Mark Whitfield

“For Jimmy, Wes and Oliver”, a recording by the Christian Mcbride Big Band featuring Mark Whitfield on guitar and Joey Defrancesco on organ received the 2022 Grammy Award for “Best Large Jazz Ensemble.” It is the most recent collaboration between Whitfield and McBride, a musical relationship that began over 30 years ago when they were both featured members of the “Jazz Futures”, an All-Star Jazz Band that also launched the career of the late Roy Hargrove. 

Mark Whitfield has collaborated with some of the biggest names in the jazz world, 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. 

Born in Lindenhurst, New York, Whitfield graduated from the Berklee College of Music in 1987. Whitfield quickly established himself as a rising star in the jazz world. In 1990, New York Times dubbed Whitfield “The Best Young Guitarist in the Business.” Later that year, Whitfield released his debut album entitled “Marksman” — a refreshing, balanced and well-executed travel through jazz genres. 

To date, Whitfield has released fourteen solo albums, and has collaborated on more than thirty albums with 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 among others.