Marc Henry Bonilla (born July 3, 1955) is an American guitarist and composer, who has worked as a sideman to artists such as Keith Emerson,

Ronnie Montrose Ronald Douglas Montrose (November 29, 1947 – March 3, 2012) was an American guitarist who founded and led the rock bands Montrose and Gamma. He also performed and did session work with a variety of musicians, including Van Morrison, Herbie H ...

, Glenn Hughes,

Edgar Winter Edgar Holland Winter (born December 28, 1946) is an American musician. He is a multi-instrumentalist, playing keyboards, guitar, saxophone, and percussion, as well as singing. His success peaked in the 1970s with his band the Edgar Winter Group ...

and David Coverdale.

Career

Early years and film work

Bonilla is originally from the

San Francisco Bay area The San Francisco Bay Area, often referred to as simply the Bay Area, is a populous region surrounding the San Francisco, San Pablo, and Suisun Bay estuaries in Northern California. The Bay Area is defined by the Association of Bay Area Go ...

and, along with

Joe Satriani Joseph Satriani (born July 15, 1956)Prato, Greg"Joe Satriani – Music Biography, Credits and Discography". '' AllMusic''. Rovi Corporation. Retrieved May 28, 2014. is an American guitarist, composer, songwriter, and guitar teacher. Early in his ...

, was one of the preeminent rock guitar teachers in the Bay area during the 1980s. Bonilla moved to LA in the early 1990s to work on TV and movie scoring working with James Newton Howard,

John Debney John Cardon Debney (born August 18, 1956) is an American composer and conductor of film, television, and video game scores. His work encompasses a variety of mediums and genres including comedy, horror, thriller, and action-adventure. He is a l ...

, and others, eventually earning an Emmy nomination in 2001. He also lectured at LA's Guitar Institute of Technology (GIT). In addition, he had cameo roles in the 1997 television series ''

Night Man ''Night Man'' is a superhero television series, developed by Glen A. Larson, that aired in syndication from September 15, 1997 to May 17, 1999. The series is loosely based on the character from ''The Night Man'' comic book published, through the ...

'' about a crime-fighting sax player, for which he was the musical director and acted as a performer (with his band) in several episodes under the alias ''Marc Bonilla and Dragonchoir''. He has done guitars for numerous films such as '' The Replacements'', ''

The Scorpion King ''The Scorpion King'' is a 2002 American sword and sorcery action adventure film directed by Chuck Russell, starring Dwayne Johnson, Steven Brand, Kelly Hu, Grant Heslov and Michael Clarke Duncan. It is both a prequel and spin-off of ''The ...

'', ''

Spider-Man 2 ''Spider-Man 2'' is a 2004 American superhero film directed by Sam Raimi and written by Alvin Sargent from a story by Alfred Gough, Miles Millar and Michael Chabon. Based on the fictional Marvel Comics character of the same name, it is the ...

'', ''

Iron Man 2 ''Iron Man 2'' is a 2010 American superhero film based on the Marvel Comics character Iron Man. Produced by Marvel Studios and distributed by Paramount Pictures, it is the sequel to '' Iron Man'' (2008) and the third film in the Marvel ...

'', ''

Green Lantern Green Lantern is the name of several superheroes appearing in American comic books published by DC Comics. They fight evil with the aid of rings that grant them a variety of extraordinary powers, all of which come from imagination, fearlessness, ...

'', '' The Bourne Legacy'', and composed and performed the music on the hit series, '' Justified'', on FX channel, with keyboardist Steve Porcaro (Toto). He also composed for Comedy Central's ''

The Nightly Show with Larry Wilmore ''The Nightly Show with Larry Wilmore'' is a 2015–16 American Late night television, late-night panel discussion, panel Late-night talk show, talk show hosted by Larry Wilmore that aired for two seasons on Comedy Central. The show was a spin-o ...

''.

With Keith Emerson

Marc played in Keith Emerson's 1995 album ''Changing States''. In 1999, he appeared on the

Emerson, Lake & Palmer Emerson, Lake & Palmer (informally known as ELP) were an English progressive rock supergroup formed in London in 1970. The band consisted of Keith Emerson (keyboards), Greg Lake (vocals, bass, guitar, producer) and Carl Palmer (drums, percus ...

tribute album ''Encores, Legends & Paradox'' released by

Magna Carta Records Magna Carta Records is an independent record label located in Rochester, New York. Magna Carta was formed in 1989 and is owned by Peter Morticelli and his partner Mike Varney. The label, named for the 1215 English document advancing democracy, '' ...

. He then joined the Keith Emerson band in 2006 and played with him until Emerson's passing in 2016. In 2012, Marc completed an album with Keith Emerson titled ''The Three Fates Project'' with the

Munich Radio Orchestra The Munich Radio Orchestra (German: ''Münchner Rundfunkorchester'') is a German symphony broadcast orchestra based in Munich. It is one of the two orchestras affiliated with the Bavarian Radio (Bayerischer Rundfunk), the other being the Bavaria ...

, conducted by Terje Mikkelsen. In 2018, he collaborated on a tribute album containing Emerson compositions called ''Beyond The Stars - Keith Emerson'' with the

Academy of St Martin in the Fields The Academy of St Martin in the Fields (ASMF) is an English chamber orchestra, based in London. John Churchill, then Master of Music at the London church of St Martin-in-the-Fields, and Neville Marriner founded the orchestra as "The Academy o ...

, featuring

Rachel Flowers Rachel Flowers (born December 21, 1993) is an American multi-instrumentalist and composer. Career Flowers was born 15 weeks prematurely, which resulted in her becoming permanently blind a few weeks after her birth. Flowers took second place ...

and Keith's grandson Ethan Emerson.

Other sideman work

He has also worked with Glenn Hughes on two albums: 1996's ''

Addiction Addiction is a neuropsychological disorder characterized by a persistent and intense urge to engage in certain behaviors, one of which is the usage of a drug, despite substantial harm and other negative consequences. Repetitive drug use o ...

'' (produced, co-written and performed) and 1999's ''

The Way It Is The Way It Is may refer to: Music * ''The Way It Is'' (Bruce Hornsby album), by Bruce Hornsby and the Range ** "The Way It Is" (Bruce Hornsby song), the title song * ''The Way It Is'' (Glenn Hughes album), or the title song * ''The Way It Is' ...

'' (also playing keyboards). In late 2000, he played on David Coverdale's live band, and the Toy Matinee live band with Kevin Gilbert. Although Bonilla appears in the video for Toy Matinee's "Ballad of Jenny Ledge," he did not actually play lead guitar on the album. Lead guitar work for the ''Toy Matinee'' LP was done by LA studio guitarist

Tim Pierce Tim Pierce (born 1959 in Albuquerque) is an American session guitarist. He has worked for artists such as Joe Cocker, Crowded House, Goo Goo Dolls, Michael Jackson, Beth Hart, Roger Waters, Alice Cooper, Johnny Hallyday, Phil Collins, and the ...

, though Bonilla replaced him for the touring incarnation of the band along with Sheryl Crow. Bonilla currently plays in California Transit Authority, a project led by former

Chicago (''City in a Garden''); I Will , image_map = , map_caption = Interactive Map of Chicago , coordinates = , coordinates_footnotes = , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name ...

drummer, founding member and Rock n' Roll Hall of Famer

Danny Seraphine Daniel Peter Seraphine (born August 28, 1948) is an American drummer, record producer, theatrical producer and film producer. He is best known as the original drummer and a founding member of the rock band Chicago, a tenure which lasted fr ...

, featuring some updates to early Chicago songs as well as new material and has currently completed the follow-up album of all original material. In April 2017, Bonilla and

Eddie Jobson Edwin "Eddie" Jobson (born 28 April 1955) is an English musician noted for his use of synthesizers. He has been a member of several progressive rock bands, including Curved Air, Roxy Music, U.K. and Jethro Tull. He was also part of Frank Zap ...

began the "Fallen Angels Tour," a tribute to the music of

John Wetton John Kenneth Wetton (12 June 1949 – 31 January 2017) was an English musician, singer, and songwriter. Known for his dexterous bass playing and booming baritone voice, Wetton first gained fame in the early 1970s. Wetton was the singer and p ...

& Keith Emerson. In addition, he tours with Eddie Jobson's UZ Project as singer, guitarist and bassist. He has also toured with

Harry Shearer Harry Julius Shearer (born December 23, 1943) is an American actor, comedian, writer, musician, radio host, director and producer. Born in Los Angeles, California, Shearer began his career as a child actor. From 1969 to 1976, Shearer was a member ...

(aka Derek Smalls from Spinal Tap) playing guitar, bass and mandolin, in his "Smalls Change Tour". In 2022,

Asia Asia (, ) is one of the world's most notable geographical regions, which is either considered a continent in its own right or a subcontinent of Eurasia, which shares the continental landmass of Afro-Eurasia with Africa. Asia covers an are ...

announced a 40th Anniversary Tour, with Marc Bonilla on guitar and vocals.

Solo work

Marc Bonilla has released three solo albums. '' EE Ticket'' came out in 1991 on Reprise Records. ''

American Matador ''American Matador'' is the second studio album by guitarist Marc Bonilla, released in 1993 through Reprise Records. Track listing Personnel *Marc Bonilla – singing, vocals (track 7), guitar, keyboard instrument, keyboard, programming (musi ...

'' followed in 1993 on

Warner Records Warner Records Inc. (formerly Warner Bros. Records Inc.) is an American record label. A subsidiary of the Warner Music Group, it is headquartered in Los Angeles, California. It was founded on March 19, 1958, as the recorded music division of the ...

, including covers of "

A Whiter Shade of Pale "A Whiter Shade of Pale" is a song by the English rock band Procol Harum that was issued as their debut record on 12 May 1967. The single reached number 1 in the UK Singles Chart on 8 June and stayed there for six weeks. Without much promotion, i ...

" and "

I Am the Walrus "I Am the Walrus" is a song by the English rock band the Beatles from their 1967 television film ''Magical Mystery Tour''. Written by John Lennon and credited to Lennon–McCartney, it was released as the B-side to the single "Hello, Goodbye" a ...

" with guest

. Around the time that ''EE Ticket'' was released, Yamaha musical instruments produced a prototype left-handed Marc Bonilla model guitar. This guitar was embellished with comic book superheroes, of which Bonilla was very fond. His third solo release was a guitar instrumental album called ''Celluloid Debris'', released in 2019 and available exclusively through his own website.

Graphic design

Aside from his work as a musician, Bonilla was also a graphic artist, who did album cover designs for

, with his 1986 solo album ''Territory'' and with his band Montrose, the 1987 album ''Mean''.

Discography

Solo

*1991: '' EE Ticket'' *1993: ''

'' *2019: ''Celluloid Debris''

Glenn Hughes

*1996: ''

'' *1999: ''The Way It Is''

Bobby Gaylor

*2000: '' Fuzzatonic Scream''

Keith Emerson

*2008: '' Keith Emerson Band Featuring Marc Bonilla'' *2010: ''

Moscow Moscow ( , US chiefly ; rus, links=no, Москва, r=Moskva, p=mɐskˈva, a=Москва.ogg) is the capital and largest city of Russia. The city stands on the Moskva River in Central Russia, with a population estimated at 13.0 millio ...

'' (live August 26, 2008) *2012: '' Three Fates Project'' (with Terje Mikkelsen, Munich Radio Orchestra)

Keith Emerson - Glenn Hughes - Marc Bonilla

*2009: '' Boys Club Live From California'' (recorded 1998)

CTA - Danny Seraphine and the California Transit Authority

*2006: '' Full Circle'' *2013: '' Sacred Ground''

Saville Row

2014: '' The Way Around It'' (with Troy Luccketta, Mika Greiner, Travis Davis)

Ronnie Montrose

*2017: '' 10x10'' - Track "Head On Straight"

Soundtracks

*1992: '' Diggstown (soundtrack)'' *2000: '' The Replacements (soundtrack)'' *2002: '' The Scorpion King (soundtrack)'' *2012: '' The Bourne Legacy (soundtrack)''

The Wring

* 2021: ''The Wring2 - Project Cypher''

Guest

*1999: '' Encores, Legends and Paradox'' (ELP tribute album)

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Bonilla, Marc 1955 births Living people People from Contra Costa County, California Lead guitarists American heavy metal guitarists American film score composers American male film score composers Guitarists from California 20th-century American guitarists American male guitarists 20th-century American male musicians Asia (band) members