Heritage Mark de Clive-Lowe

• 1 The Offering 07:18
• 2 Bushido I 06:53
• 3 Memories of Nanzenji 06:51
• 4 Mizugaki 05:59
• 5 Akatombo 02:06
• 6 Niten-Ichi 07:42
• 7 Asa no Yume 04:04
• Total Runtime 40:53

Info for Heritage

HERITAGE is the first installment of the new two-album series from pianist, composer and live remixer Mark de Clive-Lowe. For the half-Japanese half-New Zealander, these two albums (his 15th and 16th albums respectively) are by far his most personal work yet - deep diving into his Japanese ancestry and cultural roots through the lens of jazz, electronica and beats in collaboration with his LA band of world-class musicians - Josh Johnson (Leon Bridges/Esperanza Spalding), Teodross Avery (Talib Kweli/Mos Def), Brandon Eugene Owens (Terrace Martin/Robert Glasper), Brandon Combs (Moses Sumney/Iman Omari) and Carlos Niño (Build An Ark/Lifeforce Trio).

HERITAGE is about identity and one’s place in the world - it sees MdCL sharing new compositions inspired by childhood folk stories, the mythology of his motherland and his own personal experiences in Japan, all wrapped up in his blend of jazz and sample culture influences . In addition to his own compositions, he interprets traditional Japanese folk songs, one on each album - the delicate solo piano rendition of “Akatombo" on this first installment. Every track has a specific story behind its name and intention - a complete narrative to the two albums.

The material for the albums was recorded over three nights of live concerts at LA’s legendary Blue Whale jazz club in Little Tokyo, and one day in studio. With a traditional jazz group setup augmented by MdCL’s arsenal of samplers, keyboards, drum machine and technology alongside his grand piano, this is his personal take on both jazz and what Japan - and being Japanese - means to him.

"de Clive-Lowe takes his art wherever it must go, transcending genre boundaries... as genuine as breathing. ****" - AllAboutJazz

"Way before jazz hybridity became a worldwide phenomenon, de Clive-Lowe was busy designing its blueprint." - Jazziz Magazine

Mark de Clive-Lowe, piano, Fender Rhodes, synths, live electronics, programming
Josh Johnson, alto saxophone, flute
Teodross Avery, tenor saxophone
Brandon Eugene Owens, bass
Carlos Niño, additional percussion
Brandon Combs, drums

Mark de Clive-Lowe
is a musical wizard on stage - juggling grand piano, synths, live sampling and beat making all on-the-fly, brought to life with a casual ease that’s mind-boggling. Pianist, composer, jazz musician, live remixer and electronic music producer, the Japanese-New Zealander was raised primarily in New Zealand where he learned piano from a young age developing an avid passion for jazz through his father’s record collection. In high school in NZ and Japan, he fell in love with sample-heavy 90s hip hop and early UK drum’n’bass – laying the foundation for a lifetime of genre-bending sonic adventures.

During formative decade at the epicenter of London’s underground music scene, Mark helped evolve the broken beat genre alongside some of the UK’s most forward-thinking trailblazers, establishing himself as a new voice in progressive electronic music and leading global tastemaker DJ Gilles Peterson to designate him “the man behind a million great tunes”. While in London, Mark released his albums ‘Six Degrees’ (Universal) and ‘Tide’s Arising (ABB/Columbia) and established his unique jazz-meets-electronica sound touring the world, prompting Jazziz to write with 20/20 hindsight in 2019:

“way before jazz hybridity became a worldwide phenomenon, de Clive-Lowe was busy designing its blueprint.”

Relocating to Los Angeles in 2008, his club night CHURCH was soon taking his signature sound of technology and beat-infused jazz mash-up from coast to coast and around the globe, seeing him on stage with multiple generations of the world’s most respected jazz, soul and hip hop artists - “equal parts jazz club, dance party and live remix experiment” as he likes to describe it, bringing his love for all things jazz, beat and DJ culture into one seamless blend of community, culture and connection. His 2019 release Heritage - a two-part double-album - sees Mark deep dive into his Japanese roots and ancestry through the lens of jazz and electronica - an immersive and evocative soundtrack transporting the listener through MdCL’s own experience of Japan along with his love for its history and mythology. Downbeat offers:

“de Clive-Lowe’s notion of truth on Heritage ultimately reaches beyond the individual, beyond his lineage and into the cultural moment we’re currently living”.

With his 2021 Motherland NFT Collection drop and entrance into the web3 space, Mark’s ancestral deep-dive has evolved into an audio-visual offering with a 40-minute immersive film - blending footage he shot in Kaga, Japan set to a solo performance of ancestrally-inspired compositions presented as an intimately meditative, stripped-down solo performance. As an artist who has been an early adopter of new technology throughout his life, seeing Mark explore blockchain technology and NFTs is no surprise.

Whether he’s remixing classic Blue Note Records in real-time, on stage joined by instrumental masters like Kamasi Washington, Pino Palladino or Eric Harland, improvising introspective solo piano or creating live soundtracks to classic film material, Mark de Clive-Lowe is an artist in constant evolution. He has performed with Harvey Mason, Miguel Atwood-Ferguson, Dwight Trible and Jean Grae; remixed Shirley Horn, Hiatus Kaiyote, Mantombi Matotiyana and Jerry Goldsmith; and recorded as producer and collaborator with artists all over the planet. Having released twenty albums and contributed to over 300 releases, he is among the most prolific of his generation.

Mark has performed across the US and throughout the world. He has given feature performances at Yerba Buena Center for the Arts, The Smithsonian, The Lincoln Center and is Founding Artist in Residence for La Ceiba Festival (2020). He is also a recipient of the 2021 U.S.-Japan Creative Artists Fellowship.

"(the) avant-garde soulful Pianist/DJ/Producer delivers his lifetime of journeys to different musical ports in a concise package, seamlessly... transporting not just in genre but in emotion and spirit." - Huffington Post

"a beautiful marriage of hip-hop, traditional Japanese music, and Bitches Brew-era Miles Davis, all with some electronic music flourishes. This is some insanely good stuff that has reverence for all the music that it references." - Raw Select Music

"a musical force unlike any other" - Popmatters.com

This album contains no booklet.