#199: Mark Plays Trombone (Friday, October 22)

I'm not really a live music fan. Give me any style of music and I will probably prefer the recorded version. The combination of the noise, the starting and stopping, and just the general confusion just doesn't do it for me. The Mark Williams Quartet changed my perspective.

I met Mark Williams a couple summers ago at a backyard BBQ. I noticed he was one of my fraternity brothers, so I said hello. We got to chatting and he said he was a musician, but he was very humble...All he said was, "I play the trombone and I'm part of a band." He didn't actually say how good he was.

It wasn't until a year later, that I checked out his site: Mark has been accepted to study at top schools like the Juillard MAP Program and the "FAME" school. He graduated from Howard University with honors and both a Bachelors AND a Masters...and after hearing him play this past summer, I can unequivocally say he's pretty damn good.

The Mark Williams Quartet has a really great New Orleans/swing ambience. For someone who "doesn't like live music", I was certainly moving like a maniac that night. I danced like there was no tomorrow. And he's doing it again tonight, so if you're in NYC, check him out before he starts his European tour with The World Famous Count Basie Orchestra. And he's also extended an open invitation to musicians to "bring their horns."

Mark Williams-trombone
Mamiko Watanabe-piano
Burniss Travis-bass
Isaiah Cook-drums

Buka Restaurant
946 Fulton St.
Brooklyn,N.Y. 11238
Showtime 9:30pm-12:00am
Food & Drink Specials !
Free Admission !

He also is a music education, so if you can't make it tonight, but you're interested in learning to play a "horn", check out his site: http://www.markplaystrombone.com