Category: News Desk

Jazz Fest founder and producer, Frank Malfitano, has announced the Syracuse Jazz Fest has added a fifth concert to its series. Mark Doyle’s Guitar Noir Project has been added to the sixth Annual Legends of Jazz Series at O.C.C. on Saturday, November 22 at 7:30 pm in the college’s new Recital Hall.

After a sold-out performance in May at The Auburn Public Theater, then sharing the Syracuse Jazz Fest 32 stage with Big Bad Voodoo Daddy and Trombone Shorty & Orleans Avenue in July, this will be the final appearance of Guitar Noir until April 2015. Unlike the previous shows, the string quintet will be featured for two full sets as the 10-piece ensemble presents the full In Dreams album in set one, then reprise some of the funkier R&B numbers they brought down the Jazz Fest house with in set two. As always, Doyle never rests on his laurels and he has several surprises up his musical sleeve for the audience at O.C.C.

Doyle says, “We wanted to do an intimate show in Syracuse, I’m grateful to Frank for suggesting O.C.C.’s new recital hall – I really didn’t want to wait until next April to perform again with this project. And as the nights get longer and we head toward winter, the Noir concept really starts to take on an added dimension.” Malfitano went on to say that the project was simply too stellar to lay dormant over the winter months. “Mark, as everyone knows, is a Legend, and a seven-time SAMMY winner and SAMMYS hall-of-famer who is equally adept at Blues, Rock, Pop and Jazz, but this dectet chamber/jazz/rock ensemble is a very special and unique project that really deserves to be seen in its entirety. Because of time limitations at Jazz Fest we were only able to scratch the surface of this amazing presentation this past summer, so presenting it in its entirety in late November was simply too irresistible an opportunity to pass up.”

The November 22 concert at O.C.C. will feature guitarist Mark Doyle’s critically acclaimed Guitar Noir Project, which features a core quintet composed of Doyle and Terry Quill on guitars, Bill DiCosimo on keyboards, Edgar Pagan on bass, and Joshua Dekaney on drums, along with a five-piece Guitar Noir String Ensemble comprised of Ally Brown, Shelby Dems, and Leila Dean on violins, Claire Marie Wilcox on viola and Kate LaVerne on cello.

Doyle’s incredibly varied career began as a child prodigy jazz pianist before seeing The Beatles on the Ed Sullivan Show. His first band ‘Jukin’ Bone’ was signed to RCA when he was in his late teens and produced two albums that were labeled by Creem magazine as “seminal classics of early ’70s hard rock.” He served as lead guitarist/arranger/right-hand man for David Werner, Andy Pratt and Cindy Bullens performing band-leader duties on many tours with them besides numerous sessions with the likes of Hall and Oates, Judy Collins, Leo Sayer and many others. The ’80s found him doing several world tours and television appearances as lead guitarist for Meatloaf and adding a shiny disc to his studio wall by arranging and singing background vocals on “Straight From The Heart’ with Bryan Adams. A move to Boston brought Mark another direction as String Arranger for most of Maurice Starr’s acts including New Kids On The Block, Tiffany and The Stylistics also contributing his production skills and immeasurable musical prowess to each. After a stint in Japan playing keys and acoustic guitar for the Epic/SONY and Pioneer labels, Mark returned to Syracuse and concentrated on his internationally critically acclaimed solo career while producing and performing regionally. His Guitar Noir and Out Of The Past CDs, along with his double CD/DVD release Solstice At The Cathedral bridge his multifaceted influences and talents, leading to more current work with his blues/rock band Mark Doyle and The Maniacs which is his ongoing guitar project. Doyle is also performing select Opera House concerts as guitarist/pianist and band leader with Mary Fahl (former lead singer of October Project) who recently released, Live at The Mauch Chunk Opera House, reviewed on these pages and previously issued ‘From The Dark Side Of The Moon’ a reinterpretation of Pink Floyd’s classic album in 2011. A long-awaited follow-up to Guitar Noir in In Dreams: Guitar Noir II, plus three studio Maniacs issues, one live CD, a live DVD and a behind-the-scenes DVD have kept Doyle at the top of his game, but if you know the man at all, he doesn’t really know any other way.

Tickets for this first-ever full Syracuse performance by Guitar Noir are priced at $20 in advance and $25 on the day of the show, and are on sale now (cash only!) at Sound Garden in Armory Square, located at 312 West Jefferson Street, Syracuse. Only 150 tickets will be sold for this event, so get your tickets early and don’t get left out as many did at The Auburn Public Theater show.