Arts Directory

About

Artist Bio

With a tone steeped in tradition and an ear bent toward the future, Mark Rapp is a jazz trumpeter, composer, arranger, and educator whose influence radiates far beyond the bandstand. As the founder and Executive Director of ColaJazz, Rapp has ignited a statewide movement in South Carolina—building stages where none existed, cultivating a new generation of jazz artists, and leading a nonprofit recognized as a cultural engine for the region.

Rapp’s summer jazz camps have brought masters like Delfeayo Marsalis and Dave Liebman into classrooms with aspiring young musicians, while his ColaJazz Fest programs have spotlighted world-class talent including Chris Potter, Fred Wesley, Wess “Warmdaddy” Anderson, and Wynton Marsalis. His commitment to education is unwavering—he teaches privately, leads workshops internationally, and has presented school concerts for thousands of students across South Carolina.

He was honored by the Jazz Journalists Association as a Jazz Hero in 2025, and invited by Jazz at Lincoln Center to speak at their annual Jazz Congress on entrepreneurship in the arts. As South Carolina’s Jazz Ambassador, he bridges cultural, educational, and musical worlds—ensuring jazz is not just preserved, but lived.

Rapp’s global performance resume reads like a jazz passport: Blue Note (NYC), Yoshi’s (SF), Jazz Standard (NYC), Snug Harbor (NOLA), Clube do Choro (Brazil), AMR (Switzerland) and more. He’s played Newport, Fillmore, New Orleans Jazz & Heritage, JazzTimes Croatia, and Cirque du Soleil’s KA opening gala—where Guy Laliberté personally invited him to perform. His bands have featured heavyweights like James Genus, Walter Blanding, Wycliffe Gordon, Nate Smith, and Don Braden.

Critics have taken note. JazzTimes wrote, “Rapp has his own way of defining jazz,” while AllAboutJazz praised him for “tackling the history of this music with his mind on its future.” His debut album Token Tales earned him a spot as a Top Emerging Trumpeter in DownBeat Magazine, and his playing has been described as “lyrical, muscular, and unmistakably his own.”

Mark Rapp isn’t just playing jazz—he’s shaping where it goes next.

Artist Statement

My artistic approach is grounded in jazz as both a language and a tool for transformation. I view jazz not just as a performance art, but as a means of building community, restoring cultural dignity, and inspiring the next generation. Improvisation, collaboration, and storytelling are at the heart of everything I do—on stage, in classrooms, and throughout my work as a cultural organizer.

I strive to make jazz accessible without diluting its depth. Whether I’m curating a concert, arranging a piece, leading a band, or speaking to thousands of students in an underserved school, my aim is the same: to show that jazz is alive, relevant, and reflective of our shared human experience. I want young people—especially those in communities where access to the arts is limited—to see themselves in this music and realize that they, too, have a voice worth hearing.

Through ColaJazz, I use the power of jazz to activate spaces, uplift artists, and shift perceptions of South Carolina’s cultural identity. My work addresses themes of equity, heritage, education, and economic opportunity for artists. I believe that meaningful artistry must also be tied to meaningful work—so I create platforms where artists are paid fairly, educators are celebrated, and jazz is seen not as a relic, but as a thriving, modern art form that can transform lives.

At its core, my art is about connection: between people, history, and possibility. I play, teach, and lead with the belief that jazz, when rooted in community, becomes a force for real and lasting impact.