Mark Farina (born in Chicago, Illinois, USA on March 25, 1969) is a DJ and musician, known for his Chicago house, acid jazz and downtempo works. Notable releases include Mood (KMS Records, 1989) and the Mushroom Jazz series (Om Records, 1996–2010), and recently known also from house compilations El Divinio. He is primarily identified with the house music scene in San Francisco, California, where he resides, but DJs widely around the world. Shortly after Mark befriended Derrick Carter in 1988 at a record store in Chicago, his passion for House music, and sharing it with the world, exploded. Mark experimented with a deeper style, dropping De La Soul, disco classics and other jazzy soulful stuff that wasn’t being played in the main rooms of nightclubs. While exploring his love for the purist forms of House Music, Mark developed his trademark style, known as "Mushroom Jazz": acid jazz infused with the West Coast’s jazzy, organic productions along with urban beats. Fans embraced Mark’s downtempo style so much that he started a weekly Mushroom Jazz club night in San Francisco with Patty Ryan. In 3 years at the club, Farina and Mushroom Jazz established a very strong following. When the club closed, Farina continued the tradition by releasing a series of CDs under the same name, Mushroom Jazz. Since then, Mark has been traveling the globe performing hundreds of shows each year. His House sets have been described as the jazzy side of Chicago House mixed San Francisco style. Some of his sets have been known to last up to 8 hours. Sometimes Farina will play two different rooms at the same party, showcasing his range of talents. URB, MUZIK and BPM Magazines have all had him on their Top DJs In The World lists.
