Dennis Mackrel
Dennis was born, April 3, 1962. A child prodigy, he began
playing the drums when he was two; and became a professional
musician at the age of ten when he performed in the Anchorage
Community Theater's production of "A Funny Thing Happened on the
Way to the Forum".
Developing his craft in various playing situations, Dennis
received numerous awards such as "Who's Who in Music", 1979;
National Endowment for the Arts grant for composition
in 1983; and in 1992; "Outstanding Alumni" from the University of
Nevada, Las Vegas.
While attending UNLV, he was a member of the acclaimed UNLV
Jazz Ensemble where his drumming and arranging skills caught the
attention of legendary jazz vocalist Joe
Williams.
In 1981, at 19 years of age, Dennis moved to New York City and
landed a gig as a drummer on Broadway. His Broadway credits
include "The First" and "A Chorus Line" and in January of 1983,
Dennis joined the Count Basie Orchestra on the personal
recommendation of Mr. Williams.
Dennis traveled extensively and worked alongside Mr. Basie until
his death in April 1984. He continued with the orchestra under
the direction of interim leader Eric Dixon followed by Thad
Jones.
In 1985 under Mr. Jones's leadership, the Count Basie
Orchestra recorded one of Dennis's compositions entitled "And
That's That".
Dennis stayed with the band, when Frank Foster took over as
leader, until December of 1987. Dennis's composition Bus
Dust was included on the CD "Long Live The Chief" which
was recorded during Mr. Foster's tenure as leader.
After leaving the Orchestra, he returned to New York and would
soon become the drummer of choice for a number of large
ensembles including the American
Jazz Orchestra, the Carla
Bley Big Band, the Vanguard
Jazz Orchestra, Buck
Clayton's Swing Band, and the Dizzy
Gillespie All Star Big Band
Dennis's transition from sideman to leader continued with
his frequent trips to Europe as a guest conductor, arranger
and/or soloist for such outstanding ensembles as the Metropole
Orchestra in Amsterdam, Holland, the
Danish Radio Big Band in Copenhagen, Denmark and the WDR Big
Band in Koln, Germany.
In 2010, he returned to the Count
Basie Orchestra where he served as its leader and
chief conductor until 2013 and in 2015, he was named chief
conductor of the Jazz
Orchestra of the Concertgebouw" in Amsterdam, Holland.
In 2019, the orchestra was awarded the prestigious "Edison
Award" for their double CD "Crossroads".
Dennis toured extensively with the orchestra including
performances in Europe, China, Russia, Indonesia and the
United States until the global pandemic of 2020.
In addition to being a seasoned musician, Dennis is also
a highly respected composer/arranger whose commissioned
works have been recorded or performed by
The
United States Military Academy at West Point's Jazz
Knights Big Band
The
Manhattan School of Music
The
Temple University Jazz Ensemble
The
University of North Texas' One O'Clock Big Band
and most notably, the McCoy Tyner Big Band whose Grammy
winning CDs "The
Turning Point" and "Journey"
included four of Dennis's arrangements.
As an educator, he continues to conduct
master classes, seminars, and workshops throughout Europe,
Asia, Canada and the USA.From 2002-2003, Dennis served as a guest professor at the Royal Conservatory in Aarhus, Denmark and from 2012-2013, he was the Visiting Artist in Jazz Studies at the prestigious Eastman School of Music in Rochester, New York
In addition to being a member of the jazz faculty at the Birch Creek Summer Music Academy in Egg Harbor, Wisconsin and the Skidmore Jazz Institute in Saratoga Springs, NY., He is currently the director of jazz studies and an associate chair of the Aaron Copland School of Music at Queens College in Flushing, NY.