Mads Tolling & Mads Tolling Trio - Speed Of Light (CD)

Release Date: 01/01/08

'Speed of Light' is an album by Grammy Award-Winning Violinist Mads Tolling featuring originals and tunes by Miles Davis and Cannonball Adderley.

Mads Tolling is a two-time Grammy Award-Winner, and he is the 2016 winner of DownBeat Critics Poll Rising Star Award for the violin. He is a former long-time member of Stanley Clarke's Band and the Turtle Island Quartet. Mads tours and records withBob Weir's Wolf Bros Project, and he leads his own groups, Mads Tolling & The Mads Men and the Mads Tolling Quartet. He has been featured on NPR's Morning Edition and in the Washington Post, and he has performed with Kenny Barron, Ramsey Lewis, Paquito D' Rivera and Leo Kottke.

Violinist Mads Tolling, guitarist Mike Abraham and bassist George Ban-Weiss came together through the eclectic San Francisco jazz scene to record 'Speed of Light.' The distinctive trio integrates the violin into a traditional jazz combo. All three instruments play unconventional roles to make the music come to life. Violin may act as drum, guitar may take bass lines and bass may carry the melody. There are some moments of pure spontaneity, but underlying the record are thoughtful compositions and arrangements. All three players have re-thought their instruments in a fresh way, relying on their instincts to let the music speak for itself.

MTT draws inspiration from jazz to world music to rock, and from such artists as Herbie Hancock, Ravi Shankar and Radiohead. Most of 'Speed Of Light' is composed and arranged by the bandleader, Mads Tolling, who has a distinct melodic, lyrical 'groove' to his writing. MTT enjoys playing well-known pieces such as Cannonball Adderley's 'Work Song', Miles Davis' Blue in Green and Led Zeppelin's 'Black Dog', giving them a new twist, while staying true to the spirit of the original versions.