Home » Jazz Musicians » Mark Whitfield

Mark Whitfield

Mark Whitfield graduated from Boston's prestigious Berklee College of Music in 1987 where he studied composition, arranging, film scoring and conducting as well as all styles of guitar performance. Later on that year, he returned to his native New York, and immediately began his professional career. Within a few months, he had begun to perform and record with many well-known artists including Dizzy Gillespie, Jimmy Smith, Herbie Hancock, McCoy Tyner, Art Blakey, Jack McDuff, Betty Carter, Carmen McCrae, Dianne Reeves, Joe Williams, Cleo Laine, Wynton Marsalis, Branford Marsalis, Terence Blanchard, Stanley Turrentine, Clark Terry and many more.

As a result of the popularity awarded gained while amassing this impressive resume, Whitfield was dubbed "The Best Young Guitarist In The Business", by The New York Times. In September of 1990, Warner Brothers Records released Whitfield's debut solo recording, "The Marksman" to widespread critical acclaim and impressive sales.

In the decade to follow Whitfield released two subsequent recordings for Warner Brothers, five for Polygram's Verve Label, and two for Herbie Hancock's ground breaking label, Transparent Music. Along the way, Whitfield's musical interests began to expand, taking him out of the realm of traditional jazz and into collaborations with popular music superstars like D'Angelo, Mary J. Blige, Take 6, The Roots, Chaka Khan, Al Jarreau, George Benson, B.B. King, Ashford and Simpson and the great Quincy Jones.

Mark's music has also found its way into the world of television and feature film. These projects include twelve episodes of the ABC television series "Moon Over Miami", performing with Wynton Marsalis on the soundtrack for the film Tune In Tomorrow, starring Peter Falk, and for one season of NBC Television's "Shannon's Deal", performing the soundtrack and making cameo appearances with Harry Belafonte and Jennifer Jason Leigh in the Robert Altman film Kansas City and performing with Terence Blanchard on the soundtrack for the HBO film The Soul of the Game.

In addition, a Whitfield original composition entitled "The Blues From Way Back," taken from his CD The Marksman, aappears on the soundtrack for the feature film One Night Stand starring Nastassia Kinski, Wesley Snipes and Robert Downey Jr.

Kirk Lightsey: Live At Smalls Jazz Club

Read "Live At Smalls Jazz Club" reviewed by Richard J Salvucci

by Richard J Salvucci
October 20, 2023

The genesis of this brief (in terms of tracks; the Spotify version differs slightly) but satisfying recording merits some comment. During the salad days of the pandemic, Smalls Jazz Club in jny: New York (and many other venues) were shuttered. Many artists were forced to improvise (in more ways than one) both to find a place to play and to make a living, neither particularly easy even in “normal" times. The Smalls LIVE Foundation raised funds through what it describes ...

Liner Notes

Conrad Herwig: Obligation

by C. Andrew Hovan
April 17, 2023

Jazz fans tend to be fanatical about those artists that most directly speak to their own musical tastes. Over time, a sense of familiarity with the musical personalities of their iconic favorites becomes entrenched, followed by categorization based on style and genre. Those already familiar with Conrad Herwig's musical endeavors over the past 20 years are likely to speak to his great versatility, at home in both jazz and Afro-Cuban musical circles as he is in leading his own varied ...

Album Review

Mark Whitfield: Grace

by Troy Dostert
April 8, 2017

Since his first album as a leader in 1990, guitarist Mark Whitfield has been simultaneously pulled in two directions. Early on, many dubbed him the heir-apparent to George Benson, and on his first several records he offered plenty of evidence to support this assessment with his smooth, laid-back sound and the pop/R&B influences that he readily embraced. Yet at the same time, it was also abundantly clear that Whitfield possessed some terrific jazz chops, and the personnel on some of ...

1,184

Interview

Mark Whitfield: Quick Whit

by Trish Richardson
December 1, 2008

Panther [Pan-ther]

College Dictionary:noun - Four-legged feline, usually found in largely forested areas.Sports Dictionary:proper noun - Two-legged player, usually found in the Carolina areas.Whitfield Dictionary:1. Collective noun - Group of players (namely Mark Whitfield, Cy Smith, Byron Moore, Jason Murden, Donald Edwards and Antoine Drye), usually found in jazzy areas. 2. State of being - The experience of being independent.see also: Alternative Soul.

345

Album Review

Mark Whitfield: Raw

by AAJ Staff
April 1, 2001

Mark Whitfield, aka “Quick Pick"(as known to fellow musicians) is often cited as being one of the strongest voices on guitar in the jazz mainstream today. His new album “Raw" on the Transparent label is firm testimony to this view and is a must-hear live album, not only for the guitar chops therein but for the bold conceptual statement that Whitfield and his working band propose here in concert

Many are familiar with Whitfield by his Verve records, some admittedly ...

Performance / Tour

Sharing The Joy - And Exuberant Swing - Of Jazz Guitar

Source: Ken Franckling's Jazz Notes
January 27, 2023

Mark Whitfield puts his heart and soul into his guitar playing. And as an observer, listener, you can't miss it. He bends and reshapes notes, adds a soulful blues feeling, and rearranges familiar tunes to make them his own—-at least for the moment. And then there is the ever-present body English. He spins, he raises and lowers his beautiful red D'Angelico hollow-bodied guitar to accentuate the sounds he draws from it. His facial expressions run the gamut from intense grimaces ...
read more

Birthday