Jazz For Joy

Mark Whitfield and five songs that feature the guitar from Verve Record’s “Jazz for Joy”.

Almost thirty years ago, Verve Records released a magnificent Christmas album featuring many of the musicians signed to their label.  The guitarist featured was Mark Whitfield, who was joined by such musicians as Roy Hargrove and Nicholas Payton on trumpet, saxophonists Jesse Davis and Ron Blake, and a rhythm section of Christian McBride on bass and drummer Billy Drummond.

Mark Whitfield first played the saxophone, then the string bass before moving to the guitar.  He has recorded several incredibly creative albums during his career.  While playing in the Brother Jack McDuff organ combo, George Benson heard him and recommended him to his record company, Warner Brothers, for which he recorded his first three albums before moving to Verve Records.  Mark’s improvising is fluid, inventive, and always melodic.  He easily moves within his solos from flowing legato lines to almost machine gun-like rhythmic playing that drives home his musical point and yet is always tasteful.

The album opens with a reflective version of “The Christmas Song” featuring Shirley Horn singing acapella in the first two bars before the band enters.  Whitfield takes a refined but fiery solo after the first chorus. Mark’s lines are almost serpentine-like in their weaving around.

Mark is featured on the head in “Those Soulful Jingle Bells.”  In his solo, things get genuinely swinging before he returns to the head in a funky, soulful way in the final chorus.  They end with the chord lick that the song is built upon.

Nicholas Payton swings out the head and the first solo on “Santa Claus is Coming to Town.”  Then Whitfield takes a chorus of lucid yet fiery funk before Payton closes out the song with the head.

Shirley Horn sings “Winter Wonderland,” with Whitfield’s guitar intertwining in and out of her melodic lines. On the second chorus, Mark steps aside with his improvising as Roy Hargrove plays a very fluid trumpet solo. Then Shirley takes the song out on the third chorus, with Whitfield resuming his musical weaving.

In the first chorus, Mark shares the melody and the solo and the melody in the second chorus with pianist Stephen Scott on “Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas.”  They make two choruses so musically satisfying.

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