Mark Griffith is a busy drummer living in the New York area. He was born and raised in Southern New Jersey a “drumsticks throw” from Philadelphia. He graduated from the prestigious jazz program at William Patterson College in Northern New Jersey, under the tutelage of bassist Rufus Reid.



As well as being a popular drummer on the jazz scene, Mark Griffith is also an educator, jazz historian, and writer for many of the top drum magazines including Modern Drummer, Stick It!, and Batteur.



Mark Griffith has worked with the Spirit Of Life Ensemble, trumpeters John Swana and Ted Curson, guitarists Eric Johnson, Kevin Eubanks, and Ed Hamilton, and saxophonists Gary Thomas and Bob Ackerman, bassist Gerald Veasley.



Mark Griffith's debut recording, 'Drumatic', gathered the most in demand sidemen in jazz including: Steve Wilson (Chick Corea), David Gilmore (Wayne Shorter) and Kenny Davis (The Tonight Show, Herbie Hancock). The recording was produced by award winning drummer/producer Cecil Brooks III.



Full biography:

Mark Griffith began playing the drums at age 5. His childhood was spent in Chicago until his family moved to Florida when he was 10. His early roots were in rock drumming until the age of 17, when he joined the high school jazz ensemble. That was the beginning of an intense love for jazz music. At age 18 he began his professional career playing with local jazz and lounge acts in the South Florida area. During this time he began honing his big band skills in the local college jazz ensemble, playing the music of Stan Kenton and Maynard Ferguson, as well as the great big band standards. During this time he was fortunate enough to study with Peter Erskine at the Kenton Band’s Towson State College weeklong jazz clinic.



In the late 70’s and early 80’s, Mark was playing full time with some of the best jazz musicians in the South Florida area such as Ira Sullivan, Othello Molineux, Robert Thomas Jr., Joe Donato, and Dana Paul, and became a much in demand drummer for many other local artists. In 1983 he joined guitarist Randy Bernsen’s (Zawinul Syndicate) band. During the next 5 years, he would record 3 albums with Bernsen, as well as play numerous gigs in South Florida as well as a tour of the east coast which culminated in New York City. He did a brief stint with singer David Clayton Thomas (Blood, Sweat, and Tears). It was also during this time that he met, and had the pleasure of playing with, world-renowned bassist Jaco Pastorius. Jaco had become an immediate force in the music world with the release of his self-titled solo album, and his subsequent installation as the bass player for Joe Zawinul’s and Wayne Shorter’s group, Weather Report. During his time off the road, Jaco would often sit in with the artists and bands that Mark was a member of. This, needless to say, was an incredible learning experience.



In 1988, bandleader Peter Graves, who had employed Jaco in his orchestra at Joe Namath’s Bachelors III nightclub, and gave him his early roots in music and composition before his stardom, hired Mark for an outdoor concert on a baseball field. That began a long musical relationship that continues to this day. He became a member of Graves’ Atlantean Driftwood Band, and the Peter Graves Orchestra, and played shows for such artists and entertainers as Perry Como, George Burns, Rich Little, Phyllis Diller, Don Rickles, the Bee Gees, Stan Getz, Tim Rice, and many others.



He has spent many hours in the local recording studios, recording numerous demo songs for local artists, as well as tracks for another Randy Bernsen album, a record for saxophonist Richie Conn, radio jingle and commercial tracks, and is currently working on his own project for release soon.



In 2003, together with Graves and other members of Jaco’s original Word of Mouth Big Band, he recorded the tribute album, Jaco Pastorius Big Band, Word of Mouth Revisited for the Heads Up International record label. The album is currently enjoying worldwide airplay and acclaim. It spent 2 weeks at number one on the jazz airplay charts, ended up as the number three album on the jazz airplay charts for all of 2003 with over 8000 plays, has sold well over 50,000 copies so far worldwide, and just received the Jazz Week Record of the Year award for 2003. The band is currently touring and playing venues across the country, as well as completing a 2004 tour of Japan, Holland, and Belgium.



In 2005 the Jaco Pastorius Big Band recorded their second album for Heads Up titled "The Word is Out". The album was released in March of 2006, and the band will be touring the US and overseas promoting the new album during 2006.