Mark Whitfield - Live & Uncut (CHESKY RECORDS 2017)

Come along for the ride as Chesky Records transports you to the Lower East Side of Manhattan for a live Jazz performance from Mark Whitfield and his band consisting of Billy Drummond and Ben Allison. Recorded live at Rockwood Music Hall, experience the interplay between three seasoned Jazz veterans embracing the moment on Live & Uncut. 

Mark Whitfield has been a celebrated guitarist for nearly three decades, performing with 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.

Released September 1, 2017 

1. Without A Song 10:16

2. Invitation 07:32

3. Willow Weep For Me 09:36

4. Changes For Monk and Trane 08:05

5. Jackie-ing 06:17

6. Dubai 07:43

Band:

Ben Allison: Bass

Billy Drummond: Drums

Mark Whitfield: Guitar

Produced by: David Chesky

Executive Producer: Norman Chesky

Recorded, edited, and mastered by Nicholas Prout

Second Engineer: Mor Mezrich

Assistant Engineer: Janelle Costa

A&R: Jeff Lanier

Recorded February 19th, 2017 at Rockwood Music Hall, New York

Equipment Used: B&K Binaural Head, MSB A/D Converter, and Crystal Microphone Cable

Mark Whitfield - Grace (2017)

It's been 27 years since I officially introduced myself to the music world with my 1st Warner Bros. recording, "The Marksman"! After years of performing as a solo artist as well as a featured guest with artists like Quincy Jones, Ray Charles, Stevie Wonder, Art Blakey, Betty Carter, Carmen McRae, Shirley Horn, George Benson, Dizzy Gillespie, Herbie Hancock, Wynton Marsalis, Jimmy Smith, Jack McDuff, Roy Hargrove, Christian McBride, Cedar Walton, Sting, Stephen Tyler, D'Angelo, Mary J. Blige and the Dave Matthews Band, it is my absolute pleasure, honor and privilege to share the stage and the recording studio with my sons Mark Jr. on drums and Davis on piano and keyboards. Our bassist, Yasushi Nakamura, is a former student of mine from my Juilliard jazz improvisation lectures and we have enjoyed performing all over the world for the past few years. As an added bonus, my cousin, singer, songwriter performer extraordinaire Sy Smith(Sting, Chris Botti, Whitney Houston, Brandi, Jamie Foxx, Usher & Ricky Minor) co-wrote and sang the title track "Grace".

Mark Jr, Davis and I are all graduates of the Berklee College of Music and in addition to performing we give workshops and masterclasses focusing on musical and personal development and are always excited to share the benefits of our experiences.

Afro Samurai

Blue D.A.

Grace

Double Trouble

Space Between Us

Fortress

Undiscovered

The Socrates Curse

Pulse, Pt. 2

Mark Whitfield: guitar

Davis Whitfield: piano, keyboards

Yasushi Nakamura: bas

Mark Whitfield, Jr.: drums

Sy Smith: vocals (on “Grace”)

Ralph Peterson's Aggregate Prime - Dream Deferred (2016)

Since it was first published in 1951, Langston Hughes’ poem, “Harlem,” has been a source of awe and inspiration for generations of African American artists, notably Lorraine Hansbury, whose most famous play “A Raisin in the Sun” (1959), borrowed its title to enhance its theme of black families’ fraught and frustrated pursuit of the American Dream.

* * * * * * * * * * *

LANGSTON HUGHES, “Harlem”

What happens to a dream deferred?

Does it dry up

like a raisin in the sun?

Or fester like a sore-

And then run?

Does it stink like rotten meat?

Or crust and sugar over-

like a syrupy sweet?

Maybe it just sags

like a heavy load.

Or does it explode?

* * * * * * * * * * *

Ralph Peterson-percussionist, trumpeter, composer, bandleader and educator-has called upon Hughes’ iconic poem to give both title and theme to Dream Deferred, his 20th album as a leader and his sixth on his own label Onyx Music.  Dream Deferred is also the first to feature his new quintet, Aggregate Prime, comprising the powerful, all-star tandem of saxophonist/flutist Gary Thomas, guitarist Mark Whitfield, pianist Vijay Iyer, and bassist Kenny Davis.

“The album speaks to the question of that final question Langston Hughes asks in ‘Harlem’ and whether we as a society are close to answering it,” says Peterson. “The answer is already there in that if we don’t do the right thing, all of our hopes and dreams will explode.”


Peterson: “The ability of the sword to cut cleanly comes from what seems to be abusive extremes and that’s how we’re all tested by life. When life is heating up on you, your own tensile strength becomes more resilient until things cool down for a while before getting hot again. It’s these extremes that are ideal for stress test in strengthening metal…and your own mettle as well.”

1. Aggregate Prime - Iron Man

2. Emmanuel The Redeemer

3. Dream Deferred

4. Aggregate Prime - Monief Redux

5. Aggregate Prime - Father Spirit

6. Aggregate Prime - Fearless

7. Strongest Sword/Hottest Fire

8. Aggregate Prime - Queen Tiye

9. Aggregate Prime - Who's In Control

Ralph Peterson (d)

Mark Whitfield (g)

Kenny Davis (b)

Gary Thomas (ts/f)

Vijay Iyer(p)