Marco Claveria Home

MARCO
Marco Claveria was born in Santiago Chile, to a musical family. Prompted by his parents, Marco started guitar lessons at the age of ten, learning to play the basics of Chilean folk music then moving on to study different styles such as Cuecas, Tonadas, and the Resbaloza as well as the Argentinian Samba. When his family immigrated to Canada in 1982, and after a period of transition to his new home, he re-immersed himself in music and began taking part in different musical ensembles in the city of Edmonton. In 1989 he enrolled in the Music Program at Grant McEwan Community College for a year, before relocating to Montreal to further broaden his musical horizons.
    Marco has been an integral part of various musical projects that have toured all across this country, he has performed in various events in Vancouver, Victoria, Calgary, Saskatoon, Winnipeg, London Ontario, Toronto, Halifax, Fredericton and has had the privilege of playing the prestigious Montreal Jazz Festival as well as the world renowned Edmonton Folk Music Festival, he has also had the chance to appear at the Discovery Coast Music fest in Bella Cool, and was featured in a live performance on the CANADA AM show on CTV.
    In 1994 after attending AFROCUBANISMO! In Banff, Alberta, Marco was inspired to travel to Cuba to rediscover his passion for the music he grew up listening to in his parents’ home in Chile. After a Holiday trip to the Caribbean island in 1996, he made up his mind to return and study with some of Cubas’ musical masters including Carlitos Gonzales (Afrocuban All-Stars) and Angel Rivero.
    “Learning to sing and play Cuban style music, specifically the Cuban guitar ( TRES ) has been one of the most fun and challenging adventures I have over taken in the last recent years”. br />     As a founding member and main writer-composer of the popular local group Bomba! Marco had the chance to open for such luminary acts as Cubanismo, Angelique kidjo, Mayra Valdes, Al Green and Aaron Naville, they also accompanied Jose Seves (Inti-Illimani) and Elizabeth Morris on one of their performances. In Marcos latest musical adventure, he joins forces with master drummer/percussionist Tilo Paiz and some of Edmonton’s most promising young talents: Daniel Cooper, Gent Laird and Vera Martynkiw. Also appearing with Marco’s band: Guillermo Valle on percussion, JC Jones on trombone. Together they will add a new chapter to his musical journey.

“It’s a whole new beginning.”

TILO PAIZ
This percussion dynamo started playing marimbas in the family band at the age of seven. By age fourteen he was already a full-fledged professional drummer in the big band scene in San Salvador, and continued on to become one of Central America’s premier musicians, not only as a performer but as a bandleader, recording artist, composer/arranger and teacher.
Since coming to Edmonton in 1990, he has established himself as a major force in the Alberta music scene, playing with such musicians as Tommy Banks, P.J. Perry, Sandro Dominelli, Gaye Delorme, Tacoy Ryde and Toronto recording artist Pavlo. Tilo's own band, Banda Amistad, that he established shortly after he came to Canada was for many years one of the most popular latin american bands in Western Canada. More recently Tilo was one of the musicians on the CD "Cafe Varze", which won a Western Music Award in 2003 and was nominated for a Juno in 2004.

GENT LAIRD
Gent learnt to play the electric bass in high school, where he and his friends formed a francophone rock band. By the time he graduated in 2004, he had played across Saskatchwan and in Winnipeg, Quebec and Vancouver. Gent wanted to take a step further in music, so he decided to study at Grant Macewan College in Edmonton under the teachings of bassist John Taylor. Shortly after moving to Edmonton, he learned to play upright bass and joined the Marco Claveria group.

VERA MARTYNKIW
   Vera has a broad musical background including a diploma in piano performance from Grant MacEwan College and a diploma in jazz studies from St. Francis Xavier and private studies in classical piano (grade 8 RCM).
   Throughout her schooling she has been selected to play with various ensembles including the St. FX jazz choir, the MacEwan jazz combo, the wind ensemble and the percussion ensemble. In addition to performing, Vera taught music lessons and was the principle pianist for a musical theatre group at a youth summer camp. She currently teaches private and group lessons at Visionary College and performs in Edmonton with Marco's latin group and leads her own jazz combo, "the After Hours Jazz Quartet."
   Whether she is playing solo piano or with an ensemble, Vera has developed her own unique sound. Being open to inspiration from any musical source, Vera is becoming a part of the vanguard of modern improvising musicians.