Maria Marmarou

As she entered her sophomore year of high school, Maria Marmarou had a decision to make: Would her extracurricular hours be taken up by softball games and cross-country races, or by student jazz festivals?

The fact that music won out came as something of a surprise even to Marmarou. “I honestly thought I was going to go to college and play softball or basketball or run cross-country,” she said. “I really didn’t have any intention of pursuing music. But my band directors were always supportive, I was playing in a bunch of ensembles that were winning awards at festivals, and I really started to enjoy it.”

It didn’t hurt that Marmarou had chosen the drums as her instrument of choice, which transferred a good deal of the physicality she’d enjoyed in her athletic pursuits into the music realm. Couple that with the competitive spirit that drove her to chalk up victories on the bandstand much as she had on the basketball court, and her earliest experiences in jazz managed to scratch many of the same itches that sports had.

Marmarou had initially been drawn to that more kinetic, acrobatic aspect of the drums. Her first real inspiration was seeing Sonny Payne with the Count Basie Orchestra, instilling a passion for big band playing that remains with her to this day. Her own powerhouse playing can be heard on two recent releases by the Temple University Jazz Band – Covid Sessions: A Social Call, recorded in semi-isolation under pandemic-era protocols; and Without You, No Me, a tribute to the late Philly saxophone great Jimmy Heath that featured bassist Christian McBride and organ master Joey DeFrancesco.

Having recently wrapped up her undergraduate studies at Temple, however, Marmarou now recognizes that the muscular, spotlight-grabbing style that first captivated her is just one facet of being a well-rounded drummer. “Now that I know a little bit more about this music,” she said, “I wouldn’t say I’m particularly into the flashy stuff. I know it’s not all about that, but it definitely caught my attention. And back in the day, it helped a lot in terms of getting people to come see the band play – and for the drummer to get paid.”

That lesson is one that Marmarou seems to have learned. By the time she finished her four years at Temple she’d played gigs with bassist Mike Boone, pianist Orrin Evans, saxophonist Tim Warfield, trumpeter John Swana, and in the South Philly Big Band. Currently planning to pursue her Masters degree at Temple, she also has her eye on some more high profile big band chairs, naming the Vanguard Jazz Orchestra and the Count Basie Orchestra as aspirational models.

Goals such as those were hard to imagine just a few short years ago as Marmarou was growing up in largely rural Kutztown. Her move to Philadelphia came with a considerable degree of culture shock. “Kutztown is very country,” she explained. “There are farms and cornfields everywhere. In high school, every Tuesday was ‘Tractor Tuesday,’ so some of the kids would ride their tractors into school. I tell people in Philly that and they just laugh.”

In some ways, though, the city felt more comfortable to Marmarou than home had. She was unique among her fellow Kutztown High students in being the daughter of immigrants; her parents, who ran a local diner, hailed from Greece and Mexico. “Nobody else in Kutztown looked like me at all,” she recalled. “No one spoke Spanish. So it was cool coming to Philly and seeing people that looked like me and had similar cultural backgrounds that I could relate to.”

There was also culture shock of a musical kind, as she quickly encountered some incredibly talented peers. On drums alone, she watched in awe at the skills of local prodigies like Mekhi Boone (bassist Mike Boone’s son) and Nazir Ebo (younger brother of Justin Faulkner, who became one of Marmarou’s instructors at Temple). 

“I went to sessions at Chris’ and South and saw Mekhi and Nazir,” Marmarou recalled. “And I was like, ‘Yo, like, I’m older than both of these people. Should I quit?’ It took until my junior year of college until I was finally confident enough to realize that we all have different experiences. I have something else to bring to the table than they do; it’s not better or worse. We’re all just learning and trying to get better.”

“I went to sessions at Chris’ and South and saw Mekhi and Nazir,” Marmarou recalled. “And I was like, ‘Yo, like, I’m older than both of these people. Should I quit?’ It took until my junior year of college until I was finally confident enough to realize that we all have different experiences. I have something else to bring to the table than they do; it’s not better or worse. We’re all just learning and trying to get better.”

Marmarou’s been doing just that with the mentorship of some of Philly’s finest jazz musicians, which has encouraged her to continue to make a long term home in the city and its thriving jazz scene. 

“They all really know the legacy and the history in Philadelphia, which is very rich in its own way. As much as people talk about New York, Chicago, or New Orleans, Philly definitely has its own thing. It’s so communal, and it’s really cool to be a part of that.”

“The people that I’ve learned from have come through the rich history of Philly,” she said, citing an early visit to Ortlieb’s Jazzhaus when she rubbed shoulders with the late drummer Mickey Roker. “They all really know the legacy and the history in Philadelphia, which is very rich in its own way. As much as people talk about New York, Chicago, or New Orleans, Philly definitely has its own thing. It’s so communal, and it’s really cool to be a part of that.”

“It was cool coming to Philly and seeing people that looked like me and had similar cultural backgrounds that I could relate to.”