Mark McLean's Playground

Although Mark McLean started off as a classical piano prodigy, by age 14 he had shifted very convincingly to the drums. A few years after that he was playing with Oscar Peterson, and beginning to appear on what is now more than 40 CDs. This drummer’s passion and skill in performing jazz, Afro-Cuban, funk and R&B have earned him work with everyone from Dewey Redman and Diana Krall to Serena Ryder and Quincy Jones. McLean also performed with Michael Kaeshammer at JazzFest in 2009 and blew the audience away. McLean’s hard driving quintet includes Kelly Jefferson saxophone, David Braid piano/Fender Rhodes, Ted Quinlan guitar and Marc Rogers bass.

“An intelligent, immensely talented young musician with a curious mind and a listening ear.” –Andy Bey