Known primarily for his downtempo approach to mixing jazz, house, and hip-hop -- a style he dubbed "mushrooom jazz" -- DJ and producer Mark Farina played a major role in the building of San Francisco's house music scene. Originally from Chicago, Farina started DJ'ing at the age of 15, greatly inspired by his city's major contribution to underground dance music. A few years later, while at nearby Northwestern University, he made his production debut with "Mood" (KMS, 1989), created as one-third of Symbols & Instruments beside WNUR radio partner Derrick Carter and Chris Nazuka. Farina subsequently relocated to San Francisco and developed "mushroom jazz," a sound that grew from a local residency into global gigs, as well as an extensive series of like-titled mix albums that began in 1996 and continued into the latter half of the 2010s. Even without the Mushroom Jazz volumes, Farina's discography of commercially released DJ sets would be extensive, including Seasons One (Domestic, 1996) and United DJs of America (DMC, 1998), a shared release with Carter titled Live at OM (OM, 2004), and Fabric 40 (Fabric, 2008). Farina's production discography is comparatively short, highlighted by "Dream Machine," a collaboration with Sean Hayes that was licensed for use as the lead track on Stéphane Pompougnac's Hôtel Costes 8. ~ Diana Potts & Andy Kellman