Mark Whitfield "family Band"! at The Side Door Jazz Club

THE WHITFIELD FAMILY BAND – Sat Sept 20 – Doors 7:30 Show 8:30pm 860-434-0886* www.thesidedoorjazz.com

A very special night of incredible jazz talent – all in one family!! Mark Whitfield Sr. on guitar, Mark Whitfield Jr. on drums, Davis Whitfield on piano and Yasushi Nakamura on bass!

Mark Whitfield graduated from Boston's prestigious Berklee College of Music, the world's foremost institute for the study of Jazz and modern American music, in the Spring of 1987 having studied composition and arranging as well as all styles of guitar performance. Upon graduation, he returned to his native New York to embark on a career as a jazz guitarist that afforded him the opportunity to collaborate with many legendary artists including Dizzy Gillespie, Art Blakey, Clark Terry, Jimmy Smith, Carmen McCrae, Herbie Hancock, Quincy Jones, Jack McDuff, Betty Carter, Shirley Horn, Ray Charles, Gladys Knight, Burt Bacharach, Joe Williams, Wynton Marsalis, Branford Marsalis, Stanley Turrentine and his greatest teacher and mentor, George Benson....

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THE WHITFIELD FAMILY BAND – Sat Sept 20 – Doors 7:30 Show 8:30pm 860-434-0886* www.thesidedoorjazz.com

A very special night of incredible jazz talent – all in one family!! Mark Whitfield Sr. on guitar, Mark Whitfield Jr. on drums, Davis Whitfield on piano and Yasushi Nakamura on bass!

Mark Whitfield graduated from Boston's prestigious Berklee College of Music, the world's foremost institute for the study of Jazz and modern American music, in the Spring of 1987 having studied composition and arranging as well as all styles of guitar performance. Upon graduation, he returned to his native New York to embark on a career as a jazz guitarist that afforded him the opportunity to collaborate with many legendary artists including Dizzy Gillespie, Art Blakey, Clark Terry, Jimmy Smith, Carmen McCrae, Herbie Hancock, Quincy Jones, Jack McDuff, Betty Carter, Shirley Horn, Ray Charles, Gladys Knight, Burt Bacharach, Joe Williams, Wynton Marsalis, Branford Marsalis, Stanley Turrentine and his greatest teacher and mentor, George Benson.

Along the way, the New York Times dubbed Whitfield "The Best Young Guitarist in the Business" and in September of 1990 Warner Bros. released his solo debut, "The Marksman". The success of this release has led to a recording career that has produced 14 solo projects to date and a myriad of collaborative efforts with the some of the most important artists in recent years; Sting, D'Angelo, Mary J. Blige, Chaka Khan, John Mayer, Jill Scott, Roy Hargrove, Diana Krall, Lauryn Hill, Sy Smith and Chris Botti.

In September of 2005, Mark Whitfield accepted the invitation to join the faculty at his alma mater, teaming up with Joe Lovano, Ralph Peterson, Danilo Perez, and Terry Lynn Carrington as "Artists in Residence" at the Berklee College of Music. In 2009 Whitfield released "Songs of Wonder", an imaginative and well received tribute to the great Stevie Wonder featuring Chris Botti, John Mayer and Sy Smith.

Aside from working as one of the most in demand guitarists in jazz, Mark is currently focusing on "The Whitfield Family Band".

This exciting new group features the great James Genus on bass and 2 brand new members of the jazz community, Mark Whitfield Jr on drums and Davis Whitfield on piano. Aside from playing with "Dad", Mark Jr has been touring extensively with Kenny Garrett and many of his young contemporaries and is widely recognized as one of the important new voices on his instrument in jazz. Davis, while still attending Berklee, has been performing regularly with Jimmy Cobb, Ralph Peterson and Neal Smith and adds a very distinct voice to this exciting new group.

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