Mark de Clive-Lowe

Born in Auckland, New Zealand, de Clive-Lowe was raised bi-culturally and bilingually by his Japanese mother, and New Zealand father who had previously lived for over two decades in Japan.[1][2] He cites his family upbringing in New Zealand as culinarily, culturally, and linguistically Japanese as well as traditionally patriarchal.[2]

At the age of 4 he was enrolled in piano lessons by his father. He developed an early awareness of jazz through his father's record collection and oldest brother's piano playing,[1][3] although his formal musical training remained predominantly classical throughout his childhood.

De Clive-Lowe spent time growing up and cultivating musical influences in both New Zealand and Japan. His initial exposure to Japanese culture outside of home life came from visiting every summer with his family from the age of 10.[4] During his early teenage years in New Zealand, exposure to New jack swing through friends sparked an interest in other musical genres alongside his classical training.[5] Experimentation with synths and collecting imported hip hop on vinyl earned him his first production and electronic music experiences, and provided the opportunity to collaborate with local hip hop and R&B artists.[3] He moved to Japan alone to complete his final year of high school, and cites immersion in the Tokyo jazz club scene during that year as a key factor in his decision, on return to his family in New Zealand, to definitively pursue a career in music over planned higher education in law.[5]

In 1994, Mark studied jazz at Berklee College of Music for two semesters. He dropped out and returned to New Zealand in 1995 seeking immersion in the professional jazz music scene.[4]

In 1996, De Clive-Lowe toured Japan as part of a jazz trio with bassist Tomokazu Sugimoto and drummer Nobuaki Fuji.[5]

De Clive-Lowe came to international prominence during his decade living in London, UK. From 1998 to 2008 de Clive-Lowe was a regular collaborator with a community of producers including Bugz in the Attic, 4Hero and Restless Soul. He is a veteran of the UK's broken beat movement, blending jazz, electronics, funk and percussion-heavy world music. He has been involved with over 200 releases, collaborating artists including Lauryn Hill, Jody Watley, Shirley Horn, UK soul singer Omar, percussionist Sammy Figueroa, bass player Pino Palladino.

Having recorded two locally released solo albums for New Zealand independent label Tap Records in the late 1990s (plus an album as a member of the group Jazz in the Present Sense), his third album Six Degrees was released worldwide in 2000 (Universal Jazz/emarcy). De Clive-Lowe released his next full-length album Tide's Arising 22 March 2005 on ABB Soul/Antipodean and Columbia in Japan. The album features Pino Palladino and Bémbé Ségué. Tide's Arising was cited as one of the most groundbreaking new jazz albums from the UK in 2005.[6]

Mark de Clive-Lowe's 2012 solo album, Renegades,[7] was released 14 November 2011 on Tru Thoughts Records. The album features Omar, Sheila E., Nia Andrews, Tawiah, Ovasoul7 and Sandra Nkake. The Why featuring Nia Andrews was released as the first single in early October 2011. His 2013 album is a collaboration with the Rotterdam Jazz Orchestra Take the Space Trane (Tru Thoughts) recorded live at De Doelen, Rotterdam. He has also produced all tracks on the studio album for US singer Sy Smith, Fast and Curious released in March 2012 and all tracks on the studio album for US singer Sandra St. Victor of The Family Stand, Oya's Daughter released September 2013.

The 2014 album Church features guests including Miguel Atwood-Ferguson, Nia Andrews, Robin Eubanks et al. showcases the club night party "Church" de Clive-Lowe founded with Nia Andrews in Santa Monica, CA in 2010. A mixture of jazz club, dance club and live remix experiment, the event has been resident in Los Angeles, New York and done pop ups in Chicago and Philadelphia. The album was remixed by international DJ/producers for the 2015 Church Remixed release. In 2016, de Clive-Lowe released his tribute to Blue Note Records with #Bluenoteremixed Vol.1. Recorded live in one take, the mixtape style release sees de Clive-Lowe remixing samples from the Blue Note Records catalog on the fly, joined by guests including Illa J, Bambu, John Robinson, Pino Palladino, Nia Andrews and Nomad Pendergrast.

2017's release Live at the Blue Whale was recorded at downtown LA's Blue Whale jazz club with de Clive-Lowe on piano, keyboards and live electronics and drum programming along with saxophonist Josh Johnson, bassist Brandon Eugene Owens and Gene Coye on drums paying tribute to his own inspirational favorites: Yusef Lateef, Sun Ra and Ahmad Jamal.

He is a recipient of the 2021 U.S.-Japan Creative Artists Fellowship.[8]

De Clive Lowe has a son, Masina, born in 2003.[5]

He has two brothers.[4] His eldest brother, Ian, exposed him to live jazz in Auckland at a young age.[12]

• Mark de Clive-Lowe – official site
• Mark de Clive-Lowe discography at Discogs