Mark Ferguson
Biography
MARK FERGUSON (trombonist, pianist, composer, arranger) is an Ottawa-based musician who played in two separate “Sound of Toronto Jazz” Concerts during the mid ‘80s: with the Chris Chahley Nonet on January 9, 1984 and the Bob DeAngelis Jazz Band on December 20, 1986.
Working as a trombonist, pianist, composer, arranger, producer, and educator throughout a still-flourishing 20-year career in the music industry, Mark Ferguson has performed with many of the world’s great artists including Ella Fitzgerald, Tony Bennett, Gil Evans, Nelson Riddle, Dionne Warwick, Natalie Cole, Tom Jones, Engelbert Humperdink, Rosemary Clooney, Carol Channing, Rob McConnell and The Boss Brass, Holly Cole, and the National Arts Centre Orchestra, and tours regularly with The Funk Brothers.
His composing credits include work on the CBC television series Life & Times, Cottage Country, and On the Road Again. Ferguson wrote a film score (Transformation) for the Canadian Museum of Civilization and created the music for Corel’s video editing software Lumiere. His original compositions are featured in Treehouse Television’s series Toy Castle, advertising jingles for radio and television, and in recordings by various artists. He has written musical arrangements for diversified groups including the RCMP Band, the Central Band of the Canadian Armed Forces, the HMCS Stadacona Band, the Edmonton Armed Forces Band, and his own Los Gringos Latin Jjazz ensemble.
Ferguson is also a respected music educator, having taught trombone at both York University and Humber College in Toronto, and piano, arranging, and jazz improvisation at the Chelsea Bridge Summer Jazz Camp. He has directed the University of Ottawa Jazz Ensemble, and has served as a jazz clinician at high schools and universities across Canada. He currently serves on the jazz studies faculty of Carleton University in Ottawa.
