Daily Dose Of Jazz…

Mark Wagnon was born on October 26, 1956 in Lausanne, Switzerland and his talent as a percussionist was immediately evident. His early musical tastes focused on progressive rock bands like King Crimson, Led Zeppelin, Yes and Genesis. He was impressed with the fusion sounds of Miles Davis and the Mahavishnu Orchestra. However, it was a Gary Burton concert, which helped him focus his desire to become a musician.

He entered the Geneva Conservatory to study classical percussion, including the vibraphone, which would become his instrument of choice. The five years that Wagnon spent at the Geneva Conservatory he also spent a year at the Berklee School of Music in Boston, Massachusetts. While there he met Dave Douglas, and Dave Kikowski, who would become his consistent collaborator.

After his stint at Berklee, Mark moved to New York City where he began a series of projects and really began to develop his own unique style. He formed Dr. Nerve with Kikowski, a band described as Schoenberg meets the Sex Pistols. As a member of Tunnels with bassist Percy Jones and drummer Frank Katz, their album featured a more straight-ahead jazz fusion sound showing his skill on the vibes.

With Dr. Nerve, they released seven albums, and with No No Diet Bang, a collection of Swiss musicans, one cd titled Profan, and kicked off his new music service company, Buckyball, by releasing a collaboration with vocalist and Buckyball co-founder Sarah Pillow titled Paper Cuts, which was a collection of jazz standards. They would go on to release several other Wagnon releases, including a reissue of a late ’80s project, Shadowlines.

Vibraphonist Mark Wagnon has since delved into experimental jazz territory, and is consistently showing off his ever evolving technical mastery.

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