Countdown 2 Meltdown
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Bicoastal since his move to New York, Mitch Marcus has had a high profile on the fertile San Francisco Bay Area jazz scene for years as an aggressive, tuneful saxophonist and daring composer, and as leader of the Mitch Marcus Quintet (mmq), featuring Marcus' longtime musical partner, alto saxophonist Sylvain Carton, he has poured out edgy, intricate, yet always compelling jazz music without letup. The band also features guitarist Mike Abraham, bassist George Ban-Weiss, and drummer Tomas Fujiwara.

In 2005, the San Francisco Chronicle called mmq "one of the Bay Area's most riotously swinging young jazz groups," and two years later noted that "among the most provocative of Bay Area ensembles is a quintet known for its discipline, range and willingness to defy time signatures and test harmonies." In 2007, the group was voted San Francisco's Best Jazz Band in SF Weekly's annual readers' poll.

An exceptionally versatile player, Marcus has performed and recorded with an array of ensembles across an eclectic range of musical styles and intriguing hybrids. There's the klezmer/opera/circus riot of the Japonize Elephants; the electric funk of Mood Food, a band that has featured Grateful Dead keyboardist Vince Welnick; and the Afro-beat group Aphrodesia. That's the short list. Marcus regularly composed contemporary classical chamber pieces for Counterpointe, the ballet company led for several years by his wife, dancer/choreographer Sarah Clagett-Marcus, and he is a long-standing member of bassist Matt Small's Chamber Ensemble, a group with which Marcus performed both at Carnegie Hall and at Lincoln Center. Rounding out the resume, Marcus has enjoyed an extended tenure as keyboardist in rock icon Donovan's touring band.

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