QUOTES
Mads Tolling
“A wonderful new voice on the violin – – – very refreshing!”
– Chick Corea
“Mads has the amazing talent and skills that few young musicians can match. His music is both beautiful and refreshing exhibiting his superb mastery of the modern American Jazz music that is rarely seen among his peers.”
– Jean-Luc Ponty
“Mads Tolling is the most exciting musician I have come across in the past ten years. This recording represents some of the most creative music making out there.”
– Stanley Clarke
“Mr. Tolling is a virtuoso who doesn’t abandon his listeners. “Speed Of Light”, with sophistication and maturity doesn’t abandon accessibility. This is fascinating, hooky and satisfying music and Mads takes it beyond the academy and back to the ear.”
– Leo Kottke
“With Tolling’s honed technique, vigorous attack and engaging brand of swing…”
– Mike Joyce, Washington Post
“The album is marked with virtuosic moments of sublime, genre-busting string work by Tolling….”
– Dave Wiegand, San Francisco Chronicle
“…A Cross-Genre Genius…”
– Adam Broner, Piedmont Post
“But I am glad to live in a world that produced Mads Tolling, because he is something special.”
– C. Michael Bailey – All About Jazz
Mads Men – Playing the 60s
“With a playlist including “Mission Impossible,” “The Pink Panther,” “Meet The Flintstones,” “Georgia On My Mind,” “Classical Gas” and more, Tolling and his “mad men” are operating like musical anthropologists. Digging up 50-year-old artifacts, blowing the dust off with contemporary rhythms and buffing the classic melodies with jazz-inflected arrangements, the much-loved songs arrive with retro/modern shine — and nothing added to cloud their original luster end.”
“And Madison Avenue never had it this good.”
– Lou Fancher, Bay Area News Group
“Mads Tolling turns TV themes into jazz treasures…”
– Guy Ashley, San Francisco Examiner
“Playing the 60s is more than a simple exercise in nostalgia. It is popular music brought into jazz in such a way that the music transcends itself.”
“This is stellar performing. Tolling’s playing is near unbelievable.”
– Michael Bailey, All About Jazz
“…set the new standard for good time jazz. Well done.”
– Midwest Record
Mads Tollling Quartet – Celebrating Jean-Luc Ponty: Live at Yoshi’s
“Mads Tolling’s gift on the violin is the duality of exquisite and brutal. Almost every song off this live album shows off that gift to great extent. The sounds coming off his instrument are often ungodly, verging on maniacally mad, yet at once majestic, soaring, heaven sent.”
– Carol Banks Weber, AXS Entertainment
“What you have here is a rich, warm recording that swings in and out of jazz, rock and bluegrass.”
– Jazzwax
“The varied track mix, containing numerous ebbs, flows, and variances in delivery, equates to an impassioned program gushing with an abundance of entertaining qualities.”
– Glenn Astarita, All About Jazz
“Not only is Tolling immaculately clean throughout the CD, but he also gives a lot of room for his accompanists to dub in their own voices.”
– David N. Pyles, FAME Review
The Playmaker
“…Mads Tolling may not be 30 yet, but on “The Playmaker” he exhibits a restraint that would’ve been at home in Corea’s original Return to Forever”
– James Hale, Downbeat Magazine
“The Playmaker mixes moods and musical tastes but underwrites it all with a sheer joy in playing.”
– Andy Robson, Jazzwise
“….Tolling and those who surround him give the listener a valuable commodity, and that’s smart, innovative jazz.”
– Tom Henry, Toledo Blade
“Overall, a wondrously balanced and stylish outing that sustains repeated listens. Tolling and his bandmates provide the requisite doses of improvisation within a set of hugely appealing and prismatic song-forms.”
– Glenn Estarita, JazzReview.com
“Virtuosity may be a given on “The Playmaker,” but what’s most impressive is the sound of Tolling’s quartet, which drives the majority of the record and, based on the results, must be thrilling live.”
– John Kelman, All About Jazz
“….Mads Tolling gives jazz violin a hopeful and vibrant placement in the collection with his heartfelt playing and musical talent…”
– Analyn Revilla, City of Angels
Speed of Light
“While Tolling is skilled at evoking a beautiful melody, he’s equally adept at filling out the sound with powerful double-stops and intricate harmonics…”
– Greg Cahill, Strings Magazine
“Mads Tolling Quartet Fires Up Oakland Venue Yoshi’s with Furious Sound.”
“Completely engrossed in their complex rhythmic relationships, the four seemed wholly invested in the idea that their performance went deeper than simply entertainment but entered the realm of art-something challenging, for both audience and band.”
– Daily Californian
Violin Concertos
“There was plenty of exuberance in the writing, and Tolling – who spent several years as a member of the Turtle Island String Quartet – deployed his amplified violin with dazzling technical assurance.”
– Joshua Kosman, San Francisco Chronicle
“The central movement’s sighing strings, atmospheric piano and bluesy clarinet solo suggested a languid stroll down Broadway; in the finale, Tolling’s painterly dabs of sound — pizzicato strings, blaring brass, and well-placed percussion — came together to give the score plenty of swing.”
– Georgia Rowe, San Jose Mercury
Turtle Island Quartet
“The set concluded with bassist Stanley Clarke’s tribute to Coltrane, “Song to John,” played in a complex but musically gripping arrangement by Tolling.”
– Don Heckman, LA Times
“……The beautiful viola sounds of Mads Tolling…… I can’t remember the last time I heard a viola being played so gorgeously.”
– The West Australian
“Now, as a bandleader, he’ll showcase not just his flying bow and creatively nimble improvisation but also his eclectic arrangements…”
– SF Bay Guardian
“Turtle Island shines in virtuosic fusion…… violist, Mads Tolling demonstrated a commanding ability to improvise in the swift angular style made famous by jazz violinist Stephane Grappelli.”
– Birmingham News
“…Tolling’s “Danish Desert,” with a snappy New Age kind of swing, was a big hit…”
– Grand Rapids Press