An adept guitarist,
Mark Whitfield is a highly regarded performer with a sound that touches upon both straight-ahead jazz and soulful R&B. Born in 1966 in Lindenhurst, New York,
Whitfield started out on bass and switched to guitar around age 15. Influenced early on by the warm, soulful style of
George Benson, he eventually won a scholarship to Berklee College of Music in Boston. After graduating in 1987, he moved to New York, where
Benson himself connected the guitarist to organist
Jack McDuff, an association that helped launch his career. Since then, he has performed with a bevy of luminaries including
Dizzy Gillespie,
Quincy Jones,
Art Blakey,
Ray Charles,
Herbie Hancock,
Carmen McRae,
Jimmy Smith,
Clark Terry,
Shirley Horn,
Wynton Marsalis,
Stanley Turrentine, and more.
Whitfield made his solo debut with
The Marksman on Warner Bros. in 1990.
More albums followed, including 1991's
Patrice and 1993's
Mark Whitfield. He then moved to
Verve for a series of well-received efforts, including 1994's
True Blue and 1997's
Forever Love. He rounded out his
Verve deal with 1999's Take the Ride. A 2000 collaboration for the Jazz Channel with
Joel Kipnis (aka
JK) showcased the guitarist's more R&B-influenced sound. Also in 2000, he delivered the live album Raw, featuring his quartet with pianist
Robert Glasper, bassist
Brandon Owens, and drummer
Donald Edwards. He returned in 2005 with the stylistically expansive
Mark Whitfield Featuring Panther. In 2009 he paid homage to longtime inspiration
Stevie Wonder on
Songs of Wonder, and then earned a Grammy Award nomination for his work on
Kenny Garrett's 2013 effort,
Pushing the World Away. In 2017
Whitfield released
Grace, which showcased his family band with sons drummer
Mark Whitfield, Jr. and pianist Davis Whitfield. ~ Matt Collar