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Mark A. Russo is a freelance trumpet player/teacher/composer/arranger in the greater Cleveland area. He currently holds a Bachelor’s Degree in Music Performance in Jazz Studies from Bowling Green State University and a Bachelor’s Degree in Music Education (Magna cum laude) from Kent State University.
As a performer, Mr. Russo has worked for Carnival Cruise Lines and has performed extensively with such local groups as The Cleveland Jazz Orchestra, Transportation Boulevard, The Hermit Club Jazz Orchestra, The Hermit Club Jazz Masters, The Swing City Big Band, Dan Zola Orchestra, and various groups affiliated with Jerry Bruno Productions. He has performed with the Bowling Green State University Jazz Lab Band 1 and Kent State University Jazz Ensemble 1 where he played the “Jazz Solo Chair†in both groups. Mr. Russo has also been a guest soloist with the Garfield Heights Jazz Ensemble under the direction of Michael Shively. In 2001 and 2002, Mr. Russo received recognition as an “Outstanding Soloist†at the Elmhurst Community College Jazz Festival in Chicago, Illinois. He has shared the stage with the such artists as Curtis Fuller, Benny Golson, Carl Allen, Ingrid Jensen, John Baily, Marvin Stamm, Allen Vizzutti, Randy Johnston, Wayne Bergeron, Mike Lee, and Marion McPartland.
Mr. Russo has been teaching privately in the Greater Cleveland area for over 10 years. His studios consist of over 60 students at venues such as Vance Music Studios, Educator’s Music, Brecksville Music, The Music Workshop, The Aurora School of Music, The Beck Center for the Performing Arts, and Garfield Heights High School where he has conducted clinics on jazz improvisation and jazz history.
As a Composer/Arranger, he has written and arranged music for the Bowling Green State University Jazz Ensemble 1, Bowling Green State University’s Jazz combos, Kent State Jazz Ensemble 1, Transportation Boulevard, The Hermit Club Jazz Orchestra and, The Hermit Club Jazz Masters. His arrangement of Woody Shaw’s “Katrina Ballerina†written for the Bowling Green State University Jazz Combos won “Outstanding Jazz Arrangement†at the 1998 Aquinas College Jazz Festival in Grand Rapids, Michigan.
Mr. Russo has received recognition for his achievements in jazz winning Kent State University’s Walter Watson Jazz Achievement Award (2001,2002) and the Bowling Green State University Jazz Achievement Award (1998). He has also studied trumpet and arranging with Todd W. Davidson, Brad Goode, Jeffery O. Halsey and with local artists such as Jack Shantz, Michael W. Chunn, Dennis Bradley Reynolds, Chas Baker, and Paul Ferguson. Mr. Russo is also an active member of the International Association for Jazz Education (IAJE), Ohio Music Educators Association (OMEA), and the International Trumpet Guild (ITG).
"The Trumpet is a funny thing. Sometimes you wake up in the morning and put the horn on your face and it feels good and you win. Some days you wake up, put the horn on your face and it feels bad and the horn wins. Eventually you die, and the horn wins." Dizzy Gillespie
"My whole life, my whole soul, my whole spirit is to blow that horn...†Louis Armstrong
"I'll play it first and tell you what it is later." Miles Davis
"Men have died for this music. You can't get more serious than that." Dizzy Gillespie
"Music is your own experience, your own thoughts, your wisdom. If you don't live it, it won't come out of your horn. They teach you there's a boundary line to music. But, man, there's no boundary line to art." Charlie Parker
“The Duke and Swing represent affirmation in the face of adversity†Wynton Marsalis
"Roaming through the jungle of "oohs" and "ahs," searching for a more agreeable noise, I live a life of primitivity with the mind of a child and an unquenchable thirst for sharps and flats." Duke Ellington
“As long as there is democracy, there will be people wanting to play because nothing else will ever so perfectly capture the democratic process in sound. Jazz means working things out musically with other people. You have to listen to other musicians and play with them even if you don’t agree with what they’re playing. It teaches you the very opposite of racism and anti-Semitism. It teaches you that the world is big enough to accommodate us all.†Wynton Marsalis
“If someone has been escaping reality, I don’t expect him to dig my music.†Charles Mingus
“Anyone can make the simple complicated. Creativity is making the complicated simple.†Charles Mingus
The Colbert Report Mon - Thurs 11:30pm / 10:30c Wynton Marsalis .. Ron Paul Interview
Bob Barr Interview Green Screen
Bill O'Reilly Interview
