Mark Lewis Quartet at The Sound Room

Mark Lewis is a well-traveled alto saxophonist and flutist who has created a vast and intensely stimulating body of music over the past four decades, and enlivened jazz scenes from Seattle and San Francisco toRotterdam and Paris. Partnering with a superlative Gotham rhythm section on his gorgeous new album The New York Session, Lewis delivers a tour de force. The new album, on the Audio Daddio label, features piano legend George Cables, veteran bassist Essiet Essiet, and the supremely swinging drummer Victor Lewis. Its the work of an artist clearly reveling in the company of fellow masters making the most of his tasty compositions....

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Mark Lewis is a well-traveled alto saxophonist and flutist who has created a vast and intensely stimulating body of music over the past four decades, and enlivened jazz scenes from Seattle and San Francisco toRotterdam and Paris. Partnering with a superlative Gotham rhythm section on his gorgeous new album The New York Session, Lewis delivers a tour de force. The new album, on the Audio Daddio label, features piano legend George Cables, veteran bassist Essiet Essiet, and the supremely swinging drummer Victor Lewis. Its the work of an artist clearly reveling in the company of fellow masters making the most of his tasty compositions.

Boasting a multifaceted career stretching back to the mid-1970s, Lewis has also thrived as a producer, engineer, educator, and entrepreneur. But The New York Session showcases his command as a player and his abiding gift for crafting memorable tunes that beg for improvisational extrapolation.

When it comes to his collaborators, Lewis couldnt be in better hands. Cables, Essiet, and Lewis have performed internationally as a trio and rhythm section over the past decade and recently recorded several acclaimed albums as a unit, including Cabless My Muse and In Good Company (both on HighNote).

It doesnt matter what kind of jazz you like. Want to swing like Lester Young?
Ratchet up the rhythmic intensity with Birdlike bop? Dig soul-splitting clarity a la Stan Getz? Lewis is your man. ... I feel [that Mark] is one of the most lyrical and emotionally committed saxophonists of his generation.
- Ted Gioia, jazz critic, author How to Listen to Jazz

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