Mark Dresser learned bass in his childhood under the tutelage of classical maestro Bertram Turetzky, and by his teens played at weekly L.A. jam sessions led by Bobby Bradford. Dresser would eventually move to the east coast, settling in New Haven, Connecticut, while playing occasional concerts in New York alongside trombonist Ray Anderson. He subsequently returned to his hometown, forming a trio with Bradford and David Newton, and, in 1980, toured Europe as part of the Ray Anderson Quartet. In 1983, he moved to Italy to study, and in 1985 joined the Anthony Braxton Quartet, with whom he toured the whole of Europe. When he returned to America, he remained a member of Braxton’s quartet, while also recording with John Zorn in Spy Vs Spy and Marilyn Crispell in The Kitchen Concert.