Mark began playing guitar several years ago, and he quickly developed a signature sound all his own. Some people have said he sounds at times similar to Carlos Santana. He can hold a note as long as he wants. Although, he was inspired by many others such as Jeff Beck, Earl Klugh, Miles Davis, Wes Montgomery, Tony Maiden, and Joe Walsh to name a few.
Mark wrote his first record during his early teen years while performing with Coque Inc . The song was “People, Let’s Communicate” which was featured on Petty Green’s television show in Washington, and received airplay on some local radio stations such as WPGC, and WKYS in Washington DC during that period. Later on he asked to record on three LP’s with the group “Backlash.” One of the songs recorded by “Backlash” was “Soft and Easy”, which was used for WHUR’s “Quiet Storm” and other radio stations on the east, and west coast. When you listen to the song you can hear Wes Montgomery's influence. Mr. Brooks smooth transition from funky, and fiery electric riffs to mellow and soothing acoustic guitar styling are unique and distinct. During his early development as now he was respected by his peers, and as a result he gained a lot of support.
Hence he formed his own band called “First Flight”. However, before he could settle in with his new ensemble Mark was scouted out of his group to perform with Eddie Kendrick’s own group “Golden Touch”. As you might have guessed this is the same Eddie Kendrick’s of the famous singing group “The Temptations” This was a pet project of Eddie Kendrick’s. Mark worked with Mr. Terry Scott Keyboardist, and guitarist for the group “The Aggressions,” and helped arrange and organize for the band, unfortunately a short time after Mr. Kendricks passed away, and the project was not completed. Shortly after that project Mark became a single parent and decided to take a sabbatical from music for a while to spend time raising his son.
He is now back on the scene and often being sought after to work with local groups an independent artist to produce and arrange and perform on their projects. However, his primary focus right now is the Cosine Band, and this evident when you hear their show. His musical skills are even more refined now. He knows he is good, and so will you when you hear him. He produced a CD in 2001 and is currently working on a new CD under new management. Look forward to see him and his band on the scene around town. They are hot and in demand.
Mark also reached back and selected one of his originals songs from his collection of originals entitled “Looking Glass”. This song was awarded a semi-finalist ranking in the third annual Songwriter’s Association of Washington (SAW) contest. He plans to feature the song on the new Compact Disc. Mr. Brooks was offered a record contract to record the song some time ago thru SAW. However, he preferred to present the song on his own album under his own direction in his own hometown of Washington DC.
