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After high school, Mark attended one year at Howard University but soon realized that he wanted to be in an environment that would allow him to immerse himself even deeper in his ever-growing love for music. This meant enrolling at Boston's prestigious Berklee College of Music. In 1988, after four years of intensive playing, practicing and studying (under the tutelage of two of the school's finest woodwind professors, Bill Pierce and Joe Viola), Mark graduated from Berklee with a Bachelor of Arts Degree in Music Performance.
Not long after graduation, Mark's talents were quickly heard in the ears of legendary jazz great, Lionel Hampton for whom Mark would work for nearly four years (1989-1992). Upon leaving "Hamp's" band, Mark would go on to perform for over a year in the hit Broadway musical, Five Guys Named Moe, based on the music of Louis Jordan. Mark's saxophone also enhanced Sandra Reaves' one-woman show, The Great Ladies of Jazz & Blues.
Since 1993, Mark has been touring regularly with The Duke Ellington Orchestra in addition to finding time for short stints with the bands of Nat Adderly, Mulgrew Miller, Jack McDuff, Phillip Harper, Joe Chambers, The Spirit of Life Ensemble and Delfeayo Marsalis, with whom Mark has recorded and toured Japan.
Since 2002, Mark has been recording and touring with the Grammy Award winning Dave Holland Big Band with which Mark has received rave reviews in both the New York Times and Village Voice.
Mark's first recording as a leader, Preach Daddy was released in 1997 by Japan's King Record label and featured a stellar cast of side-men including, Mulgrew Miller, Brian Blade, Darryll Hall, Phillip Harper and Delfeayo Marsalis. Mark can also be heard on the recording projects of Ted Curson, Shingo Okudaira and Antonio Hart.
In the spring of 2000, Mark released his second CD (The Riddle of The Sphinx) this time for the Cincinnati, Ohio based record label, J Curve. The project was inspired by Egyptian themes and received unanimously positive reviews.
Mark currently resides in Teaneck, New Jersey with his wife Shirelle and sons, Mark, Jr. and Caleb. He plays the King Super 20 Silversonic alto saxophone, the Selmer Super Action 80 Series III soprano saxophone and Vandoren reeds and mouthpieces exclusively.
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