Marion Mallard concerts

About Marion Mallard

Marion Sly Mallard is a Chicago-based jazz bassist and composer, originally from Decatur, Illinois. She works on upright and electric bass, leads her own ensembles, and moves through Chicago’s club, theater, and collaborative-jazz circuits. The attention-getter for a prospective audience is her current Thursday residency in Andy’s Jazz Club’s 10:30 p.m. Late Night Concert Series, a recurring role inside one of the city’s longest-running jazz-room ecosystems.

From Decatur to Chicago’s working bands

The documented starting point for Mallard’s Chicago chapter is 2020, when she moved from Decatur to study Jazz Studies at DePaul University’s School of Music; DePaul’s 2024 commencement program lists her among its Jazz Studies graduates. Mallard is a solo artist, so her story has no fixed founding lineup or band-formation year. Her early public record centers on performance, composition, and ensemble work. In 2023, Elastic Arts billed the Marion Mallard Quartet for a program of originals and arrangements contributed by members of the group, establishing a leader format grounded in collective repertoire.

A catalog built first in rooms, then in repertoires

Mallard’s public release history remains lightly documented. The primary artist pages and venue biographies reviewed for this profile identify her as a bassist, composer, bandleader, studio worker, and producer, yet supply zero leader-album titles, labels, release dates, or track lists. Her Bandcamp presence is a collection profile that identifies her as a Chicago jazz bassist, composer, and photographer; its visible entries are recordings by other artists. For listeners making a live decision, the useful record sits in the programs she has carried into clubs and stages.

Originals, arrangements, and ensemble context

The February 2023 Marion Mallard Quartet date at Elastic Arts gives the clearest description of Mallard’s leader material: originals alongside group-member arrangements. In August 2025, the Jazz Showcase presented Tetraria, a co-led project with Jayden Richardson that grew from the Betty Carter Jazz Ahead residency at the Kennedy Center and joined original composition to improvisation. Her work also reaches repertoire-driven settings: Birch Creek booked her in a quartet playing Great American Songbook standards in February 2026. These are distinct musical frames, each centered on bass within small-group interaction.

Collaborative routes through the city

Mallard’s collaborations indicate a musician moving among leader dates, sideman calls, and composed-performance projects. The Jazz Showcase identifies Tetraria as her co-led unit with Jayden Richardson. ChicagoJazz.com documented her in Dave Adsett’s quartet at Fulton Street Collective in February 2023, alongside Garrett Munz, Joe Powers, and vocalist Aliyah Jones. In 2025, See Chicago Dance credited Mallard as music director and bassist for Chicago Tap Theatre’s CTT Live, with Julián Pujols Qualls, Elijah Bradford, and Tommy Sagins. Andy’s biography also names work with vibraphonist Joel Ross.

What the live record actually promises

The strongest evidence points to a Chicago-centered, small-ensemble live practice with different roles from room to room. Elastic Arts presented Mallard as quartet leader for a three-hour bill on February 27, 2023; Fulton Street Collective listed her as the bassist in Dave Adsett’s five-piece group during the same month. Tetraria reached the Jazz Showcase in August 2025, while CTT Live placed her in a theater band as music director. Andy’s now lists Mallard every Thursday at 10:30 p.m., and its schedule operates with 6 p.m., 8:15 p.m., and 10:30 p.m. showtimes. The club clears its room after each show and requires advance reservations; public venue material gives seating categories and a group threshold above ten, while offering no fixed room-capacity figure. The pattern is repeat Chicago work across at least four named venues: Andy’s, Elastic Arts, Fulton Street Collective, and the Jazz Showcase.

Current work and August dates

As of August 7, 2026, Mallard’s latest clearly documented public activity is her recurring Thursday Late Night Concert Series engagement at Andy’s, listed by the Jazz Institute of Chicago for 10:30 p.m. Her upcoming CrowdMate dates keep that pattern intact: Andy’s Jazz Club in Chicago on August 13, August 20, and August 27, 2026. Each date fits the late-night format, following Andy’s earlier evening showtimes and placing Mallard in a concise club-set setting.

Sources

1. Late Night Concert Series w/Marion Mallard — Andy's Jazz Club
2. Sisters in Jazz — Jazz Education Network
3. Events — Anagram Series: Marion Mallard Quartet & Alvin Cobb Trio — Elastic Arts Foundation
4. Tetraria — Jazz Showcase
5. Jazz Recap: David Adsett Quartet and Rufus Parenti Quartet Perform at Fulton Street Collective — ChicagoJazz.com
6. marion_mallard's collection — Bandcamp
7. Valentine's Concert at Birch Creek — Birch Creek Music Performance Center
8. Chicago Tap Theatre presents CTT Live at The Den Theatre — See Chicago Dance
9. Club Listings — Jazz Institute of Chicago