Mary Ann McSweeney

Biography

Mary Ann McSweeney Bassist/Composer/Arranger/Educator
Born in Aptos, California, Mary Ann McSweeney started playing piano at the age of 5,
and began to study violin at age 8. In high school, she fell in love with the acoustic bass
while watching Ray Brown perform at the Concord Jazz Festival. At age 16, she was
chosen to play at the Monterey Jazz Festival with the All-Star band fronted by Thad
Jones and Mel Lewis.
McSweeney has played with jazz legends Dizzy Gillespie, Joanne Bracken, Lee Konitz,
Gil Goldstein, and Bucky Pizzarelli. She has also played for renowned conductors:
Leonard Bernstein, Lalo Schifrin, and John Williams. McSweeney has performed with
Renee Rosnes, Vic Juris, Ken Peplowski, Dennis Mackrel, Lewis Nash, and Larry
Goldings. Big Band performances include Maiden Voyage and Diva, and she has
performed with her own quintet at the Seixal Jazz Festival in Portugal, and with the
Mary Lou Williams Jazz Festival at the Kennedy Center. She has arranged for and
recorded with Warner Brothers artist, Lea Delaria. Recent engagements include the first
Lulu Festival East (featuring her Urban Fado Band), the Berkshire Jazz Festival,
backing up Veronica Swift, and traveling to the Roswell Jazz Festival in New Mexico to
perform with Ken Peplowski, Randy Sandke, Holly Hoffman, Chuck Redd and Mike
Wofford. McSweeney has toured Europe and has performed with David Krakauer’s
Klezmer Madness and five-time Tony Award-winning vocalist Audra McDonald. Her
orchestrations can be heard on Chita Rivera’s CD entitled “Now I Swing” and her
version of “Avenue Q Swings” is available on iTunes. McSweeney performed at the
Monterey Jazz Festival with Claire Daly and the Baritone Monk Band, which was rated
in the top ten on jazz radio in the USA.
Along with being a full-time professional bassist in New York City, McSweeney was on
the faculty for the Middle School Jazz Academy at Lincoln Center for 12 years. She
performed at the White House (with President Obama in attendance) with the Eli Yamin
Quintet and the Kennedy Center Gala with the Clayton/Hamilton Orchestra. She was
musical director/arranger for three shows at NYC's Birdland Jazz Club featuring Jane
Monheit, in a program that included selections from Irving Berlin and the Cole Porter
musical, “Anything Goes.” McSweeney has played more than 45 Broadway shows,
including Tony Award-winning “A Gentleman’s Guide to Love and Murder” and the
Broadway show “Some Like it Hot’” which just won a Grammy Award for best musical
cast album. Her original music can be heard on the documentary “From Allegiance to
Broadway” and a number of short films. She has performed in Greece and Berlin with
her Urban Fado Project, and performed a live recording at the Shapeshifter Lab in
Brooklyn New York after receiving a grant from Creative Capital featuring new
compositions played by Grammy-Nominated Violinist Sara Caswell. In 2024
McSweeney co-led a band with guitarist Sheryl Bailey and is releasing “Taurus Power”
featuring saxophonist Jerry Bergonzi. Recently, she performed with the “McSweeney
plays Mingus Band” featuring Grammy-Nominated pianist Elio Villafranca.
For more information go to www.maryannmcsweeney.com