Press
Watch Hannah Marks Perform in Brooklyn’s Prospect Park for “Neighborhoods”
Outside of her session work and her position leading a jazz quartet, bassist, composer, and musical educator Hannah Marks recently released her debut album under own name, with Outsider, Outlier taking a more pop-leaning, singer-songwriter approach to music—albeit a fairly experimental one. The ballads on her Out of Your Head Records debut take a fairly traditional approach to folky indie-rock before getting warped by the influence of noise and free-improv, as heard on the clamorous title track. Yet things stay relatively subdued in the “Neighborhoods” performance she recently filmed for us on a warm, sunny afternoon in Brooklyn’s Prospect Park, where Marks was joined by vocalist Sarah Rossy and guitarist Jack Broza for a minimal rendition of “I’ll Ask Anyway.” With Marks as the centerpiece on double bass (and backing vocals), the brief set maintains the ominous energy of Outsider, Outlier—the sense that the song could dramatically shift gears at any moment.
Everything Is Noise: Best Albums of 2023
There’s a dash of cocky attitude on Outsider, Outlier, a hint (well, maybe a big, looming hint) of punkish rebellion, a vibe of ’90s Liz Phair alternative rock – but the foundation and heart of Hannah Marks‘ phenomenal new album is jazz. And that combination, the marriage of punk and jazz, is so fresh and unique and fun that I couldn’t get enough of this album in 2023 – and probably won’t for a long time. It is challenging and compelling in all the right ways, and I urge everyone to give it a listen.
Toni Meese for Everything is Noise, January 2024
Hannah Marks Releases A Musical Sanctuary for Healing and Solace in 'Outsider, Outlier'
[UNPUBLISHED]: What was the hardest song for you to write?
[HANNAH]: There is a suite of three songs on the album. “Shadow Woman,” “Fairytale” and “No Way Out.” Those are the songs that deal with the material of going through my abusive relationship and those were very intense to write like, I was out of the relationship when I was reading them, but I almost had to re-traumatize myself to write them, which I think some people might say that's not the healthiest thing but ultimately it led me to process the emotions surrounding them. “Shadow Woman,” I started writing in college where I was realizing why am I just following this guy around and living in a shadow? This is not what I want. “Fairytale” is when you’re in this really unhealthy zone and you’re trapped. “No Way Out” is after things settle and you have to reconcile with how broken you feel and it illustrates how broken down I felt at the end.
Kimberly Kapela for Unpublished Zine, November 2023
Interview with Hannah Marks
The album’s title track is a heavy, noisy track song that fundamentally shaped the album. The music that followed its creation emerged during the height of the pandemic, when Marks, like many, had lots of quiet, extra time on her hands. While making the album, she took a writing class with singer-songwriter Becca Stevens. The class and fellow musicians made a sizable impact on the project, as Marks says, Stevens “showed me the turning point for the album, and told me it was more of a rock album than a jazz album.” This allowed her to go in the direction that felt the best. Marks’ favorite memory making the album was in post-production, when she began working with Lee Meadvin. Meadvin, who produced the project and plays guitar in her live band, took the album “to a whole new level sonically,” and allowed Marks to be involved in production like never before.
Jillian McHugh for Light Leak Collective, November 2023
The Noise of October 2023
You’ve probably never heard something like that. I didn’t know Hannah Marks before that album reached me, and when I started to listen to it, it was simply jaw-dropping. Outsider, Outlier is a wild ride between jazz and punk rock, and I insist for y’all to check this out. Soooo good.
Everything is Noise, October 2023
Album Review: Hannah Marks Outsider, Outlier
Would you like a little grunge in your jazz? A talented young New York bassist with marked influences (she cites Larry Grenadier and Charlie Haden as models, she had Harish Raghavan as a teacher), Hannah Marks passed through Banff before offering Outsider, Outlier as a sextet. This surprising melting pot allows for the intersection between some flashes born from free music, of electric excesses influenced by noise and punk-rock, like “No Way Out” where the very worked sound of the bass and the fake noise tracks à la Primus give this orchestra a radically changing color, between darkness and blindness…This first record by Hannah Marks is a mutating object which delights most of the time and can sometimes leave you perplexed, notably when the very pop bias takes over (“I Will Ask Anyway”). But in reality, it is first of all a very mature record from a young artist with very strong ideas who does not hold back anything. The fifty-somethings among us will be amused by the nods to the nineties present here and there, saying to ourselves that we would have listened to this music avidly at the time; so why deprive yourself of it now?
Franpi Barriaux for Citizen Jazz, October 2023
Premiere: Hannah Marks rollerskates through the city in music video for ‘I’ll Ask Anyway’
The accompanying video for I’ll Ask Anyway was directed by Marks herself, and follows a listless urbanite as she encounters various strangers and traipses leisurely through lush retreats and concrete jungles. In the style of a romantic comedy, the video opens with a meet-cute involving some fallen oranges, and from there encompasses everything from kerbside ice cream cones to a free-spirited carousel ride. For her part, Marks makes sporadic cameos throughout the clip, appearing on roller skates and elsewhere brandishing her bass guitar as the protagonist continues her meandering. Shot on grainy film and coated in a sun-drenched sheen, the I’ll Ask Anyway music video is at once relaxing and commanding, serving as the perfect visual accompaniment to the track’s nostalgic feel.
Tom Disalvo for Happy Magazine, October 2023
Music Star Hannah Marks On The Five Things You Need To Shine In The Music Industry
It has been said that sometimes our mistakes can be our greatest teachers. Can you share a story about the funniest mistake you made when you were first starting? Can you tell us what lesson you learned from that?
Nothing is immediately coming to mind, to be honest. What I have realized as an adult, though, is that professional musicians “make mistakes” all the time in the music. We drop beats, forget melodies, play incorrect chord changes — and then we laugh about it onstage. It’s all good. I think as young students, we can feel paralyzed and constantly worried about making any kind of mistake on the bandstand. It’s not that serious! Having joy and being able to laugh at yourself is what gives the music life.
Guernslye Honoré for Authority Magazine, October 2023
Music: Wiggly Air, by Kurt Gottschalk
Who says a jazz band can’t play rock music? That question was implied, if not directly posed, within the lyrical permutations of Funkadelic’s 1978 “Who Says a Funk Band Can’t Play Rock?” Genre lines might be a bit blurrier 45 years later, but they’re still there to be crossed. Bassist Hannah Marks has worked for some highly regarded jazz bosses (Terri Lyne Carrington, Ingrid Jensen, Miles Okazaki, Marcus Printup, Nasheet Waits, Anna Webber) but her solo debut Outsider, Outlier (out on Out Of Your Head on Oct. 20, CD and download) draws heavily on the pop and rock she grew up with. On “(I Wanna Be Ur) 90s Dream Girl,” the first track and lead single, she remembers being a teen outfitted in denim jackets, Levi jeans and Doc Martens, humming Replacements songs while hiding her musical knowledge and skills so as not to threaten the boy she likes. It’s a pointed stick she waves. Her band can tackle the interlaced parts she writes and still kick up the dust, holding true to her indie rock passion. Some quieter moments recall Tori Amos, with singer Sarah Rossy gliding across octaves, but the songs are never simple. The “90s Dream Girl” video is the place to start, but the rest of the record is just as smart.
Kurt Gottshalk, Red Hook Star Revue, October 2023
TURN UP THE VOLUME’s JUKEBOX 2023 – 10 New Tracks Added Every Week
(I Wanna Be Ur) 90s Dreamgirl is the 2nd shared track from the LP. It’s an astonishing piece of multi-layered music. It’s a titanic tune with impassioned vocals and mood-swinging brilliance that scrapes the sky when the mountainous chorus erupts. Ever heard a funky cello riff and schizophrenic guitars in one and the same song? It happens here. ACE!
JL for Turn Up the Volume, September 2023
Single of the Week: Hannah Marks “(I Wanna B Ur) 90s Dreamgirl”
I found this perfect encapsulation of my teenage years as an angsty gen-xer, crushing relentlessly and telling nobody. The sound- Hannah Marks is a jazz musician and she’s basically assembled an amazing jazz band and has told them to play punk rock, giving us the best Sonic Youth song since, well, since Sonic Youth broke up. And that video? <chef’s kiss>
Dakin Hardwick for Spinning Platters, September 2023
Hannah Marks Announces Debut Album, “Outsider, Outlier”
The album’s sound is partly distilled into its title track, which Marks has released with a music video. “The lyrics are haughty and disdainful, channeling my frustration with a friend group that was icing me out at the time,” Marks explains. “My status as an outsider and outlier work in conjunction, giving me fuel to distinguish myself from my peers that I no longer fit in with.”
As for the video’s theme, Marks wanted it to “feel as quirky and unhinged as the song does.”
Kevin Johnson for No Treble, August 2023
Hannah Marks Premieres New Single 'Outsider, Outlier'
The forthcoming album allows Marks to reflect on the difficult moments and relationships in her life and proudly celebrate how far she's come, and how they've made her who she is today. "Composed in my early twenties, 'Outsider, Outlier' is a manifesto on how to empower yourself by breaking free from harmful relationships," Marks shares. "The girl that experienced these events was innocent, lonely, and heartbroken, only to emerge a secure, loved, and whole woman." Blending her deep-rooted jazz education and her love of rock music and her influences, the project carries a sound all its own alongside acclaimed musicians. Marks continues, "Throughout the process of writing this album, I embraced the grunge and experimental rock music I grew up loving but had always set aside in favor of my “serious” jazz pursuits. I chose not to abandon my jazz background, instead gathering a group of accomplished improvisors to bring a free, daring spirit to the music. "
Bass Magazine, July 2023
Community Outreach: Hannah Marks Speaks
TJG: A lot of your compositions include all these different chambers—sometimes what can sound like meticulously orchestrated through-composed sections, free improvisation, of course lyrical songwriting. What are you currently exploring in your compositions?
HM: With Outsider, Outlier I’m always trying to balance the through-composed with the free improvisation, and wanting to make sure that the message of the song and the lyric is very clear and put first, but that I’m also honoring every musician in that band. They’re improvisors, so why wouldn’t I let them improvise and have their own voice? That’s a delicate balance. And with the quartet, I’m really taking a different approach and not prioritizing through-composed music, trying to go more bare bones with what I’m writing because I trust everyone in the band so much and I know that they want that freedom. I’m giving them less and less and trying to allow for more and more. That’s hard for me to do with my lyrics, and I don’t think that I necessarily need to do that with Outsider, Outlier. But for the quartet, I’m definitely wanting to prioritize improvisation, really putting that at the forefront.
Stephanie Jones for Jazz Speaks, April 2022
Rising Star
At Indiana, Marks played in a combo led by saxophonist Walter Smith III, who is now Chair of the Woodwinds Department at Berklee College of Music. "He was incredible," she said "He got me to start writing original music because the combo he directed required you to write for the band." When Smith met Marks, he "was struck by how musical her approach to playing was. She had been doing tons of listening homework, and it was really obvious when you'd hear her play. It was also clear that she was someone that had a vision of what she wanted to do professionally and was willing to do everything necessary to make it happen. For most students, that means focusing on practicing, but, in Hannah's case, it meant diving head first into the business side of things as well. She formed bands and wrote music for those specific groups, created names for the bands, rehearsed and recorded the projects, and booked release tours around the groups that she was putting together. She is someone that isn't afraid of doing all the hard work to make things happen."
Sanford Josephson for Jersey Jazz Magazine, February 2022
Tide Pools: Hannah Marks Speaks
TJG: Tell me about this Robert Frost poem setting that you did.
HM: That was actually the first Tide Pools recording. It was before Tide Pools was Tide Pools. For the December lockdown session, Rio wanted the concert to be a holiday theme. I was thinking about my favorite wintery poems: My mom is an English teacher, and she used to read this Robert Frost poem “Stopping by Woods on a Snowy Evening” to me when I was a kid. I had that one in my memory bank already, so I just started setting it. As I was setting the poem, my interpretation of the text got darker and darker.
TJG: I’m surprised to hear that your mom read it to you as a kid, it’s a pretty heavy poem!
HM: Yeah, and I honestly had never even thought about it being dark… I was halfway through the piece when my interpretation changed. I was thinking about the “darkest evening of the year,” “miles to go before I sleep,” and I thought Wow, we are really in the trenches of COVID right now, there’s not an end in sight. I was channeling that energy. That’s how I ended up interpreting the poem. I would sing a melody, then add bass notes and harmonize it from there.
The Detroit Jazz Festival Foundation presents a encored presentation of a LIVE virtual chat with women leaders in jazz.⠀
#TuesdayTalks: Hannah Marks. Interview by Devin Shaw, Intern at the Hyde Park Jazz Festival.
I Want My Sound To Sing
“Produced by WBGO, the concert, part of a monthly series, found Printup leading a quartet of top students and graduates from The Juilliard School, the Manhattan School of Music, and Indiana University before a mixed crowd of aficionados and casual fans…The young musicians—Miles Lennox (keyboard), Hannah Marks (bass) and T.J. Reddick (drums)—demonstrated great maturity as they dispatched a set of guileless Printup originals filled with simple but artful melodies and subtle but swinging propulsion…Printup said he used young musicians in part because “they have something different, something that inspires me to play.”…Bassist Marks, who at 22 was the oldest of the three musicians at the Newark gig, said she had valued Printup’s words ever since he discovered her last year at the Betty Carter Jazz Ahead educational residency, with which he has been involved since meeting the late singer with (Wynton) Marsalis at a 1993 jam session.”
Phillip Lutz for Downbeat Magazine, May 2020
Fresh Takes
“Originally hailing from Des Moines, Iowa, Hannah Marks is an up-and-coming bass player and recent transplant to New York. “I’m very thankful for my Midwestern roots; I was afforded a lot of opportunities simply by growing in a smaller music scene,” she says. It was there that she started her first band as a leader, Heartland Trio, with fellow Indiana University students. With influences ranging from Kenny Garrett to Sonic Youth to Becca Stevens, Hannah’s compositional voice reflects her jazz and folk upbringing and juxtaposes it with elements of creative improvisation and rock music. The program for this show is particularly personal for her. “I wrote all this music in the past two years, and it’s very illustrative of my ups and downs in college,” the bassist says. “I’ve had several points where I’ve been tempted to move on from this set of music, but there’s a lot more crafting and experimenting that needs to happen before I can do so.” Her band chosen for this performance includes Sarah Rossy on vocals, Nathan Reising on alto saxophone, Jack Broza on guitar and Evan Hyde on the drums. “Everyone in this band is an incredible player and improviser, but what makes this group special is their understanding of me personally and my music,” Hannah says.”
Addie Vogt for Hot House Jazz Guide, April 2020
Heartland Trio Offers Up Unique, Midwest Vision of the Genre
“DB: Your bass playing is hardly harsh, but it does seem to contain a more raw, direct energy.
HM: I would agree. I think I can recall the first time someone told me to pull harder. I was in jazz band in eighth grade and this woman, Susie Miget—she was sort of the “mother” of Iowa jazz—came to watch me do rehearsal, and she was like, “You sound good, but I can’t hear you. Pull harder, pull harder!” And that really stuck with me. After that, I always wanted to make sure I was heard. But I also figured out that it wasn’t necessary to just turn up the amp; there’s a lot to be said for really digging into the instrument. So, that’s really the most important thing to me, my sound, how big the sound is, how woody it is.
DB: Speaking of textures, what kinds are you trying to create for the trio?
HM: We’re definitely interested in in expanding the role of the chordless trio, exploring how we can add and work on new sounds together. So, maybe it doesn’t even sound like there’s only three people. Sometimes I’m doing that by using my bow, or Barclay—it always blows my mind, maybe this is a typical saxophonist thing—he screams through his sax. And Rocky can add lots of different percussion toys, and I’m just adding some floating singing on top. It really expands the trio sound.
DB: And expands the notion of jazz, too, while you’re at it…”
Catalina Maria Johnson for Downbeat, April 24, 2019.
Indiana Jazz Trio Takes Inspiration from Garage Rock
“Heartland Trio founder and bassist Hannah Marks’ introduction to music performance had spiritual beginnings, if by accident…With her folk background, it’s no surprise a cover of the traditional standard “Poor Wayfaring Stranger” is included on the album. Surprising was how they deconstructed what Marks called “probably my favorite song of all time” to be almost unrecognizable. “I’ve been playing this song for so long, and the iteration I brought into the trio was closer to what I had done with my church band for a long time. We played that song every show for the last year, year and a half, and it’s been breaking down more and more,” said Marks. It’s not unlike what the better known The Bad Plus might have done to the song; the Minneapolis trio’s penchant for deconstructing songs from popular rock and pop artists including Nirvana, Pink Floyd, Cindy Lauper, and the Bee Gees is a comparison Marks would likely consider flattering, as Heartland Trio touts the same DIY ethic and garage-rock sensibility the Minneapolis trio brings to their jazz based music.”
Jon Norton for WGLT, December 18, 2018.
Ravi Coltrane, Jason Moran to headline Hyde Park Jazz Festival
"...as always with this intelligently programmed festival – which will run Sept. 29-30 at multiple Hyde Park locations – underlying themes and messages will drive the proceedings. “With this year’s festival, I continued to think about young people,” says Kate Dumbleton, the event’s artistic director, who with her colleagues on the festival’s programming committee indeed has cast a spotlight on rising musicians from Chicago and beyond. Thaddeus Tukes with pianist Alexis Lombre, bassist Hannah Marks’ Heartland Trio, saxophonist Lenard Simpson’s Trio, saxophonist Jenna Przybysz’s Quartet and pianist Julius Tucker’s Trio (all on Sept. 29) are up-and-coming artists stepping to the fore."
Howard Reich for the Chicago Tribune, May 28, 2018
Jazz at the Indiana University Jacobs School of Music
"I think the most important thing to me about IU and what attracted me to the school is the professors and how accessible the professors are...This school and the community is so all-encompassing, on every side and every aspect of being a professional musician that I know I'm going to leave this school and be ready to get out there and play."
Hannah Marks Selected for Brubeck Summer Jazz Colony
"The Brubeck Summer Jazz Colony is a one-week, intensive educational program in jazz performance for a very limited number of exceptionally talented students...Hannah was one of only four bass players accepted into the program. Applicants were from the United States, Australia, and the UK...According to Roosevelt orchestra director Jennifer Luft, what makes her selection to the prestigious camp all the more impressive is that, until recently, she was a cello player. Hannah has played upright bass for just one year and studies with Steve Charlson and Dave Altemeier. “She is one amazing young woman,” notes Luft."
Des Moines Public Schools Newsletter, June 6th, 2014
Publications
Jazz Studies Amplified
"The most rewarding thing about being a Jacobs student is that many of my fellow students have become my close friends and collaborators. I love playing in rigorous school ensembles and in high-level groups led by my professors, but it’s also fun to relax and jam with my friends in our spare time....Being a music major is a lot of hard work, and it can be very stressful. However, I know that taking required jazz and classical music courses, exploring other genres, and playing with mentors and friends are all tools to becoming the best musician I can be. The Jacobs School of Music is overflowing with talented musicians, and, as it always has been, it’s up to me to find my own path by following all my interests."
Imagine Magazine, March/April 2017
Jazz Studies Improvised
"The most important thing I learned at camp was that there are kids my age even more passionate than I am about jazz. Seeing this gave me hope for my future in college—that I will find kindred spirits who will challenge me as a player—and I started setting bigger goals for myself. Realizing that some kids attend performing arts high schools where the bulk of their time is spent in rehearsal and performance, I pushed myself to take charge of my jazz education. I knew I needed to create opportunities for myself...Like any jazz musician, I know how important it is to be able to improvise, to take cues from other players in a combo, and to build off their sound. When it’s my turn to play a solo, I must often take a risk and compose as I go, listening to the people I play with in order to produce a coherent sound. Although I take jazz band as one of my high school classes, my real education in jazz has come from my involvement in the music scene, both locally and nationally. By taking risks and connecting with the other musicians around me, I have improvised my own jazz education."
Imagine Magazine, March/April 2013
