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thumb|Marilyn Mazur's Shamania at [[Vossajazz 2016]]
Marilyn Mazur (January 18, 1955 – December 12, 2025) was an American-born Danish percussionist. From 1975, she worked as a percussionist with various groups, among them Six Winds with Alex Riel. Mazur was primarily an autodidact, but she had a degree in percussion from the Royal Danish Academy of Music.
Life and career
Mazur was born in New York City on January 18, 1955, to a Polish father and an African-American mother. The family moved to Denmark when Marilyn was six years old. She learned to play the piano, but when she was 19, she took up drumming, inspired by Al Foster, Airto Moreira, and Alex Riel. She started her first band in 1973, Zirenes. In 1985, she was asked to participate in the Palle Mikkelborg project that would become the Miles Davis album Aura, and soon after she went on the road with Miles Davis. Afterward, she played with Gil Evans, Wayne Shorter, Jan Garbarek, Her all-Scandinavian band Shamania consists of avant-garde female musicians.
Gallery
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Honors
- Ben Webster Prize, Ben Webster Foundation, 1983
- JASA Prize, Danish jazz journalists, 1989
- Jazzpar Prize, 2001