A 2025 Madison Jazz Festival Event
Madison Jazz Festival 2025 presents Chicago's DC & The Love with special guest Mar Vilaseca at Cafe CODA on Thursday, June 12, 2025 at 7:00pm. Ticket information will be posted soon.
A Chicago-based band rooted in the city’s native Jazz and Blues Tradition and led by legendary bass player and songwriter Dennis Carroll, DC & The Love brings together a group of premier musicians who began playing spontaneously on porches and public venues around the city, immediately embraced by audiences for their musicianship and originality. Since those early days, DC & The Love has evolved into one of the most exciting and cutting-edge bands in the country, playing some of Chicago’s best clubs and recording their first highly acclaimed EP titled “Go Up.” The leader, Dennis Carroll, a sideman for decades to many of the great jazz players is now leading his own group. Lee Rothenberg plays guitar, Joey Skoch plays keys, and Neil Hemphill plays drums.
Vocalist, composer, and multi-instrumentalist Mar Vilaseca grew up in Barcelona, Spain, and learned how to play and sing at a very young age, being exposed to a wide variety of music. She was classically trained in piano and traditional harmony at the Conservatorio del Liceo. At the age of 14, she started singing professionally in her father’s band, where she began her career in jazz and modern music. During her college years, Mar became more and more passionate about the music and history of jazz and took her first of many trips to New York City. The diversity of culture and music captivated her, and soon she would decide to move to the United States.
Mar pursued her Master of Music in Jazz Studies at The Juilliard School, with Professors Wynton Marsalis, Carla Cook, Elio Villafranca, Kenny Washington, and Donald Vega among others. She has performed at various international music festivals such as Barcelona Jazz Festival, Festival de Jazz de San Javier (Spain), Guangzhou Jazz Festival (China), and Festival de Jazz de Bogotá (Colombia).
