megankeyser
For six years, the Marian community has welcomed and worshipped with three musicians at all-school Masses. With Nate Bray on the bass guitar, Mark Nelson on the piano, and Curly Martin on the drums, Masses are full of energy while the Worship Choir and student body sing “Lean on Me” and “Awesome God.”
“I like how the music is upbeat. It’s happy,” freshman Beibhinn Dunn said. Not only are the three musicians praised by the students, but all three men are well-known across the whole United States.
Bray started playing guitar at age 11 and grew up performing in church. “Then I played at a few bands downtown, so it’s just been something I’ve done ever since,” Bray said. He has toured the country and even lived and played in Las Vegas’s entertainment shows. Today, he performs in the Old Market, and his albums are available for purchase online at cdbaby.com.
Martin also has a long, illustrious career. He studied at the Musician’s Institute of Technology in Hollywood, Calif., and has played all over the world with famous jazz artists like Etta James and B.B. King. In 2005, he was inducted into the Omaha Black Music Hall of Fame. “Omaha is the recipient of a lot of the wonderful music that’s come from New Orleans. The African American churches in Omaha were a receptacle of all this music,” Martin said.
Nelson is a pianist at both Sacred Heart and Christ the King parishes, where he met Marian choir director Mrs. Anna Kolterman. She invited him to play for Marian masses six years ago. He, Bray and later, Martin decided to continue to play because they “feel lucky to be here,” Bray said.
“Marian is very warm and very giving,” Bray said. “It’s a great nurturing place for you young ladies to go to school and prepare to go out into the real world.”
Bray and Nelson recorded an album, “Zebra Logic”, that is available on Amazon under the name ‘Black and White Group’. They recorded album songs at Omaha’s Warehouse Studio. Lady Gaga used the studio right before the group performed. “I was the next person to play the piano after her,” Nelson said. “It was covered with glitter and lipstick,” he joked.
The trio thoroughly enjoy sharing their talents with the Marian com- munity. Nelson, Bray, and Curly live out Bray’s motto of, “Follow your heart. Do what you’ve been taught.”
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