Mark Zubek is a Toronto

Toronto

Toronto is the provincial capital of Ontario and the largest city in Canada. It is located in Southern Ontario on the northwestern shore of Lake Ontario. A relatively modern city, Toronto's history dates back to the late-18th century, when its land was first purchased by the British monarchy from...

-based record producer, songwriter, multi-instrumentalist and jazz

Jazz

Jazz is a musical style that originated at the beginning of the 20th century in African American communities in the Southern United States. It was born out of a mix of African and European music traditions. From its early development until the present, jazz has incorporated music from 19th and 20th...

 musician. His songwriting and production styles are influenced by pop, rock, r&b, hip-hop, and jazz.

Biographical Information

Born in Mississauga, Ontario

Ontario

Ontario is a province of Canada, located in east-central Canada. It is Canada's most populous province and second largest in total area. It is home to the nation's most populous city, Toronto, and the nation's capital, Ottawa....

, Zubek attended Cawthra Park Performing Arts High School

Cawthra Park Secondary School

Cawthra Park Secondary School, also known as CPSS, is a public high school located in Southeast Mississauga, Ontario, Canada.Cawthra Park provides instruction to students from grades 9 to 12 and is under the jurisdiction of the Peel District School Board....

 and received private instruction on drums, percussion and music theory with David Monis; guitar with Peter Macdonald; acoustic bass and jazz composition with Patrick Collins. From 1990 to 1992 he attended jazz workshops on Acoustic Bass and Improvisation with jazz legend Barry Harris

Barry Harris

Barry Doyle Harris is an American bebop jazz pianist and educator.-Biography:Harris left Detroit for New York City in 1960...

.

A Jazz Performance Summer Workshop in Banff, Alberta with John Coltrane

John Coltrane

John William Coltrane was an American jazz saxophonist and composer. Working in the bebop and hard bop idioms early in his career, Coltrane helped pioneer the use of modes in jazz and later was at the forefront of free jazz...

's bassist Reggie Workman

Reggie Workman

Reginald "Reggie" Workman is an American avant-garde jazz and hard bop double bassist, recognized for his work with both John Coltrane and Art Blakey....

 was particularly influential. From 1995 to 2003 Zubek received private instruction on Acoustic Bass and Jazz Composition from master bassist Dave Holland

Dave Holland

Dave Holland is an English jazz double bassist, composer and bandleader who has been performing and recording for five decades. He has lived in the United States for 40 years....

.

Zubek acted as the regular drummer for Ron Cahute

Ron Cahute

Ron Cahute is a Ukrainian-Canadian recording artist and songwriter. He is an accordion player and founding member of the Ukrainian-Canadian music band BURYA...

's Ukrainian folk group Burya from ages 12 to 18. He moved to Boston in 1992 to study at Berklee College of Music

Berklee College of Music

Berklee College of Music, located in Boston, Massachusetts, is the largest independent college of contemporary music in the world. Known primarily as a school for jazz, rock and popular music, it also offers college-level courses in a wide range of contemporary and historic styles, including hip...

 courtesy of grants from the Canada Council for the Arts and the Ontario Arts Council

Ontario Arts Council

The Ontario Arts Council is a publicly-funded Canadian organization in the province of Ontario whose purpose is to promote and assist the development of the arts for the enjoyment and benefit of all Ontarians...

.

In 1995, he moved to New York City

New York City

New York is the most populous city in the United States and the center of the New York Metropolitan Area, one of the most populous metropolitan areas in the world. New York exerts a significant impact upon global commerce, finance, media, art, fashion, research, technology, education, and...

 to produce records and play jazz music. Though The Penguin Guide to Jazz

The Penguin Guide to Jazz

The Penguin Guide to Jazz is a reference work containing an encyclopedic directory of jazz recordings on CD which are currently available in Europe or the United States...

 lists Zubek as an upright bass player, he is also proficient on drums, electric bass, guitars and keyboards.

After ten years in New York, Zubek moved back to Toronto, where he is currently based in Riverdale.

Musical Associations

Zubek has produced, written, recorded and performed with Grammy

Grammy Award

A Grammy Award — or Grammy — is an accolade by the National Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences of the United States to recognize outstanding achievement in the music industry...

-winning jazz singer Betty Carter

Betty Carter

Betty Carter was an American jazz singer renowned for her improvisational technique and idiosyncratic vocal style...

, Jen Chapin

Jen Chapin

Jen Chapin is an American vocalist. She is the daughter of singer-songwriter Harry Chapin and his wife, Sandra Chapin. She also chairs the Board of Directors of World Hunger Year, a charity organization founded by Harry Chapin. She has been compared at times with Laura Nyro, Tori Amos, and Alanis...

, Jack DeJohnette

Jack DeJohnette

Jack DeJohnette is an American jazz drummer, pianist, and composer. He is one of the most influential jazz drummers of the 20th century, due to extensive work as leader and sideman for musicians like Miles Davis, Joe Henderson, Freddie Hubbard, Keith Jarrett and Sonny...

, Dave Holland, Seamus Blake, Mark Turner

Mark Turner (musician)

Mark Turner is a jazz saxophonist and clarinetist with several recordings to his credit.-Biographical information:Born in Fairborn, Ohio, and raised in Southern California, Turner originally intended to become a commercial artist. In elementary school he played the clarinet, followed by the alto...

, Chris Cheek, Avishai Cohen, Bill Dillon, Jerry Marotta

Jerry Marotta

Jerry Marotta is a drummer currently residing in Woodstock, New York. He is the brother of Rick Marotta, who is also a well-known drummer and composer....

, Tony Levin

Tony Levin

Tony Levin is an American progressive rock musician, specializing in bass guitar, Chapman stick and upright bass ....

, Bill Stewart, as well as MapleMusic artist Hilary Weaver

Hilary Weaver

Hilary Weaver is a singer-songwriter based in Toronto, Canada.-Career:In 2010, Weaver won the award in the Great American Song Contest for best pop song....

. He has also performed with Wynton Marsalis

Wynton Marsalis

Wynton Learson Marsalis is a trumpeter, composer, bandleader, music educator, and Artistic Director of Jazz at Lincoln Center. Marsalis has promoted the appreciation of classical and jazz music often to young audiences...

 and Brian Blade

Brian Blade

Brian Blade in Shreveport, Louisiana is an American jazz drummer, composer, session musician, and singer-songwriter.-Early years:...

.

In 1999, Zubek Toured Europe and North America as bassist for Turkish drummer Burhan Ocal, playing a world-beat fusion of traditional Turkish music and jazz. He is also the bassist for Swiss composer Jurg Wickihalder, with whom he has toured Europe and recorded 2 CDs for Intakt Records (2007–2009), and has played bass for Canadian jazz icon Micah Barnes

Micah Barnes

Micah Barnes is a Canadian pop singer-songwriter. He has performed both as a solo artist and with the bands Loudboy and The Nylons....

, who is known for his work with The Nylons

The Nylons

The Nylons are an a cappella group founded in 1978 in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. Best known for their covers of The Turtles' "Happy Together", Steam's "Na Na Hey Hey Kiss Him Goodbye", and The Tokens' version of the traditional "The Lion Sleeps Tonight"....

 and The Parachute Club and Daniel Barnes, drummer for Holly Cole

Holly Cole

Holly Cole is a Canadian jazz singer, particularly popular in Canada and Japan for both her versatile and distinctive voice, along with her adventurous repertoire, which spans such divergent genres as show tunes, rock, and country music.-Holly Cole Trio:In 1983, Cole travelled to Toronto to seek a...

.

Zubek is a member of the Toronto Songwriters' Association and has written jingles for companies like Coca-Cola, Dunkin' Donuts and the Discovery Channel.

Zubek writes and produces CDs for singers and bands, arranges, plays any or all of the instruments, and does sound engineering from his studio, Studio Z. He has produced out of several other studios including New York's Power Station (Avatar), Sear Sound, Cutting Room, Magic Box, L.A.'s Oceanway and Larrabee, and Toronto's Metalworks and Phase One.

As Leader

Zubek has 2 solo jazz records out on Fresh Sound Records: "Horse With a Broken Leg" (2000) and "twentytwodollarfishlunch" (2009)

As Composer

Composition "Love Notes" (1995) on the Betty Carter album "Feed the Fire" (Verve/Polygram)

Reviews

All About Jazz Magazine: Toronto-based bass player, songwriter, and producer Mark Zubek epitomizes his many cross-genres skills in the fields of jazz, hip-hop, R&B, and pop. Zubek's compositions revolve around his propulsive playing and the fat sound of his upright bass. Zubek's impressive vision and original compositions succeeds in blurring the artificial boundaries between jazz and other popular genres.

ALL MUSIC GUIDE: bassist Mark Zubek gets a remarkably fat, woody sound from his instrument

Whole Note Magazine: Zubek is a Toronto native who has recently moved back home after studies at Boston's Berklee College, 10 years in New York performing and producing recordings, a number of world travels and collaborations with the likes of Betty Carter, Wynton Marsalis, Jack DeJohnette and Dave Holland (July/August 9)

Jazz Times Magazine 2009: Well crafted with a definite edge...like the 21st century Jazz Messengers...this is punk-jazz for now people.