Mark Rapp
Mark Rapp is a distinguished trumpeter, composer, arranger, didgeridoo player, recording and touring artist and has performed with such distinct artists from Branford Marsalis to Hootie and the Blowfish. Rapp has released 7 diverse recordings, and is featured on the closing track of Disney’s "Everybody Wants to be a Cat" CD. Artists such as Roy Hargrove, Dave Brubeck, Esperanza Spalding, The Bad Plus, Joshua Redman and more are also featured on this CD. Rapp’s celebrated 2009 debut release "Token Tales" (Paved Earth Music), earned him a spot as one of the "Top 25 Emerging Trumpeters" in Downbeat Magazine. His release “Good Eats” (Dinemec Jazz) had critics saying, “Rapp is quickly developing a reputation as a superb interpreter and great stylist, willing to tackle the history of this music with his eyes on the past and his mind on the present and future of this music.” - AllAboutJazz.com. Rapp is a featured artist in Mellen Press' "How Jazz Trumpeters Understand Their Music" among a prestigious list including Terence Blanchard, Lew Soloff, Freddie Hubbard, Tim Hagans, Dave Douglas and more. Rapp also co-created and was CEO of intotheShed.com (2012-2015), an online live lessons platform servicing GRAMMY-award winners and other the top artists in jazz today.
Performance Experience
Jazz clubs around the world from Snug Harbor (New Orleans), Blue Note (NYC), The Jazz Standard (NYC), Yoshi’s (San Francisco), Blues Alley (Washington, D.C.), Jazzland (Vienna, Austria), AMR (Geneva, Switzerland), Clube do Choro (Natal, Brasil) to Jazz Tunnel (Zagreb, Croatia). Jazz festivals around the world from the JVC Newport Jazz Festival, Fillmore Jazz Festival, New Orleans Jazz & Heritage Festival, WC Handy Festival, Festival AMR des Cropettes (Switzerland), JazzTimes Festival in Croatia to the Jazz&Blues Festival in Garanhuns, Brazil. Mark has been guest soloist with Big Bands, recorded as a special guest artist on CDs, played in the United Nations Symphony Orchestra, and has had many jazz greats perform in his bands including bassist James Genus (Herbie Hancock, Brecker Brothers, Saturday Night Live, Aretha Franklin), Walter Blanding, Jr, Don Braden, Wycliffe Gordon, Nate Smith, Clerence Penn, Wess “Warmdaddy” Anderson and many others.
Education
Masters in Jazz Studies, University of New Orleans Bachelors in Music Performance, Winthrop University
Private Teachers
Mark has studied with Lew Soloff; Wycliffe Gordon; Stephen Jeandheur (Principal Trumpet, Orchestre de la Suisse Romande); Walter Blanding, Jr. (Tenor saxophonist, Lincoln Center Jazz Orchestra); Marcus Printup (Trumpet, Lincoln Center Jazz Orchestra); Clyde Kerr, Jr (who taught Nicholas Payton, Marlon Jordan, Terence Blanchard and others); Vincent Penzarella (NY Philharmonic), et al.
Teaching Experience
Mark has maintained a teaching studio throughout his travels. He has given master classes in University settings and has led and coached the United Nation’s World Music Project in Geneva, Switzerland. Mark was a guest lecturer for the Jazz Education Network Conference (Atlanta, Jan 2013), presenting the “Musical Mind: From Spirit to Song.” He is a passionate educator and performing artist and currently teaches privately through Freeway Music.
"Rapp has his own way of defining jazz,
which keeps its standard principles while
delving into the experimental side."
- JazzTimes
"Rapp is willing to tackle the history of this music
with his eyes on the past and his mind on the
present and future of this music."
– AllAboutJazz.com
"One can’t help but sense a distinct identity to Rapp
in both his composing and playing and for this reason,
we will be hearing a lot more from him."
– Jazz Improv NY Magazine