Mark Kelso
  • About
    • Biography
    • Resumé
    • Philosophy
    • Influences
    • Quotes
  • Gigs
  • Recordings
    • The Dragon’s Tail
    • The Chronicles of Fezziwig
    • Elementals
    • Stealing from My Youth
    • Musician First, Drummer Second
    • Lost Kingdoms
    • Full Discography
  • The Jazz Exiles
    • About The Jazz Exiles
    • EPK
    • Recordings
      • The Dragon’s Tail
      • Elementals
      • Stealing from My Youth
    • Reviews – Elementals
    • Reviews – Stealing From My Youth
  • Gallery
    • Photos
    • Videos
  • Store
    • The Dragon’s Tail – WAV
    • The Dragon’s Tail – MP3
    • The Chronicles of Fezziwig MP3s & CD
    • Elementals MP3s & CD
    • Stealing from My Youth MP3s
    • Musician First, Drummer Second Digital Download
    • Teachers & Drum Students – Play Alongs
  • Contact
  • Menu Menu
Buy ALBUM MP3 Tracks Buy Album WAV Tracks Buy PLAY ALONG MP3 0r WAV Tracks

Sept 9th, 2022 – Toronto, ON – Welcome to The Dragon’s Tail, the exciting new 3rd release by Canadian premiere Jazz-Fusion quintet, The Jazz Exiles. Helmed by 2-time JUNO nominee, Mark Kelso, this group’s new recording explores the limitless harmonic and rhythmic capabilities of what these 5 top-notch musicians are capable of. You can download the full recording or dreamless play along tracks .

This current line-up has been together for 5 years now, so their unified sound is even tighter, punchier and more cohesive than the previous 2 recordings. As usual, the Exiles are led by Irish-born Mark Kelso on drums, compositions & production. The group also features the all-star talents of Canadian bass virtuoso Rich Brown, Cuban-born alto sax player Luis Deniz, guitar whiz Elmer Ferrer and local lad, Jeremy Ledbetter on piano & keyboards. These fabulous players have brought Mark’s new compositions to a whole new level!

Statement

“With the disruption to our lives over the past 2 years of Covid-19, I’ve thought a lot about what the legacy of a musician’s career actually is, especially when there weren’t any live performances. With that in mind, I wanted this project to be a truer representation of my musical life than any of the other projects I’ve done before. Maybe I’m just getting older, but I feel the growing importance of leaving something behind.”

Creative Concept

“With this 3rd album, I want to demonstrate that drummers can write memorable music. I want to further prove that drummers can and should see themselves as creative contributors to the musical environment, and most importantly, I want to be an example to students and younger players, so that they can more easily see themselves in this sort of a band leadership role too and follow suit as they embark on their own careers. So often younger players have doubts about their capabilities as composers. I want to use this album as a tool to help make young drummers less afraid to compose and to put themselves out into the world as creative leaders. “

Influence

“Throughout my development as a musician, Bruce Lee has been incredibly influential on my drumming via his ethos in self-improvement in martial arts. Timing, mental clarity, focus, speed, flawless technique, emotional control – all of those can be applied to drumming too. In his film, “The Way of the Dragon”, he talks about the dragon’s tail, which (in a fight) is a particular martial arts move. However, in folklore, people worry about the dragon’s teeth and flames but ignore the tail, which can deal a devastating blow. The Dragon’s Tail is a therefore a metaphor for the importance of looking for the unseen. In going deeper, one should be careful about only taking things at face value, and in doing so avoid being caught by ‘the tail.’ The album’s title track is dedicated to Bruce Lee as an homage to how he’s inspired me in my life-long musical growth.”

Production Notes

  • Produced by: Mark Kelso
  • Featuring: Mark Kelso – drums, Luis Deniz – alto, Jeremy Ledbetter – keyboards, Elmer Ferrer – guitar, Rich Brown – bass.
  • Recorded at: Modica Studios, Toronto ON Canada Oct 2021
  • Recording Engineer: Sidney Galbraith
  • Mixing Engineer: Andrew Mullin
  • Mastering Engineer: Peter Letros at Wreckhouse Mastering
  • Cover Artwork: Sanja Antic at Yugogirl design

Thank you: Luis, Jeremy, Elmer & Rich, Roberto Occhipinti, Ryan Hamilton @ Yamaha Canada & Paiste, Dave Rundle @ Headhunters and Larry, Brad & Arnold Davidson at D’Addario Canada, Hilario Duran, Tyler Emond, Aurora Bangarth, David Garibaldi, Graham Lear, Will Kennedy

All the love in the world to my cherished family – Patricia, Conor & Aoife and to my Father Sam (the whole reason I play the drums).

Special thanks to FACTOR for their support.

We acknowledge the support of the Canada Council for the Arts.

Industry Related

  • Drum Magazine
  • Drumset Connect
  • Evans Drum Heads
  • Headhunters drum sticks
  • Modern Drummer
  • Paiste Cymbals
  • Plunge Audio In ear Monitors
  • Yamaha

Endorsements

  • Evans Drum Heads
  • Headhunters drum sticks
  • Paiste Cymbals
  • Plunge Audio In ear Monitors
  • Yamaha

The Jazz Exiles

Follow Mark Kelso

  • Facebook - Mark Kelso
  • Facebook - Jazz Exiles
  • Instagram
  • Email

Upcoming Gigs

There are no upcoming events.

View All
© Copyright 2002 -2022 Mark Kelso - Site by lucie
  • Facebook
  • Twitter
  • Home
  • Privacy Policy
  • Contact
Scroll to top

This site uses cookies. By continuing to browse the site, you are agreeing to our use of cookies.

OK

Cookie and Privacy Settings



How we use cookies

We may request cookies to be set on your device. We use cookies to let us know when you visit our websites, how you interact with us, to enrich your user experience, and to customize your relationship with our website.

Click on the different category headings to find out more. You can also change some of your preferences. Note that blocking some types of cookies may impact your experience on our websites and the services we are able to offer.

Essential Website Cookies

These cookies are strictly necessary to provide you with services available through our website and to use some of its features.

Because these cookies are strictly necessary to deliver the website, refusing them will have impact how our site functions. You always can block or delete cookies by changing your browser settings and force blocking all cookies on this website. But this will always prompt you to accept/refuse cookies when revisiting our site.

We fully respect if you want to refuse cookies but to avoid asking you again and again kindly allow us to store a cookie for that. You are free to opt out any time or opt in for other cookies to get a better experience. If you refuse cookies we will remove all set cookies in our domain.

We provide you with a list of stored cookies on your computer in our domain so you can check what we stored. Due to security reasons we are not able to show or modify cookies from other domains. You can check these in your browser security settings.

Other external services

We also use different external services like Google Webfonts, Google Maps, and external Video providers. Since these providers may collect personal data like your IP address we allow you to block them here. Please be aware that this might heavily reduce the functionality and appearance of our site. Changes will take effect once you reload the page.

Google Webfont Settings:

Google Map Settings:

Google reCaptcha Settings:

Vimeo and Youtube video embeds:

Privacy Policy

You can read about our cookies and privacy settings in detail on our Privacy Policy Page.

Privacy Policy
Accept settingsHide notification only