Mark Kelley is an American

bass Bass or Basses may refer to: Fish * Bass (fish), various saltwater and freshwater species Music * Bass (sound), describing low-frequency sound or one of several instruments in the bass range: ** Bass (instrument), including: ** Acoustic bass gui ...

guitar player and member of the hip hop band

The Roots The Roots are an American hip hop band formed in 1987 by Tariq "Black Thought" Trotter and Ahmir "Questlove" Thompson in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, United States. The Roots serve as the house band on NBC's ''The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy F ...

, joining the band in 2011. Kelley plays with The Roots in the

house band A house band is a group of musicians, often centrally organized by a band leader, who regularly play at an establishment. It is widely used to refer both to the bands who work on entertainment programs on television or radio, and to bands which ...

for ''

The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon ''The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon'' is an American late-night talk show hosted by Jimmy Fallon that airs on NBC. The show premiered on February 17, 2014, and is produced by Broadway Video and Universal Television. It is the seventh incar ...

''. He occasionally appears in games and sketches on ''

The Tonight Show ''The Tonight Show'' is an American late-night talk show that has aired on NBC since 1954. The show has been hosted by six comedians: Steve Allen (1954–1957), Jack Paar (1957–1962), Johnny Carson (1962–1992), Jay Leno (1992–2009 and 201 ...

''. Kelley has toured with

Meshell Ndegeocello Michelle Lynn Johnson, better known as Meshell Ndegeocello (; born August 29, 1968), is a German-born American singer-songwriter, rapper, and bassist. She has gone by the name Meshell Suhaila Bashir-Shakur which is used as a writing credit on so ...

John Scofield John Scofield (born December 26, 1951), sometimes referred to as "Sco", is an American guitarist and composer whose music over a long career has blended jazz, jazz fusion, funk, blues, soul and rock. He first came to mainstream attention in the ...

Mos Def Yasiin Bey (; born Dante Terrell Smith, December 11, 1973), previously and more commonly known by his stage name Mos Def (), is an American rapper, singer, songwriter, and actor. His hip hop career began in 1994, alongside his siblings in the s ...

Christian McBride Christian McBride (born May 31, 1972) is an American jazz bassist, composer and arranger. He has appeared on more than 300 recordings as a sideman, and is an eight-time Grammy Award winner. McBride has performed and recorded with a number of j ...

Jason Moran Jason Moran may refer to: * Jason Moran (criminal) (1967–2003), Australian mobster * Jason Moran (musician) Jason Moran (born January 21, 1975) is an American jazz pianist, composer, and educator involved in multimedia art and theatrical inst ...

, and

Roy Hargrove Roy Anthony Hargrove (October 16, 1969 – November 2, 2018) was an American jazz musician and composer whose principal instruments were the trumpet and flugelhorn. He achieved worldwide acclaim after winning two Grammy Awards for differing styles ...

Early life

Mark Kelley was born in

Houston Houston (; ) is the most populous city in Texas, the most populous city in the Southern United States, the fourth-most populous city in the United States, and the sixth-most populous city in North America, with a population of 2,304,580 in ...

, Texas. His father was a classical pianist and his mother was a physician. He played cello and guitar, before taking up the bass at age 13. He attended Houston's

Kinder High School for the Performing and Visual Arts Kinder High School for the Performing and Visual Arts (Kinder HSPVA, HSPVA or PVA) is a secondary school located at 790 Austin Street in the downtown district of Houston, Texas. The school is a part of the Houston Independent School District. ...

Education

Kelley attended

Berklee College of Music Berklee College of Music is a private music college in Boston, Massachusetts. It is the largest independent college of contemporary music in the world. Known for the study of jazz and modern American music, it also offers college-level cours ...

Boston Boston (), officially the City of Boston, is the state capital and most populous city of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, as well as the cultural and financial center of the New England region of the United States. It is the 24th- mo ...

, MA. While at Berklee, he started playing at venues in Boston including the

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 major ...

club

Wally's Cafe Located today on 427 Massachusetts Avenue, Wally’s Cafe originally opened across the street on January 1st 1947 by Joseph L Walcott. Formerly Wally’s Paradise, the institution is recognized as one of Boston’s oldest and longest operating Jaz ...

. In 2003, Kelley left Berklee just 20 credits shy of graduating at Berklee, to play bass for guitarist

’s ''

Überjam ''Überjam'' is an album by jazz guitarist John Scofield which was released by Verve on January 29, 2002. Track listing Personnel *John Scofield – electric guitar *Karl Denson – flute, saxophone *John Medeski – B3 organ, clavinet, mello ...

'' tour. He completed his degree through Berklee Online in 2023, while''

'' was off the air during the

2023 Writers Guild of America strike From May 2 to September 27, 2023, the Writers Guild of America (WGA)—representing 11,500 screenwriters—went on strike over a labor dispute with the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers (AMPTP). With a duration of 148 days, the ...

Career

Kelley moved to New York in 2005. He joined

in 2011, replacing Owen Biddle. He got the job with the Roots after subbing in Mo’ Meta Blues, backing Michael McDonald and

Sara Bareilles Sara Beth Bareilles (, ; born December 7, 1979) is an American singer, songwriter, and actress. She has sold over three million albums and over 15 million singles in the United States. She has earned various awards and nominations including nin ...

at the 2011

Roots Picnic The Roots Picnic is an annual music festival created and hosted by hip hop group, The Roots. Co-founder, Shawn Gee, and manager of The Roots serves as executive producer of the festival. The festival is held in Philadelphia, their hometown at the ...

. He is the longest serving bass player for The Roots.

Discography

With The Roots

* '' ...And Then You Shoot Your Cousin'' (2014), Def Jam Recordings * ''

Wise Up Ghost ''Wise Up Ghost'' is a collaborative studio album by British singer/songwriter Elvis Costello and American hip hop group The Roots. The album was released on 17 September 2013, by Blue Note Records. The album's first single "Walk Us Uptown" w ...

'' (2013), Blue Note * ''

Undun ''Undun'' is the tenth studio album by American hip hop band The Roots. It was released on December 6, 2011, by Def Jam Recordings. The album was recorded in sessions at several studios in Philadelphia and New York City. Production was handled ...

'' (2011), Def Jam Recordings

As featured on

* ''Monk Studies'' -

Chihiro Yamanaka is a Japanese jazz pianist and composer, born in Kiryū, Gunma Prefecture."Chihiro Yamanaka BiographyAllMusic/ref> As of 2012, she was based in New York City. She has had more than a dozen albums as a leader, most of them being released by Verve ...

(2017), Blue Note/Universal * ''Cruisin' Smokey Robinson'' – Smokey & Friends (2014), Verve Records

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Kelley, Mark American bass guitarists The Roots members The Tonight Show Band members Year of birth missing (living people) Living people