When it comes to fretless bass playing, Mark Smith is not your regular Smith.
His unreservedly expressive, solidly in-the-pocket grooves that come through the medium of rich, smooth and slightly growly fretless tone is a craft Mark has perfected through years of experimental quests for the style and the sound of his own.

Like many other fretless players, it was Jaco Pastorius who opened him up to the world of fretless playing. Jaco's bass tone which almost sounded like a synthesizer in Weather Report tunes was so amazingly warm, mellow yet solid that Mark was totally drawn to the sound of it. His fascination and passion soon turned into determination and commitment to master the instrument, however, as much as his first fretless, a secondhand 4-string Pedulla Buzz bass felt perfectly right to his hands and ears, the journey has been a truly challenging one as the bass kept proving to him how profound fretless playing really was. Today, after a vast range of music genres and styles, Mark has reached to the point where he can comfortably identify himself as a progressive jazz fusion/ funk player.

Born in Easton, PA as the second youngest of the eight children, Mark never received formal music training, yet being in a big family which had genuine love for music and having an uncle who was a professional jazz drummer touring Chitin Circuit, music was always a part of his life growing up. At the age of fourteen, Mark taught himself how to play the guitar but it wasn't until some ten years later that he first picked up a bass to play at the suggestion of a friend who had told him that his big hands and great ears would make him an excellent bass player. Since his first encounter with the fretless bass, he has been exclusively playing this unique instrument. As a self-taught player, Mark is more of a feel player than technical. It is important for Mark that his emotions tastefully come through the multi-dimensional tone of his bass, even in the simplest bass line.

In the past years, Mark has performed mainly in the New York metropolitan area playing a wide variety of music genres to include R&B, soul, jazz-fusion, Hip Hop, folk, Celtic, Latin and reggae. Besides Jaco Pastorius, his musical influences include Stanley Clarke, Mick Kahn, James Jamieson, Rocco Prestia, John Entwistle, Richard Bona and Gary Willis.
Bio provided by Mark Smith

"As a fretless player, it's important that I have the right active pickups on my bass so I can get a rich, creamy tone and a nice warm growl. Honestly, until I actually received my bass, I had some doubts if Dick had really understood the sound I'd described to him but when the bass arrived, it was everything that I wanted and more. One thing I particularly want to mention is the cool design of the neck. As you slide your hand up the neck, the back of the neck flattens out. I often do solos at the top of the neck and the design gives me more reach and the exact sound I look for. Genius!" - Mark Smith