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Mark Whitecage

Mark Whitecage is internationally known as an innovative instrumentalist and composer in the fields of jazz and new music. He performs at the highest level of creativity, constantly transforming and reconfiguring his wealth of musical experience to offer a fresh and unique voice in any musical setting. In his five decades of experience, Mark has explored bop and post-bop, free-wheeling improvisation, electronics, musical opera, music for dance, solo to big band ensembles, even sound collages with homemade instruments. Mark says of his experience, "I've played in every type of band there is except klezmer."

Born in Litchfield, Connecticut in 1937, he began performing on alto sax at age 6 in his pianist father's family band along with his brother and sister. Mark got his union card at age 12, when he added tenor sax and clarinet to his arsenal, and throughout high school he honed his skills performing with a host of dance bands around Connecticut.

When he joined the Army in 1955 he continued to perform regularly with a quintet in a coffee house off the base in El Paso, Texas. It was in El Paso that Mark briefly met and played with Eric Dolphy, whose inspiration was pivotal in Mark's evolution from playing standards and bop toward finding his own voice on his instruments. "Technically I could play anything I wanted, but I hadn't the slightest idea what direction to go. I could have gone into the studios," Mark said about his playing in those days. Of meeting and hearing Eric Mark says, "One note and I was gone. I was in his camp. He turned me on to Zen Buddhism. He was into meditating. He got me on the right course between him and John Coltrane."

After the Army Mark returned to Connecticut, determined to work on developing his own thing. He rehearsed with local musicians interested in exploring improvisation - bassist Mario Pavone among them. He played in various clubs around the state and in New York City and worked in a studio recording backgrounds for Sire Records vocalists' for a couple of years. Then in the mid and late 1960's he did his first recordings with vibist Bobby Naughton on Otic Records, Nature's Consort and Understanding.

Throughout the 1960's Mark traveled to New York City more and more to hear the music in the clubs and to rehearse with other players he knew from Connecticut and who he was meeting on his trips to the City, such as trumpeter James Duboise, drummer Laurence Cook, and clarinetist Perry Robinson.

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3
Album Review

The Nu Band: In Memory of Mark Whitecage: The Nu Band Live At The Bopshop

Read "In Memory of Mark Whitecage: The Nu Band Live At The Bopshop" reviewed by Mike Jurkovic


The fearless improvised legacy of veteran, free bop sax man Mark Whitecage may not hold a prominent place in the immediate lexicon of upstarts and legends, but the man could blow his horn. Whitecage could dice and slice a piece of music, solemn or otherwise, to shreds with his sharp metallic, testosterone tone then reassemble it seamlessly with his long, flowing phrases. So it is fitting and more than welcome that he brings it big time on this final recording ...

3
Album Review

Nu Band: In Memory of Mark Whitecage: The Nu Band Live At The Bopshop

Read "In Memory of Mark Whitecage: The Nu Band Live At The Bopshop" reviewed by Troy Dostert


One of the underappreciated veterans of free jazz, Mark Whitecage passed away in March of 2021, leaving a well-established legacy of strong recordings in which his searing yet soulful alto saxophone merged with many of the more visible figures on the scene. Joe McPhee, Anthony Braxton, and Annette Peacock are just a few of the luminaries who partnered with Whitecage over the years. Perhaps his most fruitful period was the late 1990s and early 2000s, alongside the musicians in the ...

1
Album Review

The Nu Band: In Memory of Mark Whitecage: The Nu Band Live At The Bopshop

Read "In Memory of Mark Whitecage: The Nu Band Live At The Bopshop" reviewed by Dan McClenaghan


Multiple reedman Mark Whitecage (1937-2021) may not have enjoyed the profile he deserved, but he was an extraordinary improvisational free-jazz force who recorded prolifically for CIMP Records. Bassist Joe Fonda, a member of Whitecage's Nu Band, enjoyed a forty year musical involvement with the man, and In Memory Of Mark Whitecage: The Nu Band Live At The Bop Shop is Fonda's posthumous tip of the hat to his old running mate. It is a recording bursting with the lifeforce --one ...

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Album Review

Mark Whitecage: BushWacked: A Spoken Opera

Read "BushWacked: A Spoken Opera" reviewed by Rex  Butters


Mark Whitecage and The Bi-Coastal Orchestra step up to the podium to deliver the statement of sanity many people have been waiting on for five years. BushWacked takes aim at the deadly dada debacle that has inexplicably passed for government and foreign policy in the United States since the turn of the millennium. Whitecage and company surgically remove the masks from the gibbering ninnies and the slow-brained zombies who support them, using texts built of incisive previously published commentaries and ...

156
Album Review

Mark Whitecage: BushWacked: A Spoken Opera

Read "BushWacked: A Spoken Opera" reviewed by Judith Insell


BushWacked takes a bold political stand, presenting a feeling through each track of anger, outrage and distrust of George W. Bush and his political regime. Joining Whitecage (alto sax and clarinet) are the members of the Bi-Coastal Orchestra: Rozanne Levine (alto and soprano clarinets), Bill Larimer (piano), Robert Mahaffay (drums) and Scott Steele (guitar), all of whom appear throughout as presenters of the spoken word material. The CD takes its text from news media excerpts (The Nation, ...

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Album Review

Mark Whitecage & The Bi-Coastal Orchestra: BushWacked

Read "BushWacked" reviewed by Mark Corroto


It may be true that the “eye of the needle Jesus spoke of in the gospels has been widened by our current President Bush to allow for CEOs to drive their SUVs straight into heaven, but they won't, and they cannot, motor with their windows open as the voices of opposition grow louder. Such is the message from Mark Whitecage, saxophonist and leader of the Bi-Coastal Orchestra. Like recent recordings from Charlie Haden's Liberation Orchestra and the Chicago Underground Trio, ...

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Interview

Mark Whitecage: Free Music with Purpose

Read "Mark Whitecage: Free Music with Purpose" reviewed by John Kelman


Now in his mid-sixties, saxophonist/clarinetist Mark Whitecage has seen jazz through almost all its periods, most noticeably from being the popular music of the day to its current regrettable state as a niche style. And with an all-encompassing interest, he has played it all. Starting at an early age he played in his father's various bands. “My first instrument," says Whitecage, “was a curved soprano; I was six years old and I couldn't fit anything else. I wanted to be ...

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Performance / Tour

Who Knows? (richie Nagan, Perry Robinson, Mark Whitecage) with Special Guests Badal Roy & Muruga Booker at Witches Brew Sunday August 7th

Who Knows? (richie Nagan, Perry Robinson, Mark Whitecage) with Special Guests Badal Roy & Muruga Booker at Witches Brew Sunday August 7th

Source: Mark Whitecage

WHO KNOWS? featuring RICHIE NAGAN—guitar, vocals PERRY ROBINSON—clarinets MARK WHITECAGE—alto sax

with special guests BADAL ROY—tablas MURUGA BOOKER—drums, percussion

Witches Brew Coffee House 311 Hempstead Turnpike West Hempstead, NY 11552 (516) 489-9482 SHOWTIME: 5:00-8:00 PM ADMISSION: Admission is free and they will pass the hat to raise funds for “100 years in paint 100 yards of canvas," — Master tabla player Badal ...

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Performance / Tour

Who Knows? At the Yippie Museum Cafe in Greenwich Village

Who Knows? At the Yippie Museum Cafe in Greenwich Village

Source: Michael Ricci

Music that flows from Jerry Garcia, Woody Guthrie, Gunter Hampel, Sonny Rollins and beyond, to join up in the delta of Who Knows? Appearing at the comfortable Yippie Museum Cafe at 9 Bleecker Street in Greenwich Village on Saturday, January 30 at 8PM, Who Knows? is a special blend of guitarist/vocalist Richie Nagan, alto saxophonist Mark Whitecage, and clarinetist Perry Robinson. There is no admission charge for the two-set evening. The music surges and eddies, taking surprising and sometimes sudden ...

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Recording

All Whitecage & Levine CDs $10 - Acoustics CD Sale - Limited Time

All Whitecage & Levine CDs $10 - Acoustics CD Sale - Limited Time

Source: Michael Ricci

LIMITED TIME SALE $10 - ALL CDs IN-STOCK ON VARIOUS LABELS

Just in time for the holidays, Mark Whitecage and Rozanne Levine at Acoustics are clearing out their inventory of CDs to offer you a great deal - for a limited time, available directly from Acoustics, all Whitecage and Levine recordings, in stock and on a variety of labels, are on sale for $10 each, no minimums/no maximums.

Some are in very limited quantities, ...

131

Recording

Mark Whitecage New Acoustics CD Release: BushWacked-A Spoken Opera

Mark Whitecage New Acoustics CD Release: BushWacked-A Spoken Opera

Source: All About Jazz

We at Acoustics are happy to announce that saxophonist Mark Whitecage has a brand-new release: BushWacked - A Spoken Opera “BushWacked", a spoken word opera, finds Mark Whitecage with a totally new Band, Concept, and Direction! In addition to West Coast electronic wizard Scott Steele on guitar combined with the keyboard artistry of Bill Larimer, Mark has added Perry Robinson's prize pupil Rozanne Levine on Bb & alto clarinets, with long-time collaborator Robert (Mike) Mahaffay on drums, to produce a ...

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Music Industry

MARK WHITECAGE TRIO AT KNITTING FACTORY, NYC, 6/28/00

MARK WHITECAGE TRIO AT KNITTING FACTORY, NYC, 6/28/00

Source: All About Jazz

MARK WHITECAGE TRIO PERFORMS AT THE OLD OFFICE, KNITTING FACTORY, NEW YORK CITY, ON WEDNESDAY, JUNE 28 AT 7PM

“We were astounded by the assurance of their spontaneity, the effortless interweaving of musical sources, and the emotional exuberance that forged compositions from their improvisations." -- Neue Zeit, Graz, Austria

Date: Wednesday, June 28, 2000 Time: 7:00PM Place: Old Office, The Knitting Factory 74 ...

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Music Industry

Musician Mark Whitecage and Photographer/Musician Rozanne Levine are featured at the upcoming Fifth Annual Vision in NYC

Musician Mark Whitecage and Photographer/Musician Rozanne Levine are featured at the upcoming Fifth Annual Vision in NYC

Source: All About Jazz

Dear Friends,

I wanted to let you know that both Mark Whitecage and myself, photographer/clarinetist Rozanne Levine, are going to be part of the upcoming FIFTH ANNUAL VISION FESTIVAL in NYC. As most of you know, the Vision Festival is one of the premier showcases in New York City for improvising artists, and features musicians, poets, dancers, and visual artists.

Mark will be performing with his Quartet on Friday, May 19, and my photographs will be part of the visual ...

"Well, I say from now on, those who love life and those who write about music should listen to Mark Whitecage and make it their business to find out what he is doing and where he will be doing it. Then tell everyone you know or have known to listen immediately." William Parker, "Conversations", 2011, Rogueart

“The man is an absolute master of the alto saxophone and clarinet (not to mention a dab hand at electronics), and one of the finest and most original jazz composers in the world, and has been for years.” Dan Warburton, Paris Transatlantic; Signal to Noise

“Whitecage creates full-bodied jazz songs drawn from the boundless font of a living tradition...music of enduring substance.” Sam Prestianni, Jazziz

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