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Mark Kleinhaut
AVAILABLE MERCHANDISE:
ARTIST BIOGRAPHY:
Mark Kleinhaut has been playing jazz guitar for nearly thirty years, during which time he has achieved one of the most prized and elusive goals in jazz - a highly personal sound and recognizable voice on his instrument. His preference for clean guitar tones first recalls the great tradition of mainstream jazz guitarists like a Wes Montgomery and Pat Martino, but listeners soon detect something else in Kleinhaut's highly evolved vocabulary. His playing avoids the clichés and trappings of the too-familiar jazz jargon in favor of melodic phrases that twist and leap passionately with the immediacy of the moment, yet follow his relentless pursuit of logic, balance and beauty. Mark Kleinhaut is also a prolific jazz composer and has released four CDs of his original jazz compositions, including "Chasing Tales" with trumpeter Tiger Okoshi and "A Balance of Light", with Bobby Watson.
After completing his formal music studies at Rutgers University (B.A.1979) under the direction of the late Ted Dunbar, Kleinhaut eschewed the typical path to establishing himself as a jazz musician. He did not move to NYC as a young player and try to break into the jazz community. Instead he pursued a solitary path, taking a day job in a non-music related field-banking (like his mentor Ted Dunbar, who was a pharmacist). Kleinhaut continued to pursue his musical artistry, maintaining rigorous practice and gigging schedules, working steadily to develop his own voice and musical ideas, all the while building a career in the financial industry. This lifestyle is not as isolating as it might appear, as long as one is willing to travel, as Mark is. He makes frequent trips to New York City to visit with jazz guitarists like Jack Wilkins, or to participate in the Jazzcorner.com jam at the Iridium, where he played with Bobby Watson, Gary Bartz and Joanne Brackeen, (among others) or to play gigs like his recent performance with Mark Taylor's (fr.horn)) "Limited Liability" with Lalo, Ken Filiano and Gerald Cleaver at the Detour Jazz Club, or his performance at the MOMA with his trio. In addition to his trips to New York, Mark has taken his trio on tour performing in Germany and the Netherlands, and he has just returned from touring in Cuba with clarinetist/whistler Brad Terry.
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