Biography
Composer, producer, DJ, and keyboardist Mark de Clive-Lowe commands international respect for his seamless command of piano, synths, live sampling, and beat-making performed simultaneously in real time. Although jazz forms the core of his output, this Japanese New Zealander helped shape electronic music as an early innovator in the development of broken beat and nu-jazz. The celebrated Los Angeles club night CHURCH that he launched in his adopted city fused technology with jazz steeped in samples and beats, a hybrid he subsequently carried to stages and dance floors worldwide. A tireless recording artist, producer, and sideman, de Clive-Lowe issued his third album, Six Degrees, in 1999, introducing the breadth of his jazz-house synthesis to listeners everywhere. Beyond his own catalog, demand for his production and DJ work remains high; notable remixes credit him with reworkings for Shirley Horn, Hiatus Kaiyote, Jerry Goldsmith, and the Blue Note Records catalog. His contributions appear on more than 300 releases. The 2007 album Journey 2 the Light presented jazz and soul within concise, memorable, meticulously orchestrated pieces that incorporated house, broken beat, electro, and additional electronic idioms. On 2013’s Take the Space Trane he served as both featured soloist and conductor of the Rotterdam Jazz Orchestra, reframing big-band progressive jazz through contemporary technological means; the repertoire featured Duke Ellington’s “Caravan” alongside his own hit “Relax Unwind.” Heritage, released in 2019, assembled a jazz sextet to examine the Japanese dimension of his heritage. In 2022 de Clive-Lowe joined colleagues for Freedom and in 2023 for Hotel San Claudio, both projects saluting Pharoah Sanders and realized with Shigeto and Melanie Charles.
Born in Auckland in 1974 to a Japanese mother and New Zealand father, de Clive-Lowe grew up navigating two cultures. Piano lessons began at age four, while his brother’s playing and his father’s record collection sparked an intense fascination with jazz. During adolescence he explored electronic music through participation in local hip-hop and R&B circles. Although jazz retained its hold, visits to Tokyo’s renowned jazz clubs prompted him to integrate the idiom more deliberately into his emerging artistic identity. His debut releases, 1996’s First Thoughts and 1997’s Vision, attracted notice from the British electronic-music press; in 1998 he relocated to London for a decade-long stay that placed him among forward-thinking producers such as Bugz in the Attic, 4Hero, and Restless Soul.
A contract with Universal Jazz/Emarcy enabled the worldwide release of Six Degrees in 1999, solidifying his international profile. The influential El Dia Perfecto 12" followed, quickly regarded as one of his early signature works. Subsequent years brought extensive touring, additional singles, and dozens of remixes for DJ Spinna, Kenny Dope, Shaun Escoffery, Chico Hamilton, and Jazzanova, along with numerous compilation appearances. Tide’s Arising, his second full-length, arrived in 2004 featuring bassist Pino Palladino; critics hailed it as one of the United Kingdom’s most progressive jazz statements that year, and it launched his first world tour. Two further albums surfaced in 2006: Face on Columbia Japan and the self-titled The Politik on Antipodean Records, documenting his duo with Bembe Segue.
Issued in 2007, Freesoul Sessions, Vol. 1 assembled a rotating ensemble of soul, jazz, hip-hop, and beat musicians for wholly improvised performances, while Journey 2 the Light spotlighted Bembe Segue’s vocals across most tracks. After touring the record with an array of international singers and jazz musicians, de Clive-Lowe moved to Los Angeles in 2008, where he immediately founded CHURCH and connected with local players across genres. Although production work occupied much of his schedule, he persisted with original composition and session contributions.
Renegades appeared on Tru Thoughts in 2011, enlisting drummer Sheila E., bassist Pino Palladino, and U.K. soul singer Omar among its personnel. Church followed in 2014 on Ropeadope and was widely viewed as the apex of his recorded work to that point. On the album de Clive-Lowe handled acoustic piano, Fender Rhodes, synths, and synth bass while executing live sampling, beats, and electronic processing; the sessions, split between Los Angeles and New York, utilized two distinct ensembles. East Coast participants included trumpeter Duane Eubanks, trombonist Robin Eubanks, drummer Nate Smith, and bassist Tim Lefebvre, whereas the Los Angeles dates featured violist/arranger Miguel Atwood-Ferguson, drummer Jamire Williams, guitarist Tim Stewart, and vocalists Nia Andrews, John Robinson, and theeKIDICARUS. Alongside ten original compositions, the set interpreted Abdullah Ibrahim’s “Imam” and Charles Earland’s “Mason’s Galaxy.” Universal praise greeted its fluid transitions and seamless fusion of hip-hop, funk, world music, musique concrète, electronic avant-garde, and EDM; Ropeadope responded by issuing a full album of remixes.
During the ensuing two years de Clive-Lowe delivered two remix collections—the privately released Blue Note Remixed, Vol. 1 and MdCL Remixes, Vol. 1 on Mashibeats—while appearing on recordings by Harvey Mason, Ross McHenry, and Dexter Story. The three-track EP Live at the Blue Whale placed his grand piano at the forefront of a jazz-quartet format. Following a largely sold-out world tour, he issued the paired volumes Heritage and Heritage II, both exploring his Japanese lineage through his characteristic synthesis of jazz and sample-based influences, performed with his Los Angeles band of saxophonists Josh Johnson and Teodross Avery, bassist Brandon Eugene Owens, drummer Brandon Combs, and percussionist Carlos Niño. CHURCH Sessions, featuring Kamau Daaood, Colectivo Arte, and 14KT, emerged on World Galaxy Records.
Dreamweavers, a full-length recorded with bassist Andrea Lombardini and drummer Tommaso Cappellato, surfaced on Mother Tongue Records in 2020. A succession of club-oriented Midnight Snacks EPs followed on Mashibeats. Soul Bank Music presented Freedom: Celebrating the Music of Pharoah Sanders in 2022, with vocalist Dwight Trible, percussionist Carlos Niño, and bassist/sousaphone player Corbin Jones among the participants. The same imprint released Hotel San Claudio in 2023, a collaborative effort with drummer/producer Shigeto and vocalist/songwriter Melanie Charles that included further renditions of Pharoah Sanders’ “The Creator Has a Master Plan” and “Love Is Everywhere.”
Born in Auckland in 1974 to a Japanese mother and New Zealand father, de Clive-Lowe grew up navigating two cultures. Piano lessons began at age four, while his brother’s playing and his father’s record collection sparked an intense fascination with jazz. During adolescence he explored electronic music through participation in local hip-hop and R&B circles. Although jazz retained its hold, visits to Tokyo’s renowned jazz clubs prompted him to integrate the idiom more deliberately into his emerging artistic identity. His debut releases, 1996’s First Thoughts and 1997’s Vision, attracted notice from the British electronic-music press; in 1998 he relocated to London for a decade-long stay that placed him among forward-thinking producers such as Bugz in the Attic, 4Hero, and Restless Soul.
A contract with Universal Jazz/Emarcy enabled the worldwide release of Six Degrees in 1999, solidifying his international profile. The influential El Dia Perfecto 12" followed, quickly regarded as one of his early signature works. Subsequent years brought extensive touring, additional singles, and dozens of remixes for DJ Spinna, Kenny Dope, Shaun Escoffery, Chico Hamilton, and Jazzanova, along with numerous compilation appearances. Tide’s Arising, his second full-length, arrived in 2004 featuring bassist Pino Palladino; critics hailed it as one of the United Kingdom’s most progressive jazz statements that year, and it launched his first world tour. Two further albums surfaced in 2006: Face on Columbia Japan and the self-titled The Politik on Antipodean Records, documenting his duo with Bembe Segue.
Issued in 2007, Freesoul Sessions, Vol. 1 assembled a rotating ensemble of soul, jazz, hip-hop, and beat musicians for wholly improvised performances, while Journey 2 the Light spotlighted Bembe Segue’s vocals across most tracks. After touring the record with an array of international singers and jazz musicians, de Clive-Lowe moved to Los Angeles in 2008, where he immediately founded CHURCH and connected with local players across genres. Although production work occupied much of his schedule, he persisted with original composition and session contributions.
Renegades appeared on Tru Thoughts in 2011, enlisting drummer Sheila E., bassist Pino Palladino, and U.K. soul singer Omar among its personnel. Church followed in 2014 on Ropeadope and was widely viewed as the apex of his recorded work to that point. On the album de Clive-Lowe handled acoustic piano, Fender Rhodes, synths, and synth bass while executing live sampling, beats, and electronic processing; the sessions, split between Los Angeles and New York, utilized two distinct ensembles. East Coast participants included trumpeter Duane Eubanks, trombonist Robin Eubanks, drummer Nate Smith, and bassist Tim Lefebvre, whereas the Los Angeles dates featured violist/arranger Miguel Atwood-Ferguson, drummer Jamire Williams, guitarist Tim Stewart, and vocalists Nia Andrews, John Robinson, and theeKIDICARUS. Alongside ten original compositions, the set interpreted Abdullah Ibrahim’s “Imam” and Charles Earland’s “Mason’s Galaxy.” Universal praise greeted its fluid transitions and seamless fusion of hip-hop, funk, world music, musique concrète, electronic avant-garde, and EDM; Ropeadope responded by issuing a full album of remixes.
During the ensuing two years de Clive-Lowe delivered two remix collections—the privately released Blue Note Remixed, Vol. 1 and MdCL Remixes, Vol. 1 on Mashibeats—while appearing on recordings by Harvey Mason, Ross McHenry, and Dexter Story. The three-track EP Live at the Blue Whale placed his grand piano at the forefront of a jazz-quartet format. Following a largely sold-out world tour, he issued the paired volumes Heritage and Heritage II, both exploring his Japanese lineage through his characteristic synthesis of jazz and sample-based influences, performed with his Los Angeles band of saxophonists Josh Johnson and Teodross Avery, bassist Brandon Eugene Owens, drummer Brandon Combs, and percussionist Carlos Niño. CHURCH Sessions, featuring Kamau Daaood, Colectivo Arte, and 14KT, emerged on World Galaxy Records.
Dreamweavers, a full-length recorded with bassist Andrea Lombardini and drummer Tommaso Cappellato, surfaced on Mother Tongue Records in 2020. A succession of club-oriented Midnight Snacks EPs followed on Mashibeats. Soul Bank Music presented Freedom: Celebrating the Music of Pharoah Sanders in 2022, with vocalist Dwight Trible, percussionist Carlos Niño, and bassist/sousaphone player Corbin Jones among the participants. The same imprint released Hotel San Claudio in 2023, a collaborative effort with drummer/producer Shigeto and vocalist/songwriter Melanie Charles that included further renditions of Pharoah Sanders’ “The Creator Has a Master Plan” and “Love Is Everywhere.”
Albums
past present (tone poems across time)
2025
Hotel San Claudio
2023
Freedom - Celebrating the Music of Pharoah Sanders
2022
Dreamweavers
2020
Calentura: Barengue
2016
Sweat No Sleep
2010
Singles
