Mads Tolling & The Mads Men

Playing the 60s

Internationally renowned violinist, composer, and two-time Grammy Award-Winner Mads Tolling is celebrating the music of the 1960s Mad Men Era with his own distinctive style and innovative flair.

Mads Tolling & The Mads Men – Playing the 60s was released in 2017 with two sold-out performances at the legendary Bay Area Jazz Club, Yoshi’s. The album has been a favorite amongst fans and critics alike and was in the top 30 on US Jazz Radio for two straight months, peaking at #5. Mads has created a fun and exciting program that is at once nostalgic as well as contemporary, as he reimagines classic songs from 60s TV, film and radio. Repertoire ranges from “Mission Impossible” and “Meet the Flintstones” to “Georgia on My Mind,” “A Taste of Honey” and “All Along the Watchtower.”

Tours have taken the Mads Men to Europe and Japan, and the group has appeared in Performing Arts Centers in California, Texas, Indiana, South Dakota, Wisconsin, Ohio, Illinois and Pennsylvania.

So how did a Danish classical violin student growing up in Copenhagen in the 80s discover his passion for the 60s?  When Mads was fourteen, his father gave him a Miles Davis cassette tape that changed his life. Mads was hooked. He found a sense of intimacy and freedom in the 60s sounds of Jazz, Soul and early R&B, which inspired him to explore the possibilities of how to get there with his violin. The result is an exhilarating and thrilling musical adventure, with Mads guiding us to places we didn’t know a violin could go.

Joining Mads on this journey are his “Mads Men”: World-class musicians Colin Hogan on piano, Sam Bevan on bass, and Eric Garland on drums.

QUOTES

“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

“With Tolling’s honed technique, vigorous attack and engaging brand of swing…”
– Mike Joyce, Washington Post

“This is stellar performing. Tolling’s playing is near unbelievable.”
– Michael Bailey, All About Jazz

“The idea to feature 1960s television/movie theme songs as a concert’s focus was ingenious and left even the most serious listener (whom I sat next to) feeling good and nostalgic. The bonus was as if I was in a classroom without knowing it. When the concert concluded I had learned some history about composers, songs, instruments, and terminology, all whilst taking a happy trip down memory lane. Of all of my three musical adventures, this was by far my favorite.”
– Music Student at Los Medanos College

For Mads Men press reviews please visit The Reviews Page

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