Mark Pender

Mark Pender graduated in 1975 from Grandview Senior High School in Grandview, Missouri. In the mid 1970s, while still in Kansas City, Pender played with Mass Transit and saxophonist Stephen Harvey. This band played a fusion of R&B, jazz and disco. He also played with the Inner City Orchestra from 1977 until 1979. This gave him the opportunity to play with the likes of Jay McShann, Joe Turner, Ella Fitzgerald and Gladys Knight & the Pips. He would also occasionally front the band on trumpet and vocals. Pender and Harvey also played regularly at the Mutual Musicians Foundation. It was there they first met the jazz organist Charles Earland. In 1979, Pender and Harvey accepted Earlands offer to join his touring band. The tour finished in Newark, New Jersey. Pender opted to stay while Harvey returned to Kansas City where he was murdered on November 5, 1980.

Once in New Jersey, Pender linked up with The Miami Horns and toured with Diana Ross between 1980 and 1981. He was invited to join Little Steven & The Disciples Of Soul and while on tour with them in Paris, he met his current wife Francoise while still married to Connie his first wife whom he married in Ft. Lee, NJ. Connie and Mark were married from 1982 - 1992. It was Little Steven who nicknamed him The Love Man. He subsequently became a member of Southside Johnny & The Asbury Jukes and led The Jukes' Horns on the albums Trash It Up, In The Heat and At Least We Got Shoes. In 1988, as part of the group The Tunnel Of Love Horns, he went on tour with Bruce Springsteen. Pender continues to record with both Southside Johnny and Springsteen and featured on the latter's 2005 album Devils & Dust. He also played in the halftime show for NFL's Super Bowl XLIII.

Pender also continues to play regularly with La Bamba & The Hubcaps, led by friend Richie "La Bamba" Rosenberg. This band recorded an eponymous album in 1991 which gave Pender the chance to showcase his skills as a lead vocalist. He also linked up Max Weinberg in the band Killer Joe. This band recorded one album, Scene Of The Crime, which featured Pender playing trumpet and singing lead vocal on a rousing rendition of "Chicken Shack Boogie." He also fronts The Mark Pender Band, playing a blend of R&B, jazz and funk, a reflection of his Kansas City roots. This band has featured both Rosenberg and Harrison in its line-up. In 2003, Pender independently released an eponymous CD/DVD package featuring live and studio recordings.