Mark de Clive-Lowe celebrates 9 years of his jazz-dance club party CHURCH with new album
It’s been quite a busy year for Mark de Clive-Lowe. Already he has released two recordings with his brand new Japanese cosmic jazz group Rōnin Arkestra, and two additional albums that made up his Heritage project. For his final release of 2019, the Los Angeles-based multi-instrumentalist and producer presents his CHURCH Sessions, which MdCL describes as “equal parts jazz club, dance party and live remix experiment.”
Curated and produced by MdCL, CHURCH Sessions truly captures the essence of the groundbreaking party, which seamlessly brings together jazz and DJ culture with special guests from all over the world. The album highlights some of the best collaborative moments that have taken place during the nine years the CHURCH parties have taken place. Some of the guest artists featured throughout the sessions include 14KT, KamauDaaood, Joy Jones, Tommaso Cappellato, Swarvy, Hailey Niswanger and many others.
Musically, the album features original compositions like MdCL’s “Smoked Something,” “Blueberries,” and Cappellato’s “Ancient Prophecy,” as well as re-interpretations of classic jazz recordings including MdCL helmed collaboration with Colectivo Arte & Manha covering the Ronnie Foster 1973 classic “Mystic Brew,” and new version of Bobby Hutcherson’s 1975 masterpiece “Montara”. There are also tributes to Ethiopian Space Science Society, Los Angeles, Lisbon, and more.
The true magic of this release is the strong sense of community and influence each collaboration brings to every track. The word “church” truly describes these sessions, as the uplifting spirit of the music that’s being created in real-time, is strongly present in the recordings. Overall, a remarkable album that helps capture the vibe and essence of one of the most forward-thinking jazz-influenced parties over the past decade. As LA Weekly once perfectly stated, “If Duke Ellington had been a DJ, this might be what he would have done.”
Mark de Clive-Lowe — ‘CHURCH Sessions’
(WorldGalaxy / AlphaPup)
- Invocation – Kamau Daaood
- Smoked Something
- Mystic Brew – Colectivo Arte & Manha
- A.C.H.H. – John Robinson
- Atlantic Journey – Colectivo Arte & Manha
- Steps Ahead – Joy Jones
- Part One – Stro Elliot x 14KT x MdCL
- Part Two – Stro Elliot x 14KT x MdCL
- Part Three – Stro Elliot x 14KT x MdCL
- Blueberries
- ESSS (Love the Space) – Mark de Clive-Lowe, Todd Simon + Te’amir
- Ancient Prophecy – Tommaso Cappellato + Mark de Clive-Lowe
- Montara – Myele Manzanza + Mark de Clive-Lowe + Matt Dal Din
