Mark Augustin has been playing guitar since he was 13 years old. When he was 21 he met Joe Pass and did some guitar repair on his guitar. In lieu of payment, Joe agreed to give Mark guitar lessons. Over the years, Joe and Mark became good friends and spent many late nights playing guitar and smoking cigars. Although Joe was his mentor, Augustin was also influenced by Wes Montgomery, Earl Klugh, and Pat Metheny. These influences have culminated into a unique new guitar voice. Augustin’s new release “Soul Purpose” pays respect to the tradition of these jazz guitar greats while showcasing Augustin’s contemporary jazz compositions and fresh improvisational style. Of the nine compositions contained on “Soul Purpose”, Augustin wrote all the compositions except for the Stevie Wonder composition “Smile Please” which features a duet with Joe Pass. Joe is playing his Ibanez signature model arch top while Mark is playing a Fender Statocaster which results in a very musical representation of different guitar textures.
On “Soul Purpose”, Augustin also teams up with some of San Diego’s top Jazz artists. Making appearances are trumpeters Gilbert Castellanos, Bruce Cameron; Saxophonist Hollis Gentry III; bassists Bob Magnusson, Glen Fisher, Cecil McBee Jr.; Drummers Cliff Almond, Gary Nieves, Craig Zarkos and percussionist Tommy Aros (Luis Miguel, Fattburger). Also making contributions are Las Vegas musicians; pianist Christopher Hoffman (musical director The Scintas) and bassist Derrick Murdock now with the Tonight Show.
“Soul Purpose” features Augustin performing on a broad palette of various types of guitars. These include fretless nylon string, various synth guitars, Nashville tuning steel string, electric archtop and solid body, acoustic steel string and nylon string. In addition to composing and performing on the record, Augustin also recorded, mixed, mastered and produced his latest offering.
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