Bloomingdale School of Music (BSM) is pleased to present a concert entitled, True: Part One, Acoustic led by long time BSM faculty member and guitarist Mark Mollica. Joining Mr. Mollica are guest artists Nate Radley on guitar, Ike Stgurm on bass and John Ellis on Saxophone. This free community concert on Friday, March 17th begins at 7 pm and will be held at the David Greer Recital Hall at the school's home site located at 323 West 108th Street (off of Broadway) in Manhattan. Admission is FREE and seating is limited. Directed by Mark Mollica, the program presents a diverse sound world inspired by acoustic and folk music expressed in an improvisational and conversational style.  Various American influences such as blues, jazz, church hymns, and country can be heard in this acoustical musical exploration. 
ABOUT THE ARTISTS
Mark Mollica
Brooklyn-based Mark Mollica sees the guitar as one of music's widest ranging voices and brings that spirit to roles in jazz, rock, acoustic music, songwriting, arranging, composition, and production.  A Connecticut native, he learned primarily on the job with older musicians until a scholarship took him to the renowned guitar program at the USC Thornton School of Music to study with two of his musical idols, multiple Grammy-winning composer/arranger Vince Mendoza and jazz guitar giant Joe Diorio.  There, he earned a masters degree with top honors and the department award for outstanding graduate of 2005.  As composer and leader, his originals band and Star Maker Machinery project have received numerous concert grants and have featured long-standing relationships with some of jazz’s best emerging talent including John Ellis, Jesse Stacken, Ike Sturm, Chris Dingman, and Ted Poor, to name the handful on his upcoming release Lift, showcasing much of this original work.
 
As a studio musician, he has a range across most mainstream guitar styles from electric soloist to orchestral music.  His sideman and creative roles reflect this diversity with collaborations in the singer-songwriter, jazz, and rock circuits, having co-written extensively with Kate Francis Hope, arranging and releasing a single with the Welsh chart topper Donna Lewis, touring abroad and producing music for film with Dylan Connor, appearing in recital with guitar great Gene Bertoncini, and otherwise remaining active in different scenes.  As a soloist, he has a repertoire across archtop, fingerstyle, and classical genres, though is primarily focused on jazz and standards, with a growing list of pieces for live loops
 
Nate Radley
Nate Radley is Brooklyn-based guitarist and composer who leads his own group, can be heard with a variety of collaborative projects, and works as a sideman in numerous bands both in the New York area and around the world. Nate’s most recent CD is entitled “Morphoses” and was released in 2014 on Fresh Sound/New Talent. The album features a broad set of influences from jazz to rock to country. In addition the album features Nate on electric guitar, acoustic guitar, and lap steel. Joining Nate on this project are long time collaborators Loren Stillman on saxophones, Matt Pavolka on bass, and Ted Poor on drums.
Nate’s previous releases are 2013’s “Carillon” on Steeplechase with Chris Cheek on saxophone, Matt Clohesy on bass, and Ted Poor drums; and 2012’s “The Big Eyes” on Fresh Sound/New Talent with Loren Stillman, Pete Rende on keyboards, Matt Pavolka, and Ted Poor.
 
Nate has performed and or recorded with  the Loren Stillman Quartet, Alan Ferber nonet, Sean Smith trio, Behn Gillece quartet, Marc Mommaas’ Landmarc, Kris Davis’ Infrasound, the Jon Gordon group,  Akiko Pavolka’s House of Illusion and the Dave Smith Quintet. Other bandleaders he has performed with include Chris Cheek, Adam Nussbaum, John O’Gallagher, Shane Endsley, Tony Moreno, the Maria Schneider Jazz Orchestra, Andy Statman, Aruan Ortiz, and Andrew Rathbun. Reflecting a recent interest in country music, Nate has also been performing with Country and Western Swing bands in the area, including Jason Loughlin’s String Gliders and Hope Debates and North Forty. Nate studied jazz guitar and composition at New England Conservatory in Boston, MA where he received a Master’s in Music. He studied with John Abercrombie, Bob Brookmeyer, Jerry Bergonzi, and George Russell.
 
John Ellis
John Ellis is a gifted, versatile saxophonist/clarinetist/composer occupies an imaginary (and extremely imaginative) space directly between the celebratory, welcoming spirit of New Orleans and the edgy, frantic streets of New York City. Both as the leader of his own eclectic projects and as an in-demand sideman for great number and variety of artists that combination is best showcased in Ellis’ eccentric combo Double-Wide, which recently released its third album, Charm, on Ellis’ own Parade Light Records.
With a chainsaw-juggling balance of bayou brass, raucous gospel, and devil-may-care modern jazz. Ellis’ band of merry pranksters includes Gary Versace (organ/piano/accordion), Alan Ferber (trombone), Matt Perrine (sousaphone), and Jason Marsalis (drums).
 
Ellis has worked with artists such as  bass great John Patitucci, organ legend Dr. Lonnie Smith, MacArthur Fellow Miguel Zenón, the Brooklyn-bred big band led by composer Darcy James Argue, guitar groove master Charlie Hunter, and pop icon Sting. His discography lists more than 100 album credits as a sideman, with more than a dozen released in 2014 alone, including acclaimed albums by Zenón, drummer Otis Brown III, pianists Helen Sung and Edward Simon, and blues/gospel/soul trio The Holmes Brothers. John studied at the University of North Carolina School of the Arts, and in 1993, moved to New Orleans to study with renowned jazz family patriarch Ellis Marsalis.
 
He has released nine albums as a leader, three of those featuring his urban carnival band Double-Wide, which has toured extensively and was featured on the Main Stage of the 2012 Newport Jazz Festival. Most prominently, he was the second place winner of the prestigious Thelonious Monk International Saxophone Competition in 2002. He was the recipient of three composition grants through The Jazz Gallery for his collaborations with playwright Andy Bragen (“Dreamscapes”, “The Ice Siren”, and “MOBRO”) and was selected as the 2014 Make Jazz Fellow by the 18th Street Arts Center in Santa Monica, leading to the composition of music for Charm.
 
IKE STURM
Ike Sturm was raised in a musical home in Wisconsin, learning from his father, renowned composer and arranger, Fred Sturm. As a bassist, Ike has performed with many gifted musicians including Gene Bertoncini, Wynton Marsalis, Donny McCaslin, Bobby McFerrin, Ben Monder, Ingrid Jensen, Steve Lehman, Catherine Russell, Maria Schneider and Kenny Wheeler.  In addition to playing with his own groups and creative bands in New York, Ike has performed with Alarm Will Sound and the International Contemporary Ensemble.
 
Ike is the jazz director at Saint Peter’s Church in NYC.  He is responsible for the church’s many jazz programs, including music at public liturgies, conferences, festivals and workshops.  He created and directs Jazz 4 All, an educational fellowship of musicians of different ages, musical styles and faith backgrounds focusing on improvisation within the church.  He has composed many sacred works for jazz ensemble and chamber groups and has led music workshops at Yale’s Institute of Sacred Music and Union Seminary. Ike’s band, Evergreen, is a 9-person band that performs regularly at Saint Peter’s and around the world.  Their new album, Shelter of Trees, has been released and is dedicated to the memory of Fred Sturm.  Renowned bass critic Bill Milkowski called the album “undeniably beautiful." Ike is currently collaborating with guitarist Jesse Lewis in a new band called Endless Field.  Their inaugural release is planned for June of 2017 on Biophilia Records.
 
ABOUT BLOOMINGDALE SCHOOL OF MUSIC
 
Now in its 52nd year, BSM has served more than 80,000 children and adults through group classes, private instruction, and performance opportunities in classical, jazz, and rock music. Each week, over 650 students of all ages participate in a wide range of music making, including early childhood classes, a comprehensive pre-college program, free community concerts, and internet-based music programs. With accessibility central to its mission, more than 20% of Bloomingdale’s student body receives financial aid and scholarship assistance annually. For more information on Bloomingdale School of Music’s programs and concerts, visit www.bsmny.org, call the office at 212-663-6021, or email [email protected].