Mark Gross (saxophonist)
Mark Gross (born February 20, 1966 in Baltimore ) is an American jazz musician ( alto saxophone ) who plays in the hard bop tradition.
Live and act
Mark Gross grew up playing gospel music in his parents' home in Baltimore . His father was a preacher in the local parish of Mt. Zion COGIC Church. He started out with classical music at the Baltimore School for the Arts , then studied at Howard University and then for four years at Berklee College of Music with Joe Viola and Bill Pierce, among others . There he obtained a Bachelor of Arts in Music Performance . After graduating in 1988, Gross worked as a professional jazz musician; The first recordings were made in New York in 1991 with the formation Good Fellas , which included Philip Harper , Vincent Herring , Stephen Scott , Essiet Okon Essiet .
In the following years Gross also played with musicians such as Nat Adderley , Dave Holland , Mulgrew Miller , Nicholas Payton , Delfeayo Marsalis , Wynton Marsalis , Dizzy Gillespie , Nancy Wilson , Jimmy Heath , as well as in the Dizzy Gillespie Alumni Big Band , in the Village Vanguard Jazz Orchestra , Tom Harrell Big Band, Duke Ellington Orchestra ( Ghost Band ), with Frank Foster and the Loud Minority, in the Mingus Big Band , also with Freddie Hubbard , Donald Harrison , Mark Whitfield , Joe Dukes , Jack McDuff , Joe Chambers , Neal Smith , Cyrus Chestnut , Regina Carter , Lionel Hampton , Stefon Harris , Walter Booker , Jimmy Cobb , Don Braden and Vincent Gardner .
Gross has also worked in various theater shows and musicals on New York Broadway , such as Five Guys Named Moe (1992–1993), based on the music of Louis Jordan , and in Kat and the Kings (1999–2000) and Swing (2000–2001) ). Mark Gross also worked on the soundtrack of the Spike Lee film Malcolm X (1992). Under his own name he recorded the albums Preach Daddy (King Records) and Riddle of the Sphinx (J Curve Records). In the field of jazz he was involved in 55 recording sessions between 1991 and 2015, most recently with the Dick Oatts / Mats Holmquist New York Jazz Orchestra. At present (2019) Gross leads a quintet that includes Freddie Hendrix (trumpet), Benito Gonzalez (piano), Ark Ovrutski (bass) and Corey Rawls (drums).
Discographic notes
- Riddle of the Sphinx (1999), with Joe Locke , Mulgrew Miller, Darryl Hall , Brian Blade , Khalil Kwame Bell (perc), John La Barbara
- Blackside (2012), with Freddie Hendrix, Cyrus Chestnut, Yotam, Dezron Douglas , Gregory Hutchinson , Vanderlei Pereira
Web links
- Web presence
- Mark Gross at Discogs (English)
Individual evidence
- ^ Entry in the database of Radio Swiss Jazz
- ↑ a b c Mark Gross. Smalls, March 1, 2019, accessed March 11, 2019 .
- ↑ Tom Lord : The Jazz Discography (online, accessed March 15, 2019)
| personal data | |
|---|---|
| SURNAME | Big, Mark |
| BRIEF DESCRIPTION | American jazz saxophonist |
| DATE OF BIRTH | February 20, 1966 |
| PLACE OF BIRTH | Baltimore , Maryland , United States |