【Palo Alto】 Masters of Jazz Violin: Mads Tolling with Bruce Forman & Dan Robbins (Fri 6/19 - 5 pm)
About this event
Seating: 5pm
Show: 6:30 pm
Two-time Grammy Award-winning violinist Mads Tolling releases Masters of Jazz Violin, a
heartfelt tribute to the jazz violinists who shaped his musical journey. This album features
compositions written and associated with jazz violin greats Stéphane Grappelli, Jean-Luc Ponty,
Svend Asmussen, Stuff Smith, and others. As a young man, Mads contacted ‘The Fiddling
Viking’ Svend Asmussen for lessons, and he ended up receiving much of Svend’s sheet music,
including many handwritten arrangements. Mads was later recommended by Jean-Luc Ponty to
join Stanley Clarke’s band, and the two have stayed in contact ever since. Joining Mads on his
journey are fellow Bay Area world-class musicians Dan Robbins on bass and guitarist Bruce
Forman, who performed with both Joe Venuti and Grappelli.
Mads Tolling is the recipient of the 2016 DownBeat Critics Poll Rising Star Award for violin. A
former long-time member of Stanley Clarke’s band and the Turtle Island Quartet, Mads also
toured for five years with Bob Weir & Wolf Bros. He has performed his violin concertos with the
late, great Michael Morgan and The Oakland Symphony, and he leads his own ensemble, Mads
Tolling & The Mads Men. His work has been featured on NPR’s Morning Edition and in The
Washington Post, and he has performed with musical legends such as Kenny Barron, Ramsey
Lewis, Paquito D’Rivera, and Leo Kottke.
Personnel:
Mads Tolling – violin
Bruce Forman – guitar
Dan Robbins – bass
Quotes:
“Mads has the amazing talent and skills that few young musicians can match. His music is both beautiful
and refreshing exhibiting his superb mastery of the modern American Jazz music that is rarely seen
among his peers.”
— Jean-Luc Ponty
“With Tolling's honed technique, vigorous attack and engaging brand of swing..."
— Mike Joyce, The Washington Post