Gary Marks is a cult jazz icon. For five decades, Marks has written songs about power, compassion, and freedom — themes that feel strikingly current in 2026. His upcoming LP, Crossroads, gathers that arc into one body of work, including nine previously unheard songs. The songs on each side of the record are chronological, starting with songs from 1976 and ending with songs in the 2020s. It will be out on April 18, selected as an official release for Record Store Day 2026.
The first offering from Crossroads is the groovy, buoyant lead single, ‘I Guess It Never Stops’. Watch the video below the Q&A.
I asked Gary Marks ten questions to unearth the passion behind his decades-long creative streak.
THE ARGUS FAR FIVE
How would you describe the sound of Gary Marks?
Complex, sophisticated, surprising — like a good novel. Also, varied stylistically and lyrically. I’ve tried not to repeat sounds or ideas from one song or album to the next. I’ve always felt like, what’s the point of that? Hopefully, I’ve succeeded.
What are your biggest non-music influences?
Great novels: Sometimes A Great Notion — East of Eden — The Lathe of Heaven, on and on. I also write novels. I love the written word and unique characters and perspectives and ideas. It expands my view and makes me better as a writer, but also as a human.
If you had to cover any song and put your spin on it, which would you choose?
Oh man, I would really never cover a song because the singer who made it popular set a standard I don’t think I could add to or make better. But if I could, if I had the chops, I would sing ‘Georgia On My Mind’ — with the same orchestral arrangement! But understand, I personally believe anyone who attempts to sing ‘Georgia’ after Ray Charles sang it the way he did is taking on a pretty impossible task. You could spend the rest of your life in the studio and never match it.
What is your earliest memory of music?
I was two, I think. My Mom was holding me in the living room of our NYC apartment. She was dancing to music from the jazz era… The evolution from there went something like this: When I was five or six, we listened a lot of Ray Charles, and Sarah Vaughan. When I was eleven, she turned me on to a piano album by Peter Nero. It had the song, ‘Bess, You Is My Woman Now’ on it. I remember when I was nine, crying one night when The Platters came on the radio and sang, ‘The Great Pretender’. It made me feel so lonely. Then when I was thirteen she called me downstairs to watch The Beatles on Ed Sullivan. And that’s when I understood what joy was. I decided right then — I wanted to experience joy like that… forever. So she bought me a $25 guitar…
What does 2026 have in store for you?
Well, that’s always a loaded question, with reality always ready to supply the unexpected. But what I hope 2026 has in store is a successful release of my album Crossroads, and hopefully finding a publisher for my novel The Dance and the Diamond Sky. Other than that, I am a 4.0 pickleball player dreaming of becoming a 4.5….. But again, these are hopes, not expectations. Hopes and dreams are fine. But I don’t think it’s a great idea to have expectations.
THE GARY MARKS FIVE
Your latest album, Crossroads, spans your career from the 70s to the present day. How was it to look back over the past 50+ years through the lens of your songwriting?
It was actually shocking to realize that what I was writing about back then was so similar to America in 2026. Nixon was very much like the president we have today. The country was fractured like it is now. Political corruption was rampant. The environmental issues were clear, even back then. Musically, it was stunning to hear how great John Scofield, David Samuels, Art Lande and Paul McCandless were all the way back in the 70s. Their playing amazed me at the time. It amazes me even more now with historical perspective.
What advice would you give to a musician starting out today?
Same as always. Don’t let thoughts of money and fame get in the way of your art, or your joy, or your studies with master teachers… Money is great. It really is! And fame probably has its upside, I really wouldn’t know. But if it ends up destroying your music or your happiness, it’s not worth it. If you start feeling like an employee to a record company executive, or a slave to your desires, just think about this — at end of your life, would you rather have been rich and famous, or felt like your music was everything you could have hoped it to be? Sadly, it’s very rare to have it all. I love my songs. I don’t want them screwed up by my desire to be worshipped for what I do, or changed by some producer I’m assigned to by a record company executive who now has the contractual right to make that decision instead of me. It’s more important to maintain control of your life and your art than to be the next well-paid pawn in their game.
You mentioned that you like to write song lyrics as though they are the first lines in a novel, drawing you in. On the flip side, how do you find your songwriting informing your novels?
Ah, that’s a cool question! Songs are snapshots. You need to tell the story quickly and precisely. You need to get to the emotional hook and not go off on tangents, there’s no time for that. So my novels are for the most part short novels or novellas. 20,000 to 55,000 words. They move quickly. They all have to make a point, and end in a crescendo. So what I’ve learned is to keep the reader constantly engaged. No time for long meandering solos!
You’ve spoken about these creative whirlwinds you have, where you record an album in 48 hours or write a novel in ten days, but what song/project has taken you the longest to finish, and why?
The song that took me the longest to write was ‘Soulful Days’. It took me months to find all the sections. And I think I went through three or four sets of lyrics and kept throwing them out. The longest project was actually my novel The Dance and the Diamond Sky. It took me a few years to work that part of my life through in my head, and then get it right on the page.
Have you managed to become a 4.5 pickleball player yet?
No. 😦
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Argus Far 
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