los Angeles Improvisations), and Guiliana is now excited to announce the companion/follow-up release to Family First, Family First: The Alternate Takes. The Alternate Takes CD offers up a new listening experience, featuring alternate takes on “Long Branch", “ABED", “The Importance of Brothers" and Bob Marley's “Johnny Was", as well as two new tunes, Guiliana's “1980", and the Quartet's version of Rufus Wainwright's “Beautiful Child".
Guiliana's singular drum set and compositional artistry, once again setting the bar quite high, is on glorious display on Family First: The Alternate Takes, as is the playing of his collaborators. Once again Guiliana has used the freedom of running his own label to bring music to listeners that might never have been heard. “After two incredibly fun and productive days in the studio, I knew we had too much material to fit on one record, “ said Guiliana. “Chris, Shai, and Jason consistently delivered inspired performances, making it difficult to choose 'the one,' and in several instances, I felt very connected to versions that didn't end up on the record. It's exciting to be able to share this material that would otherwise just be hiding on a hard drive somewhere in my apartment."
The sound presented on Family First is quite different from Guiliana's 2014 releases, and Family First: The Alternate Takes presents yet another soundscape, giving the listener a different perspective on the music. This purely acoustic music is presented without edits or isolation, as captured in pristine detail by engineer John Davis at the Bunker Studio in Williamsburg, Brooklyn. While not a tribute recording in any way, this recording is another nod to the jazz drummers that have inspired and informed Guiliana's completely unique approach to the instrument. Guiliana elaborates, “the music that this Quartet plays embodies the deep inspiration I have taken over the years from my earliest drumming heroes, including Tony Williams, Roy Haynes, Elvin Jones, and Art Blakey, to name a few."
Although this is a fairly new band, Guiliana shares a deep musical history with each musician. “These guys are some of my favorite musicians and I've been lucky to be building a musical bond with each of them over the past decade," he explains. “I've been playing with Chris in my electronic project Beat Music, with Jason in my first band Heernt, and I spent a handful of great years on the road with Shai in bassist Avishai Cohen's trio." Family First: The Alternate Takes encapsulates all the best that these musicians have to offer—abundant beauty, ardent propulsion and sheer love of improvisation.