Album Notes

“Um baterista que verdadeiramente se pode chamar um «músico do mundo» dada a sua riquíssima experiencia (mesmo!) vivida em vários países. ...é quase um artista Português!” - CDnet Portugal

“Sempre quente/always hot” - O Diário (Lisboa, Portugal)

“World-class. There’s no doubt about it… Ben Sidran once called Mark Holen a genius. Ben gets no argument from me!” - Ray Ford, WCMU

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Mark Holen’s Zambomba performs original works by drummer-percussionist-composer Mark Holen. A blend of flamenco, Latin, and jazz genres, NOCHES FLAMENCAS is the ensemble’s fourth album release.

Drummer-percussionist-composer Mark Holen has played tangos and bebop in Buenos Aires; sambas in Rio; bendir in Marrakech; flamenco and jazz in Madrid; vibes and percussion with African musicians in Lisbon; and drums with many of New York’s established salseros, including Daniel Santos, Candido, Louis Bauzó, Machito, and Mauricio Smith. In the 1980s-1990s, he lived in Madrid and Lisbon and taught at the Hot Club of Portugal. Since his return to New York in 1996, his focus has been on composing, recording, and performing with his group, Zambomba, whose fourth release, Noches Flamencas (Harriton Carved Wax), is a blend of flamenco, Latin, and jazz genres.

ZAMBOMBA features guitarist Basilio Georges and dancer-singer Aurora Reyes of the esteemed New York troupe Flamenco Latino. Saxophonist Richard Oppenheim and singer-flutist ethnomusicologist Katharine (Katchie) Cartwright of the jazz/world music duo Cartwright/Oppenheim, together with veteran Texas blues singer Michael Greene complete the front line. At the piano is Peter Phillips, whose career spans four decades with artists as diverse as Herbie Hancock, Maureen Fleming, and Philip Glass. John Loehrke, whose experiences encompass jazz, Latin, rock, classical, theatrical, and R&B styles, is the ensemble’s award-winning bassist.