Bio

Guitarist and composer, Marcel Anicic was first introduced to music at the young age of 3 by his grand mother who was a Croatian folk musician. This influence is evident is his unique use of rhythms and Eastern European harmonies. In his childhood years he was introduced to the European classical music and became fascinated with the music of Richard Wagner and Dmitri Shostakovich. European classical music plays to this day the most important role in his compositional and performing approach. However, it is his mother who really put him onto a path to become a musician by introducing him to the music of Pink Floyd. It is while listening to their music that he fell in love with the guitar, and the music of Pink Floyd became and remains to this day one of the greatest influences on his own musical expression.

During his early adolescent years Marcel studies composition and classical music in several music conservatories in his native Bosnia and later Croatia. At the same time he discovers jazz and he begins playing and studying it with an ever increasing dedication. At 19 he moves to Montreal where he completes university studies in jazz performance and takes courses with several renowned Montreal jazz artists such as Dave Turner, Michael Gauthier, Charles Ellison, Marc Villemure, Rody Ellias, and others. During this time Marcel plays in numerous jazz ensembles and he works on perfecting his jazz vocabulary by learning the traditions of the great masters.

Graduating with distinction in Jazz Performance, Marcel pursues a career in music and becomes a regular on the Montreal jazz scene. He has played in many jazz clubs and venues in and around Montreal, both as a leader and sideman in various ensembles and bands, with styles ranging from jazz to soul, funk, reggae, avant-garde, electronica, rock, folk and classical. In addition to being a performer, Marcel is also a distinguished educator, composer and musicologist.