North Lake professor pumps jazz mood

Jazz was born in a New Orleans brothel, the illegitimate love child of African rhythm and Western-European harmony. This is the genesis of a musical style, according to Mark Tonelli, Alex Camp and Bill Maley. These three musicians make up the Mark Tonelli Group on a given night at My Martini, a restaurant/bar in Arlington.

Tonelli, the band's lead guitarist, is also an associate professor of music at North Lake College where he teaches music fundamentals, music appreciation, guitar ensemble, class guitar and applied lessons. Despite this musical form's dubious beginnings, he believes that jazz has progressed immensely throughout the years, and will continue to do so.

"Jazz radio is a dinosaur," he said, "but jazz is very much alive."

Tonelli began his musical aspirations at the age of eight when he first studied guitar and violin. He continued his musical education through high school and played in various local rock bands and pit orchestras for musicals. He graduated from high school in Belleville, N.J., and came to a major crossroad in his life.

At 18, he was either going to pursue a career in architecture or jazz. Since his mother exposed him to jazz for most of his life, he opted for the latter. Tonelli entered his college years and received a bachelor's in music from William Patterson University in 1995, and went on to earn his master's in music from the University of North Texas in 2000.

Aside from being a dedicated member of NLC's adjunct music faculty, Tonelli is an avid composer. He has produced numerous songs and has two CD's released by the Mark Tonelli Group on his Mtonal Music label.

The band's first release, a self-titled CD, appeared in January 2001 and featured five original tracks. It was met with critical acclaim by Internet Ed Music Review Site, which summarized the recording saying it is an "Excellent jazz guitar album with a '50's and '60's influence."

The Mark Tonelli Group's second recording, "Chasing the Myth," was released in August 2003. On this compilation of music the group offered six new songs composed by Tonelli. "Entertainment for a Wednesday Afternoon," one of the tracks on the album, was featured on National Public Radio's All Songs Considered.

On writing music, Tonelli said, "It's all written already, we just have to find it," as he makes allusions towards far-eastern philosophy. "It's in another dimension, that's where all the songs are."
On stage, the band resides on another plane, not completely terrestrial, but not clashing with the down-to-earth atmosphere of the establishment. Tonelli and his cohorts are in their own microcosm, producing poignant sounds and tantalizing rhythms that control the pulse of the room, making it their own.

The sonorous tones of the acoustic bass are impressive but not imposing. The drums are penetrating but not overwhelming. Tonelli has always thought of jazz as "Mood music...subtle." This is a maxim of the culture — to sneak under the skin of the listener, to captivate and entrance through the use of finesse rather than brute force.
It is a sound that stays above the general murmur of voices; the bassist and the drummer pick and hit like deranged clockwork. They keep the music grounded with the frantic bass walk underscored by raps of snare drum. Tonelli escapes into a solo, his fingers ascend the notes on a perpetual climb and fall.

He is the olive in this martini, the underlying but inherent garnish that gives the cocktail its unique flavor. The James Bondesque class to a fine glass of vodka.
A non-intrusive groove develops, shifting the mood of the room. The volume fades and builds, mingling with the air like the smoke drifting from the bar.
The gentle rhythm is suddenly broken by a drum solo. There's controlled chaos for a few moments, and then somehow it all comes together again. The storm has passed and the band returns to its collective harmony in a perfect symbiosis.

From its questionable origins — circa 1900 in the New Orleans red-light district — jazz has developed into a genre of various forms. Tonelli's dynamic guitar style is relatively new when compared to the long and diverse history of the music.

However, whether it is the old school jazz or the new breed, Tonelli said, "There is a thread that runs through all jazz that connects it...Syncopation, emphasis on the offbeat."