Biography
Founded in 2000, the collective known as Jazz Mafia is one of the most ubiquitous names in innovate music on the West Coast, including such artists as: The Shotgun Wedding Quintet, Realistic Orchestra, Joe Bagale, Jazz Mafia Symphony, Brass Bows & Beats and founder Adam Theis.
This talented group of musicians seamlessly combines Latin polyrhythms, boom-bap rhymes, melancholy ballads, swinging jazz and blistering solos, while at the same time adhering to symphonic structural elements. All spun together in the spirit of a Jazz Era big band- but conducted with a maestro's sense of timing, timbre, and mood- the experience is akin to watching the New York Philharmonic back a street corner B-Boy battle in the heart of downtown Oakland.
The "Brass, Bows & Beats" premiere sold out two shows at the Palace Of Fine Arts as well a sold out a six-show run at Yoshi's in San Francisco. The 60 piece incarnation of Jazz Mafia's "Brass, Bows & Beats" that premiered at the Palace of Fine Arts was recorded and released as a live album in June 2010. 2010 has been a break through year for Jazz Mafia, with performances at the Newport Jazz Festival, Montreal Jazz Festival, Playboy Jazz Festival (Hollywood Bowl), and the Monterey Jazz Festival.
The original 60-piece Palace ensemble can be pared down to a tighter core of 40 to accommodate and emphasize more intimate settings. The piece marks a coming of age for The Jazz Mafia as a new voice in composition. Jazz Mafia Symphony is a monumental achievement displaying an exciting barrage of compositional elements, which the composers ingeniously weave together through a complex blend of skill, talent and courage.
An eager and quickly growing global audience awaits their further contributions. A creative force on the Bay Area music scene for more than a decade, the loose-knit band of jazz cats, MCs, arrangers and composers known collectively as The Jazz Mafia, is fast emerging as the most prolific musical organization on the West Coast.
Launching some of the Bay Area's most innovative and stylistically expansive ensembles, these musicians contribute their varied talents to a cross-cultural mix of new beats and melodies, blended with instrumental virtuosity.
The Jazz Mafia Horns have recorded in the studio with Carlos Santana and backed artists such as Zion-I, KRS One, and Thomas Dolby. Other bands in the JM pantheon include The Shotgun Wedding Quintet, the incredible Realistic Orchestra, Supertaster with Joe Bagale, Brass Mafia, Jazz Mafia Trio, Spaceheater, and The Shotgun Wedding Hip Hop Symphony. With top-tier brass players and an always premium rhythm section, and dealing in jazz, funk, hip hop, soul, R&B and more, The Jazz Mafia form one of the most powerful assemblies of virtuosic performers on the West Coast.
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