Mark grew up in Racine, Wisconsin and attended nearby Carthage College. In 1992 he moved to Minneapolis to study at the University of Minnesota with Tom Ashworth and Ron McCurdy. An ever-present sound on the Twin Cities music scene in the 1990s, he played with and composed for Motion Poets, Slide Huxtable, Happy Apple, and Jeanay Say Qua. Mark also performed with the Latin Sounds Orchestra, Salsa Del Soul, and the Intergalactic Contemporary Ensemble.
Mark was a founding member of the jazz sextet Motion Poets, in which he and the other members each composed an eclectic repertoire of hundreds of pieces during their eight-year tenure (1993-2000). They recorded three albums: “Truth And Consequence”, “Standard Of Living”, and “Lose Your Mind And Come To Your Senses”. Motion Poets also traveled extensively, performing in 37 states and were featured at many jazz festivals, including: San Jose Jazz Festival, Iowa City Jazz Festival, Discover Jazz Festival, and the BYU Jazz Festival.
In 1999 Mark moved to New York City where he began playing with the city’s best salsa artists, including: Adalberto Santiago, Tito Gomez, Jose Fajardo, Hector Tricoche, Michel El Buenón, Raulin Rosendo, Wayne Gorbea y Salsa Picante, Tito Puente, Jr., Ray Viera & Trombao, and Charlie Zaa. Mark also counts among his credits performances with Billy Joel, Doc Severinsen, Ernie Watts, Frank Foster, Cy Coleman, Paul Carlon Octet, David Berger & the Sultans of Swing, Birdland Big Band, Jon Hendricks, Gloria Gaynor, Lucille Arnaz, Xavier Cugat Orchestra, Jill Gioia, Funk Filharmonik, Allen Vizzutti, Byron Stripling, Pete Christleib, Jason Lindner Big Band and Haiti’s Magnum Band.
In 2002/03 Mark hit the road for ten months with the Broadway musical “Swing!” which featured Mark as a soloist and an integral part of the production. In January of 2007 he completed a three year tour of the Tony award winning hit Broadway musical “Movin’ Out”, which featured the music of Billy Joel and the choreography of Twyla Tharp. A featured vocalist and member of the nine-piece rock band, Mark and his colleagues received rave reviews across the U.S., Canada and Japan.
In 2007 Mark moved back in New York City after years on the road, including stops in 46 states and 17 countries during his career. He then released the debut CD of his long time Minneapolis based jazz quartet Slide Huxtable, entitled "The Return of Slide Huxtable". The album contains nine tracks, four of which are his original compositions.
Mark is currently the tromone soloist in the new Broadway musical "Come Fly Away". Conceived, choreographed and directed by Twyla Tharp and set to the music of Frank Sinatra, it features an 18 piece big band and 15 world class dancers.
