A great treat for us all will be the return of the extraordinary guitarist Mark Whitfield. Mark was a Litchfield Jazz Camp faculty member before he was whisked away for a long, steady touring career with trumpeter Chris Botti. He raised two musical sons, both former Litchfield jazz campers. For his 27th Litchfield Jazz Fest appearance, Mark is joined by son Davis Whitfield on piano, Barry Stephenson on bass and Joe Farnsworth (another back-in-the-day LJC faculty member) on drums.

Mark Whitfield graduated from Berklee College of Music, in 1987. Back in his native New York, he collaborated with Dizzy Gillespie, Art Blakey, Quincy Jones, Ray Charles, Herbie Hancock, Carmen McRae, Gladys Knight, Burt Bacharach, Jimmy Smith, Clark Terry, Shirley Horn, Wynton Marsalis, Branford Marsalis, Joe Williams, Stanley Turrentine and his mentor, the great George Benson.

Back in 1990 the New York Times dubbed Whitfield “the best young guitarist in the business.” Later that year, Warner Bros. signed him launching a stellar recording career that produced 16 solo albums and collaborations with major artists including Sting, Steven Tyler, D’Angelo, Mary J. Blige, John Mayer, Chaka Khan, Jill Scott, Diana Krall, Roy Hargrove, Nicholas Payton, Robert Glasper, Christian McBride, Chris Botti with whom he toured for 8 years and Jimmy Smith for 14-year run. With Christian McBride, he received a 2022 Grammy nomination. Mark is active as a performer, recording artist and sideman and as a highly sought-after instructor and master clinician. Litchfield Jazz has been one of the beneficiaries of these skills over the years.

Pianist Davis Whitfield, at 29, has already toured the US, France and Spain and has a residency at the NYC jazz club, Mezzrow.

Mark and Davis are joined by bassist Mark Lewandowski and drummer Charles Goold.