SongVault Artist Profile

Born and raised in San Francisco, bassist and songwriter Mark Lahargoue (La-Har-Goo) has been a part of the Bay Area music scene since the 1980s where he learned to play jazz, on the San Francisco streets, from legendary saxophonist Clifford Haynes.

Mark, and his fellow bandmates have had an opportunity to perform with some of the most accomplished musicians in their respective fields: John Lee Hooker, Bruce Springsteen & the E Street Band, Herbie Hancock, Michael Franti & Spearhead, and many others.

Now living on the SF peninsula; performing as the Marcus Gerard Band (formerly the Mark Lahargoue Quintet), Mark has hooked up with some of the hottest musicians on the scene: Ernest Carter (drums), Ramon Lazo (piano), Garry Jones (saxophones), and finally David Rampley (guitars), to create a new and contemporary jazz sound.

Rarely will you hear 'old school' jazz together with a 'smooth' jazz sound in one collaboration. Until now. Graces (2005), Mark's first publicly released CD, is a collection of skillfully written jazz compositions, played by talented musicians, whose musical influences are very apparent as you listen to the CD. The band can swing with tunes like "Between the Lines," explore rhythms of blues and funk in "Quickstep Lane" and "The Gift," and 'break it down' with ballads like the soon-to-be classic "Song for Mom;" with new compositions being written for an upcoming CD release.