Mary Ann McSweeney was born in Aptos, California. She started playingpiano at the age of five and then began studying the violin at age 8. In highschool she fell in love with the acoustic bass while watching Ray Brownperform at the Concord Jazz Festival. She was chosen to play at theMonterey Jazz Festival at age 16 with the All Star band fronted by ThadJones and Mel Lewis.McSweeney has played with jazz legends Dizzy Gillespie, JoanneBrackeen and Lee Konitz, Gil Goldstein and Bucky Pizzarelli. She has alsoplayed for famous conductors, Leonard Bernstein, Lalo Schifrin, and JohnWilliams. McSweeney has performed with Renee Rosness, Vic Juris, KenPeplowski, Dennis Mackrel, Lewis Nash and Larry Goldings. She hasperformed with the Maiden Voyage and Diva Big Bands and performed withher quintet at the Sexial Jazz Festival in Portugal and the Mary LouWilliams Jazz Festival at the Kennedy Center. She has arranged for andrecorded with Warner Bros. Artist, Lea Delaria. She has toured Europe andperformed with David Krakouer’s Klezmer Madness and five time Tonyaward winning vocalist Audra McDonald. Her orchestrations can be heardon Chita Rivera’s new Cd entitled “Now I Swing” and her version of“Avenue Q Swings” is available on itunes. Along with being full timeprofessional bassist in New York City, McSweeney is on the faculty for theMiddle School Jazz Academy at Lincoln Center and the New York JazzWorkshop. She performed at the White House with the Eli Yamin Quintetfor a special event and will be performing at the Kennedy Center Gala withthe Clayton/Hamilton Orchestra in May 2015. She was musical director/arranger for a three show’s at Birdland in New York City featuring JaneMonheit.The program’s included selections from Irving Berlin and the ColePorter musical, “Anything Goes.” McSweeney performed at the MontereyJazz Festival in 2013 with Claire Daly and the Baritone Monk Band whichwas rated in the top ten on jazz radio in the USA.