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An engaging jazz pianist,
Mark Soskin emerged in the 1970s and gained early notice working with luminaries like
Pete Escovedo and
Billy Cobham. Following his Top Ten-charting debut with 1979's Rhythm Vision, he spent over a decade with saxophonist
Sonny Rollins before settling in New York City. Along with teaching at Manhattan School of Music, he is an active performer, issuing a mix of highly regarded solo, trio, and quartet dates, including 2007's
One Hopeful Day with saxophonist
Chris Potter and 2015's Live at Smalls.
Born in 1953 in Brooklyn, New York,
Soskin became interested in music at a young age and first started playing piano as a child. By his teens, he had discovered jazz and was listening heavily to artists like
Horace Silver,
Herbie Hancock,
Bill Evans, and
Keith Jarrett, among others. After high school, he enrolled as a language and classics major at Colorado State University but quickly realized music was his main calling. He transferred to Boston's Berklee College of Music where he switched focus to composition and arranging. It was while living in Boston that he also started working professionally. Graduating from Berklee,
Soskin moved to San Francisco. There, he met legendary Latin percussionist
Pete Escovedo and joined his group
Azteca, playing alongside luminaries like
Escovedo's daughter
Sheila E. and trumpeter
Tom Harrell. He recorded two albums with the group, one of which was produced by drummer
Billy Cobham. This led to
Soskin joining
Cobham's band and recording two albums for
Columbia, 1977's Magic and 1978's Alivemutherforya.
Also during this period,
Soskin was a member of the CBS All-Stars and took on regular session work at Fantasy Studios in Berkeley, California. He caught the ear of veteran producer
Orrin Keepnews, who helped sign him to Prestige and recorded his debut album, 1979's Rhythm Vision. The album featured contributions by
Bennie Maupin and
Harvey Mason and charted in the Top Ten of Billboard's Jazz Chart. It was also through
Keepnews that
Soskin met saxophonist
Sonny Rollins. He spent the next 14 years playing with the jazz icon, including appearing on albums like 1979's
Don't Ask and 1986's
G-Man and in the 1986 documentary film Saxophone Colossus.
In the early '80s,
Soskin relocated full-time to New York City, where he furthered his work as a sideman, appearing often with
Rollins as well as
George Russell,
Herbie Mann,
Claudio Roditi, and others. He also continued to lead his own ensembles, issuing albums like 1992's trio date Views from Here with bassist
Harvie Swartz and drummer
Adam Nussbaum. He paired with guitarist
John Abercrombie, vibraphonist
Joe Locke, saxophonist Walk Wieskopf, and others for 1998's Five Lands. Along with performing,
Soskin moved into teaching, holding master classes and workshops, and accepting a position on the faculty of The Manhattan School of Music.
In 2001, he issued
17 (Seventeen), a quartet date featuring trumpeter
Tim Hagans, saxophonist
Billy Drewes, bassist
Jay Anderson, drummer
Matt Wilson, and percussionist
Daniel Sadownick. A quintet date,
One Hopeful Day, followed in 2007 with tenor saxophonist
Chris Potter, bassist
John Patitucci, and drummer
Bill Stewart.
Soskin then paired with saxophonist
Ravi Coltrane for the hearty straight-ahead date
Man Behind the Curtain. A solo piano recording of the music of
Nino Rota arrived in 2012, followed by 2015's Live at Smalls, which featured his quartet with bassist
Anderson, saxophonist
Rich Perry, and drummer
Anthony Pinciotti.
Anderson and
Pinciotti were also on board for the 2017 trio session
Hearts and Minds on SteepleChase. ~ Matt Collar