Describing his style as "a weird mixture of blues, R&B, swing and soul", Mark Whitfield has established himself as a leading jazz guitar master and played with the likes of Chaka Khan, Dave Matthews Band and Sting. His love affair with music began when his older brother returned from the Vietnam War and was given a guitar as homecoming gift. Not being able to play, he passed it on to Mark on his seventh birthday along with a Lightning Hopkins record, and the youngster was soon having lessons at a local music store in Long Island and being taken to jazz concerts by his parents. He ended up winning a scholarship to the Berklee School of Music in Boston before returning to New York in 1987, where he learned his trade on the vibrant jazz scene, sitting in with the likes of Dizzy Gillespie, Quincy Jones and Wynton Marsalis and working as a sideman for organist Jack McDuff.
Releasing his debut album 'The Marksman' in 1990, Whitfield remained hugely inspired by the unique R&B/funk style of his hero and mentor George Benson, but developed his own soulful, intense jazz grooves on 'True Blue', '7th Avenue Stroll' and 'Forever Love' for Verve Records. He also recorded with pianists Jimmy Smith and Cedar Walton in the '90s, and later worked as a session musician with leading pop and soul acts, including Mary J. Blige, D'Angelo and Steven Tyler.
His stylish, smooth, improvised licks were at their most energetic on 'Raw' in 2000 and he paid tribute to his favourite songwriter Stevie Wonder on 2009's 'Songs of Wonder', before teaming up with his sons Mark J.r. and Davis on 'Grace' in 2016.
