NJPAC Director, Jazz Instruction, City Verses Artistic Director
Mark Gross is a dedicated and accomplished jazz saxophonist with a solid academic background in music. Mark Gross swings and sings along today’s jazz vanguard. Constantly pushing the music forward while staying true to the classic elements of jazz, Mark credits his prolific sound to the rich appreciation for Gospel music that resounded through his parent’s home in Baltimore, MD. Gross has toured the world for over 30 years exploring these sounds with the Mark Gross Quartet/Quintet, Buster Williams, Delfeayo Marsalis, Dave Holland, Mulgrew Miller, Nicholas Payton, Dizzy Gillespie, Nancy Wilson, James Moody, Jimmy Heath, John Lee, Village Vanguard Jazz Orchestra, Tom Harrell Big Band, Duke Ellington Orchestra, and many others.
Mark Gross has recorded over one hundred jazz recordings with other artist, including two that won Grammy Awards with the Dave Holland Big Band.
Gross has also recorded as a leader:
1. Preach Daddy, King Records, 1997
2. Riddle of the Sphinx, J Curve Records, 2001
3. Blackside, Jazz Legacy Productions Records 2012
4. + Strings, MGQ Records, 2018
5. The Gospel According to Mark, MGQ Records, Fall 2020 release date
Mark Gross has appeared in featured films, television, and on Broadway several times. These include Malcolm X, Annie, Bolden, HBO series Boardwalk Empire, and Broadway musicals including Five Guys Named Moe, Kat & the Kings, After Midnight, Shuffle Along and currently Ain’t Too Proud, the Life and Times of The Temptations. Mark Gross tours extensively with his band Mark Gross Quintet (MGQ). He is currently promoting his latest recording on tour, + Strings. Currently, he is Director of Jazz Instruction at the New Jersey Performing Arts Center, professor at Prins Claus Conservatoire in Groningen, Holland and part-time lecturer at Rutgers University Mason Gross School of the Arts. Gross holds a B.M. in Music Performance from Berklee College of Music.
