Tribute to Jean-Luc Ponty

Mads Tolling QuartetWhen: Wednesday, June 4
Where: Spoonbar, 219 Healdsburg Ave.
Time: 7:30 – 10:30 pm
No Cover: Phone (707) 433-7222 h2hotel.com/spoonbar

Jazz fusion tends to get a bad rap. But, as Duke Ellington said, there are only two kinds of music: good and bad. So, get ready to meet some good fusion, courtesy of the Mads Tolling Quartet. Born and raised in Denmark, violinist Tolling came to the U.S. at age 20 to attend the Berklee College of Music, where his star rose quickly. While there, he was snapped up by fusion bass legend Stanley Clarke, and he later joined the Bay Area’s magnificent Turtle Island String Quartet, with whom he won two Grammy awards for Classical Crossover albums.

When it comes to combining jazz and classical sensibilities on violin, Tolling’s main model is indubitably the great French artist Jean-Luc Ponty, to whom he paid tribute on his recent album Celebrating Jean-Luc Ponty—Live at Yoshi’s. That celebration will continue at the Healdsburg Jazz Festival when Tolling brings his quartet into Spoonbar, where the jazz fans come to rock out. Featuring Dave McNab on guitar, Sam Bevan on bass and Eric Garland on drums, this band likes to plug in, and Spoonbar is the perfect place for it. Not to mention, with the way Tolling swings, Ellington would have hired him in a second. Visit madstolling.com

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