About

“a tough, intensely rhythmic player.” —The New York Times

 

“The best young guitarist in the business.” —The New York Times

Acclaimed jazz guitarists Ron Affif & Mark Whitfield bring their formidable quartet to Zinc jazz club on Monday, June 27. They’re supported by organist Pat Bianchi and drummer Byron Landham.

Mark Whitfield graduated from Boston’s prestigious Berklee College of Music, the world’s foremost institution for the study of Jazz and modern American music in the spring of 1987. Shortly thereafter, he returned to his native New York to embark on a career as a Jazz Guitarist that afforded him the opportunity to collaborate with legendary artists including 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 greatest teacher and mentor George Benson.

Ron Affif has gained a reputation for his personal approach to jazz, playing with a muscular realism as he looks for new expression in tunes from the Great American Songbook. The nephew of guitarist Ron Anthony (who played with George Shearing and Frank Sinatra), Ron Affif received his first guitar lesson from his uncle when he was 12. After high school, he moved to Los Angeles in 1984, playing with Dick Berk, Dave Pike, Pete Christlieb, and Jack Sheldon and recording a quartet date for the R.A. Records label in 1987. Two years later, he moved to New York and has since worked mostly as a leader. Affif, an excellent bop-based guitarist whose style was influenced a bit by Joe Pass and George Benson (both of whom in turn enjoyed his playing), has recorded several impressive albums for Pablo.

Showtime is at 7:00 pm. Tickets: $20 in advance / $25 day of show. For more info, call (212) 477-9462 or visit https://www.zincjazz.com.