Pianist, producer and composer Mark de Clive-Lowe is a half-Japanese half-New Zealander who calls Los Angeles home. de Clive-Lowe isn’t content to be restricted to jazz and he purposefully reaches across a broad palette of genres and influences to create his unique sound. Heritage is a deeply personal exploration of his ancestry and cultural roots. “I was raised bi-culturally and as time goes on, the more I appreciate how much I owe to my roots,” de Clive-Lowe says. “Japan is my spiritual and ancestral home – the connection I feel there is so visceral and has shaped much of my life, largely without me even being fully aware of its influence. This music is me openly embracing and interpreting what Japan means, feels like and sounds like to me.”
de Clive-Lowe is part of LA’s burgeoning genre agnostic jazz community that includes Kamasi Washington, Robert Glasper, Terrace Martin and others. He comments, “I grew up on a mix of jazz, hip-hop and electronic music, so there’s always all these different sounds in my head,” de Clive-Lowe explains. “Some sounds can be expressed on conventional instruments; some need machines and I’ve developed a hybrid setup to facilitate all of that when I perform. Adding my own cultural story – allowing myself to reflect on and really show my ancestry and roots – feels like I’ve found the missing piece to my own identity and artistry.”
On some selections, you’ll hear him on the grand piano supported by a conventional jazz ensemble while on other tracks he uses live electronics and sampling to create a sonic palette of what the mythological Japanese culture means to him. It runs from the serene to the energetic to the adventurous. An interesting aspect is how he treats the production. The album was recorded live at LA’s Blue Whale jazz club over three nights, as well as one day in a studio. Where the live recording stops and the studio begins though is indecipherable by the way he edits to blur the lines.
As you glean the titles, the reflections of his own experiences in Japan is evident. “The Offering” is, of course, spiritual and peaceful with acoustic piano and flute prominent in the mix. The samurai code is the subject of “Bushidō – (“The Way of the Warrior”), with a blending of both acoustic piano, electronica and heavy percussion. “Memories of Nanzenji” recollects his visit to the historic Kyoto temple and gardens, with Fender Rhodes and synths setting the tone before the alto sax joins. It’s a calming Weather Report-like effect, typifying the magical beauty of the place. “Mizugaki” and “Nten-Ichi” are the two tracks featuring tenor sax, sometimes in tandem with alto, and they are a mix of post-bop and avant-garde with Eastern influences, the latter being an especially melodic and inventive composition. The others are childhood folk songs, most notably “Akatombo” – an arrangement of a traditional melody as ubiquitous to Japanese people as Twinkle Twinkle is in the west, performed solo on a gorgeous grand piano. The brief “Asa no Yume” concludes with wonderful alto against de Clive-Lowe’s keyboards.
de Clive-Lowe is joined by a cast of world-class musicians: Josh Johnson(alto sax, flute) (Leon Bridges/Esperanza Spalding), Teodross Avery (tenor sax) (Talib Kweli/Mos Def), Brandon Eugene Owens (bass) (Terrace Martin/Robert Glasper), Brandon Combs (drums) (Moses Sumney/Iman Omari) and Carlos Niño (percussion) (Build An Ark/Lifeforce Trio).
Heritage is the first in a two-part project. Heritage II will be unveiled is due April 5, 2019. We generously throw around terms like “unique” and “fresh” but there’s nothing quite like Mark de Clive-Lowe’s blend of acoustic and electronica with his Eastern influences. Looking forward to Part 2.
