Mark Ortwein - It Was Time




	Multi-instrumentalist Mark Ortwein grew up in Las Vegas and attended Loyola University in New Orleans, where he majored in bassoon and jazz saxophone. He then attended Boston University where he received his Bachelor of Music degree on bassoon. After playing with the Las Vegas Symphony Orchestra for a season, he then joined the United States Air Force Band on sax. He eventually moved to Cincinnati to continue studying bassoon at the Cincinnati Conservatory, earning his master's degree. The famous film composer John Williams then asked him to become a soloist with the Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra. But for years he had dreamed of recording a CD himself, and that has finally happened. On 'It Was Time' he shows his talents as a composer, arranger and plays various wind instruments. These are tenor, alto, soprano and baritone saxophones, bassoon and electric bassoon, clarinet and bass clarinet and flute. He was assisted by Frank Glover (piano), Paul Langford (piano), Gary Walters (piano), Pavel Polanco-Safadit (piano), Olas Ortwein (bass), Peter Hansen (bass), Francis Wyatt (drums), Matt McGraw (drums), Craig Hetrick (drums), Johnny Concannon (drums), Carrington Clinton (drums), John Fell (guitar), Kenny Rampton (trumpet), Jon Crabiel (percussion) and Josh Kaufman (vocals). This CD contains different music genres, such as Latin jazz, ballads, hard rock, post-bop and even some fusion. Some examples are: 'Pepperoni Grande Con Queso Mas' (energetic Latin jazz), the beautiful ballad 'I Can't Make You Love Me' (cover by Bonnie Raitt), the standard 'After You've Gone' (light funk and hip-hop), the lively bossa 'Basso Bossa', 'No More Butterflies' (composed after a visit to Auschwitz), Coltrane's 'Lonnie's Lament' (funky), 'Lunar Love' (which starts as a ballad for his wife, but becomes intense), the swinging 'I Might Be Happy', the somewhat “weird” 'Schizoid' (dedicated to his ex-wife) and the closing track 'Bigfoot' (funk) with his son Olas on guitar, bass and keyboards. An inspiring debut album that shows Mark's versatility.

		Tracks: It Was Time Pepperoni Grande Con Queso Mas I Can’t Make You Love Me After You’ve Gone Basso Bossa No More Butterflies Lonnie’s Lament Lunar Love I Might Be Happy Schizoid Bigfoot Mark Ortwein