Mark Kramer (born November 3, 1945) is a

Philadelphia Philadelphia, often called Philly, is the largest city in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, the sixth-largest city in the U.S., the second-largest city in both the Northeast megalopolis and Mid-Atlantic regions after New York City. Sinc ...

-born

jazz Jazz is a music genre that originated in the African-American communities of New Orleans, Louisiana in the late 19th and early 20th centuries, with its roots in blues and ragtime. Since the 1920s Jazz Age, it has been recognized as a major ...

pianist, composer, arranger, and producer/engineer. His numerous recordings/ productions are often listed under "The Mark Kramer Trio." However, many works with acclaimed jazz bassist

Eddie Gómez Edgar Gómez (born October 4, 1944) is a Puerto Rican jazz double bassist, known for his work with the Bill Evans Trio from 1966 to 1977. Biography Gómez moved with his family from Puerto Rico at a young age to New York, where he was raised. ...

are listed under "Eddie Gómez and Mark Kramer" or simply "Eddie Gómez". These are significant signature co-productions. Members of the

Philadelphia Orchestra The Philadelphia Orchestra is an American symphony orchestra, based in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. One of the " Big Five" American orchestras, the orchestra is based at the Kimmel Center for the Performing Arts, where it performs its subscription ...

mentored him on violin from the age of five. His early jazz performances, in his teens and twenties, included those with

Michael Brecker Michael Leonard Brecker (March 29, 1949 – January 13, 2007) was an American jazz saxophonist and composer. He was awarded 15 Grammy Awards as both performer and composer. He was awarded an Honorary Doctorate from Berklee College of M ...

and

Randy Brecker Randal Edward Brecker (born November 27, 1945) is an American trumpeter, flugelhornist, and composer. His versatility has made him a popular studio musician who has recorded with acts in jazz, rock, and R&B. Early life Brecker was born on Nov ...

Charles Fambrough Charles Fambrough (August 25, 1950January 1, 2011) was an American jazz bassist, composer and record producer from Philadelphia. Fambrough was a member of Art Blakey, Art Blakey's Jazz Messengers during the early 1980s. Suffering from kidney fail ...

Stanley Clarke Stanley Clarke (born June 30, 1951) is an American bassist, film composer and founding member of Return to Forever, one of the first jazz fusion bands. Clarke gave the bass guitar a prominence it lacked in jazz-related music. He is the first jaz ...

, and

Eric Gravatt Eric Kamau Grávátt (born March 6, 1947) is a jazz drummer from Philadelphia. He has played with McCoy Tyner, Joe Henderson, Weather Report, Byard Lancaster, Dom Um Romão. He was a member of Weather Report from 1972–1974. Discography With ...

. Over the next decades his trio went on to record a series of specialty productions including: * the largest known body of jazz renditions of complete Broadway shows, including ''Evita en Jazz'' (distributed internationally by

Telarc Telarc International Corporation is an American audiophile independent record label founded in 1977 by two classically trained musicians and former teachers, Jack Renner and Robert Woods. Based in Cleveland, Ohio, the label has had a long associ ...

International records), ''The Sound of Music/Jazz'', ''Jazz Fiddler on the Roof'', ''The King and I'', ''Rent'', ''Sophisticated Ladies'', and others; * a reharmonization and recording of an entire symphony by a jazz trio: Mozart's '' Symphony no. 40 in G minor K. 550'' (Eroica label); * jazz versions of principal themes from the

John Williams John Towner Williams (born February 8, 1932)Nylund, Rob (15 November 2022)Classic Connection review ''WBOI'' ("For the second time this year, the Fort Wayne Philharmonic honored American composer, conductor, and arranger John Williams, who wa ...

score of

Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone ''Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone'' is a 1997 fantasy novel written by British author J. K. Rowling. The first novel in the ''Harry Potter'' series and Rowling's debut novel, it follows Harry Potter (character), Harry Potter, a youn ...

(Eroica label); * a compilation of jazz renditions of the music of

The Rolling Stones The Rolling Stones are an English rock band formed in London in 1962. Active for six decades, they are one of the most popular and enduring bands of the rock era. In the early 1960s, the Rolling Stones pioneered the gritty, rhythmically d ...

. Thus, to date, the main part of Kramer's musical career has been as an arranger and leader of his own trios. In addition, from the late -1980s his collaboration with co-leader - legendary bassist

- has produced a far-ranging catalog of duo and trio recordings, including the Art of the Heart on Art of Life Records(released May 2006.) Some of these recordings are reminiscent of those produced by pianist

Bill Evans William John Evans (August 16, 1929 – September 15, 1980) was an American jazz pianist and composer who worked primarily as the leader of his trio. His use of impressionist harmony, interpretation of traditional jazz repertoire, block ch ...

References

External links

*https://musicians.allaboutjazz.com/markkramer official biography *https://web.archive.org/web/20160303195455/http://www.concordmusicgroup.com/artists/Mark-Kramer/ *https://mark-kramer.com/ {{DEFAULTSORT:Kramer, Mark 1945 births American jazz pianists American male pianists Central High School (Philadelphia) alumni Living people Jazz musicians from Philadelphia 20th-century American pianists 21st-century American pianists 20th-century American male musicians 21st-century American male musicians American male jazz musicians