Mads Tolling & The Mads Men

"Mads Tolling is the most exciting musician I have come across in the past ten years.
This recording represents some of the most creative music-making out there.”

— Stanley Clarke

Internationally renowned violinist, composer and two-time Grammy Award-winner Mads Tolling is a former member of the Turtle Island Quartet and The Stanley Clarke Band. As a current member of Bob Weir & Wolf Bros/Wolfpack, Mads has appeared on three record releases and performed at over a hundred concerts. Mads leads his own group Mads Tolling &The Mads Men, celebrating the 1960s with his own distinctive style and innovative flair.  

Mads Tolling & The Mads Men bring a fun and exciting program that is as nostalgic as it is contemporary, with re-imagined classic songs from 1960s television, film and radio.  Repertoire in Playing the 60s: Music of the Mad Men Era ranges from “Mission Impossible” and “Meet the Flintstones” to “A Taste of Honey” and “Georgia on my Mind.” 

So how did a Danish classical violin student growing up in Copenhagen in the 1980s discover his passion for the 1960s? When Mads was fourteen, his father gave him a Miles Davis cassette tape that changed his life. Mads was hooked. He found a sense of intimacy and freedom in the 1960s sounds of jazz, soul and early R&B, which inspired him to explore the possibilities of how to get there with his violin. The result is an exhilarating and thrilling musical adventure. Joining Mads on this journey are his Mads Men—world-class musicians Colin Hogan on piano and accordion, Gary Brown on bass, and Eric Garland on drums.

Since 2020, Mads has been a member of Bob Weir & Wolf Bros/Wolfpack band with tours across the US, including at Red Rocks, The Greek Theatre and Radio City Music Hall. He is featured on Weir’s two albums Live in Colorado Vol. 1 & 2 and Ace 50th Anniversary. Mads has contributed several arrangements of Grateful Dead tunes for the band, some of which he integrates in his own projects.

In his new show, Cool Yule: A Nordic Holiday Celebration, Mads shares the Christmas celebrations of his youth in Copenhagen, blending the authentic customs and sounds of the Nordic countries with the joy and spirit of American jazz. We invite you to experience the warmth and specialness of hygge, the Danish word for cozy that sets the tone for ushering in the holiday season. Cool Yule includes a special nod to Denmark’s most famous fairy-tale author Hans Christian Andersen with songs from Frozen (The Snow Queen) and other fables, a salute to Julemanden (Santa Claus), Yuletide traditional classics and jazz renditions of your favorite American/Scandinavian holiday songs including Santa Baby, My Favorite Things, I Am So Glad Each Christmas Eve, Sankta Lucia and more. 

When the pandemic hit, Mads stopped getting call-backs from his bandmates. As most venues closed their doors, Mads realized the importance of bringing music to people where they live, so during those years he performed many driveway, back-yard and cul-de-sac concerts around the Bay Area of California. The violin as a solo instrument has its limitations, so Mads started looping himself in real time. Despite the pandemic being on its last verse, Solo Mads: Violin Looping Show is still very much in demand. The results are exciting, with Mads pushing the boundaries of where a violin can go. The set list includes such diverse tunes as Duke Ellington’s’ “Don’t Get Around Much Anymore,” Astor Piazzolla’s “Libertango” and Jimmy Hendrix’s “Hey Joe.”