Mark Craney

[Henry II]

I found THIS site sometime ago. Mark plays some really nice stuff in the few videos in the audio/video section.


http://www.markcraney.org/Flash%20Video ... 0demo.html

I read the "Mark's Story" page which explains a lot about his health problems. It's amazing how much he was able to accomplish even after he became very sick. It's sad that such a creative force died so young.

[Clint Hopkins]

I had a bunch of questions about the Brother To Brother record, so we went over a bunch of those drum breaks. Beyond that, it was mainly playing time, different grooves, tempos, etc. I think I wrote a bunch of stuff down and may still have it somewhere. He tried to hook me up with some gigs too, which was super above and beyond.

A few years later, I actually auditioned for Gino Vannelli and played Brother To Brother as well as a few other tunes for the audition! That was a trip too. Enzo got the gig, and rightly so.

Cool story. I'd like to see that stuff if you dig it up.

How high-pressure was the audition? Were there a lot of guys auditioning?

[deseipel]

I was amazed by Mark's story as well. The amount of people that came to his aide for the benefits, I mean would that happen today? Is the drumming community that close anymore? I have a feeling it isn't and I'm not sure why. Here's the clip of Mark on Geraldo (around 7:00, part 1)

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S_tQHOd5KOo[/youtube]

[deseipel]

and I've watched this a hundred times, he just kills on it:

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=n7RFUCs2e7M[/youtube]

[DSOP]

How high-pressure was the audition? Were there a lot of guys auditioning?

I think he auditioned about a dozen guys, but not all at once. I had to bring some of my drums up to Gino's studio and play with just him and his brother. Gino stood right in front of me, singing the songs (no mic) and staring at my every move, while Joe played keys and ran the sequenced tracks. It was a lot of fun actually.

[Riddim]

Fire, intelligence, musicality, his own sense - Mark had all in abundance.