Vibraphonist and composer Mark Sherman leads a stellar all-star session, featuring bass icon Ron Carter, on his 22nd album as a bandleader. Bop Contest, out November 7, 2025 via Miles High Records, also includes pianist Donald Vega, drummer Carl Allen and special guest trumpeter Joe Magnarelli.
“Vibraphonist Mark Sherman has always dared to be different.” – Gary Walker, WBGO
“The award-winning vibraphonist continues the great traditions of Milt Jackson and Lionel Hampton as an eloquent voice on the instrument, and… embodies the pure lyricism and melodic resonance that made his predecessors so popular with their fans.” – Paula Edelstein, AllMusic
“After having a moment to listen to this CD of Mark Sherman’s music, I’m thrilled to recommend the voice of this remarkable player on the ‘vibes.’” – Maestro Ron Carter
After a series of acclaimed releases showcasing his previously unrevealed virtuosity on the piano, Mark Sherman makes a triumphant comeback to the vibraphone on Bop Contest, his 22nd recording as a leader. Out November 7, 2025 via his own Miles High Records, Bop Contest lives up to the competitive spirit of its title with Sherman in fighting form as he once again wields the mallets, backed by an unbeatable all-star team of musicians specially assembled for the occasion: pianist Donald Vega, drummer Carl Allen, guest trumpeter Joe Magnarelli, and the band’s MVP, the iconic bassist Ron Carter.
Arriving on the heels of four well-received albums as a pianist, Sherman offers a reminder of why he spent more than a decade ranked among the top vibraphonists in the world on the annual DownBeat Critics Poll, and why he has spent a huge part of his career as an accompanist of choice for such legends as Peggy Lee, Lena Horne and Larry Coryell and a collaborator with greats including Wynton Marsalis, Kenny Barron and Joe Lovano.
But perhaps it would suffice to point out that Sherman didn’t have to jump through hoops to enlist the most revered bass player in jazz for his latest release – it was Ron Carter’s teasing entreaty that opened the way for the invite. Sherman has worked with his share of gifted bassists over the course of his four-and-a-half decade recording career, including the mighty Ray Drummond. Carter, a colleague of Sherman’s on the faculty of the Juilliard School, noted that fact and took playful umbrage. “We’ve taught and sat on juries together,” Sherman recalls. “One day Ron asked me, ‘How come you never use me on bass?’ I knew that I had to take him up on that offer, and finally the time arrived.”
It would be difficult to find a jazz musician who hasn’t dreamt of playing with Ron Carter. A three-time Grammy Award winner, Carter holds a Guinness world record as the most recorded jazz bassist in history with more than 2,200 albums to his name – and that number dates back a decade in his still-prolific career. Even more impressive than the volume of recordings is the impeccable quality of his discography, anchored by his integral role in Miles Davis’ Second Great Quintet.
With Carter on board, Sherman set out to convene the ideal band to complement the bass legend. In addition to being a longtime member of Carter’s own Golden Striker Trio, Vega’s sound takes inspiration from two of Sherman’s own favorite pianists: Kenny Barron, with whom the vibraphonist memorably recorded Interplay, a heralded collection of duets, in 2015; and the late Cedar Walton, two of whose compositions grace Bop Contest. Allen and Carter have also crossed paths in several contexts over the years, while the drummer has worked frequently with Sherman, including on his debut as a pianist, 2019’s My Other Voice. Finally, Sherman called in Magnarelli, a longtime friend and collaborator, to add his trumpet and flugelhorn mastery to a pair of Sherman originals.
Sherman and Magnarelli’s friendship also resulted in the title of the album, which – in addition to being an homage to the jazz style so formative to these five musicians’ voices – is a winking reference to the classic Jackie Gleason sitcom The Honeymooners. As Sherman explains, “There’s an episode where Ralph Kramden is fighting Alice over the fact that she thinks they’re getting old and wants to go out for rolling skating and bop dance contests. Mags and I are both huge Honeymooners fans, so I knew he’d laugh when he saw the title. At the same time, it was the perfect title for my first effort at writing a bebop tune.”
© Chris Drukker
The title track is in fact a bebop burner in the classic mold, from the precision burst of Allen’s unaccompanied introduction into the serpentine unison melody, sparking vigorous solos from Sherman, Magnarelli and Vega, culminating in a blistering round robin between the all four – an elite-level bop contest to be sure. Sherman’s second original for the session is the lovely and lilting “Love Always Always Love,” a palindromic expression of his personal philosophy as a musician, as a teacher and as a human being. “That’s basically how I run my life,” he explains. “You always have to try to work with love. If you cook a meal with love, that will have an effect on everyone that eats the food. If you speak with love, those words will have an effect on everybody who hears them. The same applies when people hear music played with love or students receive lessons taught with love.”
Bop Contest opens with “111-44,” an undersung gem from the pen of Oliver Nelson, originally recorded on the saxophonist/arranger’s 1961 album Straight Ahead with Eric Dolphy and Roy Haynes. The pair of aforementioned Cedar Walton pieces are “Bremond’s Blues” from the 1987 release Cedar Walton Plays, which also featured Ron Carter on bass, and “Martha’s Prize,” from his 1996 album Composer. Sherman’s take on the classic standard “My One and Only Love” is not only a reharmonization but transforms a tune usually rendered as a tender ballad as a simmering bossa nova. To close out the album, Sherman reiterates his twin talents (not counting his long-dormant skills as a drummer) by dueting with himself for a dream-like piano/vibes version of Hoagy Carmichael’s timeless “Skylark.”
Ultimately there’s no contest – with album #22, Mark Sherman has crafted a winner, inviting five modern masters into the Van Gelder Recording Studios in Englewood, NJ, where many a jazz classic has been captured for posterity. According to Sherman, being in that space with an icon on the level of the 88-year old Ron Carter made for one of the most memorable experiences of his musical life.
“It’s a miracle,” Sherman concludes. “Ron was a joy to work with – a very gentle, kind human being and very giving. I’m very blessed and very grateful to have recorded with this incredible group of musicians.”
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Mark Sherman
Vibraphonist, pianist and composer Mark Sherman is a multiple DownBeat Magazine Critics Poll winner who has performed for conductors including Leonard Bernstein, Georg Solti, Zubin Mehta, and Herbert Von Karajan. In jazz, he has worked as a sideman and leader with Kenny Barron, Peggy Lee, Wynton Marsalis, Joe Lovano, Michael Brecker, Larry Coryell, and many more. Sherman has also worked as a sideman for pop artists Michael Bolton, Natalie Cole, and Michael McDonald. His song “Changes in My Life” became a cult hit in Asia with YouTube videos that earned more than 150 million hits. A passionate educator on the faculty of The Juilliard School, he teaches not only jazz percussion, but the improvisational thinking and professional savvy that can help his students develop their own storied careers.
Mark Sherman – Bop Contest
Miles High Records – MHR 8638 – Recorded February 28, 2025
Release date November 7, 2025
mileshighrecords.com
markshermanmusic.com
marksherman.bandcamp.com
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