Born in Phoenix Az, Mario always had an interest in music. His dad was a fan of Big Band all-stars like Benny Goodman, Tommy Dorsey and Harry James to name a few. This is where his interest in jazz would begin. “ I remember watching those old movies like the Benny Goodman Story , The Glen Miller Story and see people like Lionel Hampton, Louie Armstrong and Gene Krupa and think it was cool to see them play. I also had a great respect for people like Danny Kaye and Donald O’Connor because of the songs and tongue twisters they would perform”.

Mario first gained interest in the electric bass at age 12 when he saw a band playing at a local restaurant while celebrating his moms birthday. This interest led him to take notice of the bass’ role in music. Verdine White’s bass solo on Earth Wind & Fire’s “New World Symphony” was what really captivated him. His brother Robert would buy him his first bass (a Contessa Jazz Bass copy) for his 13th birthday. After getting a bass amp for his 8th grade graduation, he spent the summer teaching himself to play by jamming to records, and by the time he was to enter high school he was able to play well enough to begin studies in the beginning big band as a freshman. He began his professional career at age 15 playing dance clubs and weddings. By age 18, Mario began to emerge onto the valley’s jazz scene playing with all the top jazz musicians, most of them would actually later be his professors in college.

Mario attended Mesa Community College on full scholarship under the direction of the late Grant Wolf, a highly respected jazz educator. It was here that Mario would meet world renown bassist Brian Bromberg (A440 Records) at a summer jazz camp where Brian was the bass instructor. Brian took notice of Mario and said he had a project coming up and would he be interested in participating in it. “ I remember Brian saying he would call me sometime. I think six months went by when I got a call out of the blue. It was Brian and he said he had a solo project where I would play backup bass for him while he played “lead piccolo bass”, and that he would be debuting his first solo album in concert with jazz tenor player Joe Farrell, Alex Acuna, famed drummer of ground breaking fusion group Weather Report and Kei Akagi, keyboardist with Miles Davis, Al Di Meola”. I accepted the invitation with much enthusiasm.