Madison Rast at Hawthorne Park (Jazz Bridge)

North Carolina native Madison Rast graduated from the prestigious North Carolina School of the Arts in Winston-Salem, NC and received his MM in 1998 from Virginia Commonwealth University, as a recipient of the Carpenter Fellowship Scholarship. He moved to Philadelphia in the fall of 1999 to pursue a career in jazz. Since that time Madison has become one of the areas most in demand bassists.

Upon moving to Philadelphia, Madison quickly found a home at the legendary Ortlieb's Haus where he performed regularly. He became a member of Bootsie Barne’s Sextet, which had a monthly residency at the club. As his reputation grew, his solid and steady bass lines supported many notable musicians including Mickey Roker, Orrin Evans, Sean Jones, Larry McKenna and many others.

Since 2018, Madison has been among the collective of jazz musicians known as the Captain Black Big Band under the direction of Orrin Evans, whose…