Bassist, composer, and educator Hannah Marks steps boldly into her next chapter with Feed The Fire, a fearless and deeply personal sophomore statement that cements her place among the most compelling voices in contemporary jazz. The first single, “Feed The Fire,” is out today, offering listeners a powerful preview of an album that will be released on Endectomorph Music on June 12, 2026. Produced by the visionary pianist and composer Jason Moran, the album was recorded January 9–10, 2025 at The Bunker Studio in Brooklyn, New York, and captures the electricity of a band fully alive in the moment.
Marks is joined by an exceptional quartet: Nathan Reising on alto saxophone, Lex Korten on piano, and Steven Crammer on drums. Together, they forge a sound that is fiercely modern yet deeply rooted, blending straight-ahead swing, daring avant-garde textures, odd meters, and groove-driven momentum. It is acoustic jazz with edge and urgency—music that embraces tradition without being bound by it.
“I’ve been working with Hannah since her appearance on the NYC scene,” says guitarist and composer Miles Okazaki. “I like to make music with people who are fearless, and she is one of them. She’s unafraid to hit hard with abandon, but also unafraid to play a simple and tender melody, which is often a greater challenge. Her beat on the instrument is grounded, and her compositions point to her influences without mimicry or sentimentality. I look forward to seeing how she continues to feed her hunger for knowledge and musical experiences, because she’s really pushing now and finding ways to hear and be heard.”
NEA Jazz Master and vocalist Dee Dee Bridgewater calls her “One to watch.” Saxophonist Walter Smith III observes, “In her short time in New York, it's already obvious that she is laying the foundation for a long and successful career in music.”
Feed The Fire represents a monumental creative step for Marks. All of the album’s original compositions were written after her move to New York City in 2019—a move encouraged by Moran—and the music pulses with the energy of that decision. The city’s restless motion, its friction and flow, its contradictions and quiet corners, are embedded in the writing. Raucous swing and grooving odd meters evoke the bustle of the streets, while freer, ethereal passages reflect the rare stillness found in parks and late-night reflections. Marks describes the album as “a culmination of many meaningful musical experiences I’ve had over the past decade, and a representation of pushing and dedicating myself as an artist to find new musical colors, shades and directions within this music that I love and revere.”
The title track holds particular weight. “Feed The Fire,” composed by the late piano luminary Geri Allen, has been pivotal in Marks’ artistic evolution. Shortly after relocating from Bloomington, Indiana, she heard Moran’s trio perform the piece at Village Vanguard. The performance reshaped her understanding of swing—unfettered, uninhibited, ablaze with possibility. An Aries by birth, Marks embraced “Feed The Fire” as a personal mantra: a reminder to stay inspired, to push forward, and to continually stoke the creative flame.
Elsewhere on the album, “Aggro” channels the adventurous spirit of The Jazz Gallery, nodding to its influential programming and to the compositional complexity associated with artists like Ambrose Akinmusire, while incorporating a coda inspired by Moran’s structural sensibilities. “When Day Becomes Night” emerged from a serene stretch during Marks’ residency at MacDowell and showcases Crammer’s rare ability to navigate seismic rhythmic shifts with clarity and power. “Room 157” reflects Marks’ affinity for multiple genres, pushing Reising and Korten into thrilling, high-intensity interplay; its slippery phrasing and shifting meters trace back to her compositional studies with Walter Smith III at Indiana University.
Providing contrast is “Unconditional Love,” another composition by Geri Allen, rendered here as a tender duo between Marks and Korten—achingly intimate and emotionally transparent. The album closes with “Fan Club,” inspired by seeing Korten perform alongside saxophonist Melissa Aldana. Structured loosely around the hero’s journey, the piece begins with a “Call to Adventure” and descends into an abyss of free drums and bass before returning triumphantly to its melodic theme. Sonically, the band channels the fusion-era spirit of Cannonball Adderley’s 1975 album Phenix, while injecting a contemporary free-jazz sensibility that feels unmistakably of the present.
The full track listing for Feed The Fire is as follows: 1. Aggro; 2. Feed the Fire; 3. When Day Becomes Night; 4. The Dark Knight; 5. Unconditional Love; 6. Mushi Mushi; 7. Room 157; 8. On the Speedy Side of the Pool; 9. The Mountains Are Calling (And I Must Go); 10. Fan Club.
Marks first made waves with her 2023 debut album, Outsider, Outlier, released on Out Of Your Head Records—an explosive exploration of belonging, empowerment, and her love of punk, noise, and free improvisation. Just a few years later, Feed The Fire finds her sharper, bolder, and more assured. Her tone is commanding yet nuanced; her facility on the bass is effortless but never indulgent; her vision as a composer is expansive and deeply considered. The result is an album that hits hard, digs deep, and stands as a defining document of modern jazz emerging from New York City today.
The project was made possible by Chamber Music America’s Performance Plus program through the generosity of the Doris Duke Foundation, with additional support from New England Conservatory’s Entrepreneurial Musicianship Grant.
Hannah Marks Upcoming Feed The Fire Tour Dates: February 19, 2026 – Smalls Jazz Club, NYC; March 10, 2026 – Blues Alley, Washington, D.C.; March 11, 2026 – Georgetown Day School, Washington, D.C.; June 26, 2026 – The Jazz Gallery, NYC (Album Release Celebration). Additional appearances as a leader include March 18, 2026 at Mezzrow, NYC (with Orrin Evans and Dan Weiss), and April 3, 2026 at The Jazz Gallery, NYC (with Jacob Sacks and Tom Rainey).
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