Elf, Mark
Elf, Mark
Elf, Mark, bebop-flavored guitarist, composer, ar-ranger, educator; b. Queens, N.Y., Dec. 13, 1949. He studied from 1969 to 1971 at Berklee Coll. of Music, and studied privately with Barry Galbraith and Chuck Wayne. He then moved to N.Y. where he worked as a freelance musician. He has performed with many leading names in the bop field, both from the first and second generations of players. He has also accompanied jazz and pop vocalists, including Etta James, Ruth Brown, and Liza Minelli. His educational activities began in 1974–75 with an International Art of Jazz Concert Series in the Nassau County Schools, N.Y. He has subsequently taught at S.U.N.Y, Stonybrook, the New School, and at various summer clinics and other colleges. From 1997, he has been on the faculty at Aaron Copland School of Music, Queens Coll., N.Y. Two of his CDs, A Minor Scramble and Trickynometry, reached the top of the Gavin Jazz Chart, indicating that they were widely played on radio stations. He operates his own record label to release his works.
Discography
Mark Elf Trio, Vol. I (1986); Eternal Triangle (1988); Mark Elf Trio (1993); A Minor Scramble (1997); New York Cats (1998); Trickynometry (1998).
—Lewis Porter