Mark Egan (born January 14, 1951 in
Brockton,
, United States)
is an American
jazz
Jazz is a music genre that originated in the African-American communities of New Orleans, Louisiana in the late 19th and early 20th centuries, with its roots in blues and ragtime. Since the 1920s Jazz Age, it has been recognized as a majo ...
bassist and trumpeter known for his membership in the
Pat Metheny Group
The Pat Metheny Group was an American jazz band founded in 1977. The core members of the group were guitarist, composer and bandleader Pat Metheny; and keyboardist and composer Lyle Mays, who was in the group at its inception. Other long-standing ...
and the
Gil Evans Orchestra.
He is co-founder of the
jazz fusion
Jazz fusion (also known as fusion and progressive jazz) is a music genre that developed in the late 1960s when musicians combined jazz harmony and improvisation with rock music, funk, and rhythm and blues. Electric guitars, amplifiers, and key ...
band,
Elements
Element or elements may refer to:
Science
* Chemical element, a pure substance of one type of atom
* Heating element, a device that generates heat by electrical resistance
* Orbital elements, parameters required to identify a specific orbit of ...
.
Biography
Mark McDanel Egan was born in Brockton, Massachusetts in 1951.
Influenced by his father, he studied
trumpet
The trumpet is a brass instrument commonly used in classical and jazz ensembles. The trumpet group ranges from the piccolo trumpet—with the highest register in the brass family—to the bass trumpet, pitched one octave below the standar ...
at age 10.
He played the trumpet throughout high school, and began playing the bass when he was 15.
While attending the
University of Miami
The University of Miami (UM, UMiami, Miami, U of M, and The U) is a private research university in Coral Gables, Florida. , the university enrolled 19,096 students in 12 colleges and schools across nearly 350 academic majors and programs, ...
's
Frost School of Music
Frost School of Music is the music school at the University of Miami in Coral Gables, Florida. From 1926 to 2003, it was known as University of Miami School of Music.
Academics and programs
The University of Miami's Frost School of Music was on ...
, initially as a trumpet student,
he studied with jazz educator
Jerry Coker. He switched from trumpet to bass part way through the program. While in Miami he also became friends and performed with
Ira Sullivan,
Pat Metheny
Patrick Bruce Metheny ( ; born August 12, 1954) is an American jazz guitarist and composer.
He is the leader of the Pat Metheny Group and is also involved in duets, solo works, and other side projects. His style incorporates elements of progr ...
,
Danny Gottlieb,
Clifford Carter
Clifford Carter (born August 10, 1952) is an American keyboardist, musical director, composer and arranger. He has sometimes been credited as "Cliff Carter".
Carter is known for his performances with such artists as James Taylor,Bruce Springstee ...
.
His teachers included
Jaco Pastorius
John Francis Anthony "Jaco" Pastorius III (; December 1, 1951 – September 21, 1987) was an American jazz bassist, composer and producer. He recorded albums as a solo artist and band leader and was a member of Weather Report from 1976 to 1981. ...
,
Dave Holland
David “Dave” Holland (born 1 October 1946) is an English jazz double bassist, composer and bandleader who has been performing and recording for five decades. He has lived in the United States for over 40 years.
His extensive discography r ...
, and
Andy LaVerne.
In 1975, after graduate school, Egan went on tour with
Eumir Deodato
Eumir Deodato de Almeida (; born 22 June 1942) is a Brazilian pianist, composer, arranger and record producer, primarily in jazz but who has been known for his eclectic melding of genres, such as pop, rock, disco, rhythm and blues, classical ...
and the
Pointer Sisters
The Pointer Sisters are an American pop and R&B singing group from Oakland, California, that achieved mainstream success during the 1970s and 1980s. Their repertoire has included such diverse genres as pop, jazz, electronic music, bebop, blu ...
and recorded with
David Sanborn
David William Sanborn (born July 30, 1945) is an American alto saxophone, alto saxophonist. Though Sanborn has worked in many genres, his solo recordings typically blend jazz with instrumental Pop music, pop and R&B. He released his first solo ...
.
Two years later he worked as a studio musician in New York City, where he met
Joe Beck and
Steve Khan. He was part of the
Pat Metheny Group
The Pat Metheny Group was an American jazz band founded in 1977. The core members of the group were guitarist, composer and bandleader Pat Metheny; and keyboardist and composer Lyle Mays, who was in the group at its inception. Other long-standing ...
until 1981, then with the group's drummer, Danny Gottlieb, started the jazz fusion band
Elements
Element or elements may refer to:
Science
* Chemical element, a pure substance of one type of atom
* Heating element, a device that generates heat by electrical resistance
* Orbital elements, parameters required to identify a specific orbit of ...
.
They were joined by
Bill Evans
William John Evans (August 16, 1929 – September 15, 1980) was an American jazz pianist and composer who worked primarily as the leader of his trio. His use of impressionist harmony, interpretation of traditional jazz repertoire, block ch ...
on saxophone and Clifford Carter on keyboards. Elements recorded and toured through the 1990s. During the 1980s and 1990s, Egan was also part of the Gil Evans Orchestra.
He founded his own record label, Wavetone Records.
Egan has made three music videos: ''Om Yoga & Meditation'', ''Music on the Edge'', and ''Bass Workshop''. He has appeared on the soundtracks of movies including ''
Two Moon Junction'', ''
The Object of My Affection'', ''
You've Got Mail
''You've Got Mail'' is a 1998 American romantic comedy film directed by Nora Ephron and starring Tom Hanks and Meg Ryan. Inspired by the 1937 Hungarian play '' Parfumerie'' by Miklós László (which had earlier been adapted in 1940 as '' The S ...
'', ''
The Color of Money'', ''
Rollover
Rollover or roll over may refer to:
Arts and entertainment
* ''Rollover'' (film), a 1981 American political thriller
*''Roll Over'', a 1992 album by Hound Dog
* "Roll Over", a 2006 song by Zico Chain
* "Roll Over", a 1989 song by Steven Wayne ...
'', ''
Quick Change
''Quick Change'' is a 1990 American crime comedy film directed by Bill Murray and Howard Franklin (in their directorial debuts) and written by Franklin. Based on the novel of the same name by Jay Cronley, the film stars Murray, Geena Davis, Ran ...
'', ''
Blown Away'', and ''
A Chorus Line
''A Chorus Line'' is a 1975 musical with music by Marvin Hamlisch, lyrics by Edward Kleban, and a book by James Kirkwood Jr. and Nicholas Dante.
Set on the bare stage of a Broadway theater, the musical is centered on seventeen Broadway dan ...
''. He recorded an album, ''Urge'', with trumpeter Forrest Buchtel, Jr., featuring, among other things, the theme from ''CNN Headline News''.
Egan has toured and recorded with a vast range of artists including
Gil Evans,
Pat Metheny
Patrick Bruce Metheny ( ; born August 12, 1954) is an American jazz guitarist and composer.
He is the leader of the Pat Metheny Group and is also involved in duets, solo works, and other side projects. His style incorporates elements of progr ...
,
Stan Getz
Stanley Getz (February 2, 1927 – June 6, 1991) was an American jazz saxophonist. Playing primarily the tenor saxophone, Getz was known as "The Sound" because of his warm, lyrical tone, with his prime influence being the wispy, mellow timbre o ...
,
Sting,
Arcadia,
Roger Daltrey
Roger Harry Daltrey (born 1 March 1944) is an English singer, musician and actor. He is a co-founder and the lead singer of the Rock music, rock band The Who.
Daltrey's hit songs with The Who include "My Generation", "Pinball Wizard", "Won't Ge ...
,
Joan Osborne
Joan Elizabeth Osborne (born July 8, 1962) is an American singer, songwriter, and interpreter of music, having recorded and performed in various popular American musical genres including rock, pop, soul, R&B, blues, and country. She is best kn ...
,
Marianne Faithfull
Marianne Evelyn Gabriel Faithfull (born 29 December 1946) is an English singer and actress. She achieved popularity in the 1960s with the release of her hit single " As Tears Go By" and became one of the lead female artists during the British I ...
,
Michael Franks,
Carly Simon
Carly Elisabeth Simon (born June 25, 1943) is an American singer-songwriter, memoirist, and children's author. She rose to fame in the 1970s with a string of hit records; her 13 Top 40 U.S. hits include " Anticipation" (No. 13), " The Right Thi ...
,
Art Garfunkel,
John McLaughlin,
Larry Coryell
Larry Coryell (born Lorenz Albert Van DeLinder III; April 2, 1943 – February 19, 2017) was an American jazz guitarist.
Early life
Larry Coryell was born in Galveston, Texas, United States. He never knew his biological father, a musician. He w ...
,
Pat Martino
Pat Martino (born Patrick Carmen Azzara; August 25, 1944 – November 1, 2021) was an American jazz guitarist and composer.
Biography
Martino was born Patrick Carmen Azzara in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, United States, to father Carmen "Mickey" ...
,
Judy Collins
Judith Marjorie Collins (born May 1, 1939) is an American singer-songwriter and musician with a career spanning seven decades. An Academy Award-nominated documentary director and a Grammy Award-winning recording artist, she is known for her ...
,
Sophie B. Hawkins
Sophie Ballantine Hawkins (born November 1, 1964) is an American singer-songwriter, musician and painter. Born in New York City, she attended the Manhattan School of Music for a year as a percussionist before leaving to pursue a music career. S ...
,
Bill Evans
William John Evans (August 16, 1929 – September 15, 1980) was an American jazz pianist and composer who worked primarily as the leader of his trio. His use of impressionist harmony, interpretation of traditional jazz repertoire, block ch ...
,
Lew Soloff,
Bryan Ferry
Bryan Ferry CBE (born 26 September 1945) is an English singer and songwriter. His voice has been described as an "elegant, seductive croon". He also established a distinctive image and sartorial style: according to ''The Independent'', Ferry and ...
,
Joe Beck,
Jim Hall,
Airto Moreira,
Flora Purim
Flora Purim (born March 6, 1942) is a Brazilian jazz singer known primarily for her work in the jazz fusion style. She became prominent for her part in Return to Forever with Chick Corea and Stanley Clarke. She has recorded and performed with ...
,
Toninho Horta,
Paul Shaffer
Paul Allen Wood Shaffer (born November 28, 1949) is a Canadian singer, composer, actor, author, comedian, and multi-instrumentalist who served as David Letterman's musical director, band leader, and sidekick on the entire run of both ''Late Ni ...
and
The Pointer Sisters
The Pointer Sisters are an American pop and R&B singing group from Oakland, California, that achieved mainstream success during the 1970s and 1980s. Their repertoire has included such diverse genres as pop, jazz, electronic music, bebop, blu ...
.
Discography
As leader
* 1985 ''Mosaic'' (Hip Pocket)
* 1988 ''A Touch of Light'' (
GRP)
* 1992 ''Beyond Words'' (Mesa/Bluemoon)
* 2001 ''Freedom Town'' (Wavetone)
* 2006 ''As We Speak'' (Wavetone)
* 2007 ''Live...in the Moment'' (Tripping Tree)
* 2008 ''Tell Me a Bed Time Story: The Big Apple'' (Universal Distribution)
* 2010 ''Truth Be Told'' (Wavetone)
* 2013 ''Unit 1'' (Wavetone)
* 2014 ''About Now'' (Wavetone)
* 2015 ''Direction Home'' (Wavetone)
* 2017 "Dreaming Spirits" Mark Egan and Arjun Bruggeman featuring Shane Theriot (Wavetone)
*2020 "Electric Blue " with Danny Gottlieb (Wavetone)
With Elements
*''Elements''
*''Elements Forward Motion''
*''Illumination''
*''Liberal Arts''
*''Spirit River''
*''Blown Away''
*''Far East Volume 1''
*''Far East Volume 2''
*''Untold Stories''
*''Wouldn't It Be Nice: Tribute to Brian Wilson''
With others
References
External links
Mark Egan Official Site- includes complete discography
Wavetone Records siteCD Baby siteMark Egan at Amazon
{{DEFAULTSORT:Egan, Mark
1951 births
Living people
Pat Metheny Group members
American jazz bass guitarists
American male bass guitarists
University of Miami Frost School of Music alumni
Musicians from Brockton, Massachusetts
Guitarists from Massachusetts
20th-century American bass guitarists
Jazz musicians from Massachusetts
20th-century American male musicians
American male jazz musicians
Elements (band) members