Mark Griffith is currently the drummer with Heads Up International recording artists the Jaco Pastorius Big Band. In 2003 he recorded the album, Jaco Pastorius Big Band, Word of Mouth Revisited. It spent 2 weeks at number one on the jazz airplay charts, ended up as the number three album on the jazz airplay charts for all of 2003 with over 8000 plays, sold well over 50,000 copies worldwide, and received the Jazz Week Record of the Year award for 2004 In 2005 the Jaco Pastorius Big Band recorded their second album for Heads Up titled "The Word is Out". The album was released in March of 2006, and again won the prestigious Jazz Week Record of the Year award for 2006. The band has toured the world playing the major jazz festivals including the North Sea Jazz Festival in the Netherlands, and the Montreal Jazz Festival. They have been to Japan, Belgium, and have played numerous festivals and clubs across the U.S.
Other notible recording credits Mark has are three albums for guitarist Randy Bernsen (Zawinul Syndicate) on the MCA label, an album for saxaphonist Ritchie Conn, tracks for composer and keyboardist Ray Lyon, and projects for radio, Vegas style shows, and demo projects for local artists in the South Florida area.
Over Mark’s 30 year career, he has performed with an impressive array of well known artists and celebrities including Victor Wooten, Jaco Pastorius, Stan Getz, the Bee Gees, Jimmy Haslip, Michael Brecker, Randy Brecker, Will Lee, Hiram Bullock, David Clayton Thomas, Richard Bona, Gerald Veasley, Bob Mintzer, Perry Como, Rich Little, Deana Martin, Don Rickles, Phyllis Diller, and many others.
Mark is also an accomplished recording engineer, and is a graduate of the Audio Engineering Technology program from SAE Institute of Technology in Miami, FL. He operates an Internet collaboration service offering artists his talents as a drummer and an engineer to record drum tracks in his studio for their projects. Visit his website for drum tracking services at http://drumtrackstogo.com for information.