a short list of some of the artists that Mark has worked with, for, played for or with in one way or another include:
Mark grew up in Summit, New Jersey and started in the public school program as a drummer. He started playing the bass at age 13 and hasn’t looked back.
At Berklee College of Music, Mark studied privately with Whit Browne, and Bruce Gertz. “Most all of my teachers there were influential for one reason or another. I just soaked it all up and practiced many hours a day, a habit that continues to this day.”
After Berklee, Mark lived in New Jersey and played with many artists and groups and played gigs throughout the New York area.
“I worked a great deal, although quite a few of these gigs required a tuxedo, and I wasn’t down with that after a while. After 125+ gigs per year for several years like that it started to wear on me. Although I was glad to be working, it was time for a change.”
In 1994 Mark moved to Nashville.
“Like any new place, you have to get known a little bit, and get used to the way they work. Nashville was a very cool place, I enjoyed my entire 21 years there. For the most part, my time in Nashville was spent playing a little bit of everything. At one point I was working doing some copyright work for several of the large publishing companies at the time, and got to hear a lot of the great songs that were being written and recorded. I would transcribe them into lead sheets for submission to copyright. A few times I had to go to court to defend some of the writers as an “expert” to show it wasn’t copyright infringement. Back then, you had to write everything out, that was great for my ear.”
“The longer I do this, the more I realize there are only two kinds of music, the kind that moves me, and the kind that doesn’t. You just have to have the experience and put in the hours and learn in order to play and express it. I love the bass, I love the groove, the sound, the feel. For me, it’s about playing and sharing that with other musicians, and ultimately the listeners. It’s definitely been my muse.”
A great deal of Mark’s work is online session work for artists around the globe. Many of these collaborations have turned into steady work, and even a grammy nomination in 2021 has been the result.
“When that started happened for me, it kind of blew up, and all of a sudden I was playing all sorts of interesting tracks for artists all over the place, and I continue it to this day for clients and artists around the world”. Today with somebody from Bolivia, and maybe Casablanca tomorrow. It always changes. I have a great facility in my home that I use almost daily”
In 2015, Mark moved to Southern California near Ventura. In 2021, Mark relocated to Sarasota Florida where he lives to this day with his lovely wife.
