Guitarist
Mark Whitfield graduated from Boston’s prestigious Berklee College of Music, the world’s foremost institution for the study of Jazz and modern American music in the spring of 1987. Shortly thereafter, he returned to his to his native New York to embark on a career as a Jazz Guitarist that afforded him the opportunity to collaborate with legendary artists including Dizzy Gillespie, Art Blakey, Quincy Jones, Ray Charles, Herbie Hancock, Carmen McRae, Gladys Knight, Burt Bacharach, Jimmy Smith, Clark Terry, Shirley Horn, Wynton Marsalis, Branford Marsalis, Joe Williams, Stanley Turrentine and his greatest teacher and mentor George Benson.
In 1990 the New York Times dubbed Whitfield “The Best Young Guitarist in the Business”. Later that year, The Warner Bros. release his debut album “The Marksman” led to a recording career that has produced a total of 14 solo recordings and a myriad of collaborative efforts with some of the most important artists in recent years; Sting, Steven Tyler, D’Angelo, Mary J. Blige, John Mayer, Chaka Khan, Jill Scott, Diana Krall, Christian McBride, Chris Botti, Roy Hargrove and Nicholas Payton. The “Whitfield Family Band” has created a brand new recording project. “Grace” was released on January 24th, 2017. It features Mark Whitfield on guitar, Mark Whitfield Jr. on drums, Davis Whitfield on piano, Yasushi Nakamura on bass and the incredible Sy Smith singing the title song, Grace! Visit his website to learn more.
Mark Whitfield was previously presented in the Women in Jazz concert production called “September Song!” on Sept 30, 2018.