Mark de Clive-Lowe is a musician, composer and producer originally from New Zealand, and now based in Los Angeles, California, since 2009 after ten years residing in London, UK. He is a veteran of the UK's broken beat movement, blending jazz, electronic dance music, funk and percussion heavy world music into a unique sound. He has been involved with over 200 releases, collaborating with as diverse a range of artists as Lauryn Hill, Jody Watley, Shirley Horn, UK soul singer Omar, percussionist Sammy Figueroa (Miles Davis), bass player Pino Palladino (D'Angelo/The Who).
Half Japanese and half New Zealander, de Clive-Lowe was born and raised in Auckland, New Zealand. He grew up playing piano from age 4 and had an active musical interest throughout his childhood and teenage years. Since the mid 90s, de Clive-Lowe has been a regular touring fixture primarily in the US, UK, Europe, Asia, Australia and New Zealand. Multiple world tours have included performances at the Montreal Jazz Festival, Detroit Electronic Music Festival, Amsterdam Drum Rhythm Festival, London Jazz Festival, SildaJazz, Jazz A Vienne and more.
Having recorded two locally released solo albums for New Zealand independent 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). The following release &Melodious Beats vol.1& was a compilation album of his remixes and collaborations released on his own imprint Antipodean Records. 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. Tide's Arising was cited as one of the most groundbreaking new jazz albums from the UK in 2005.
Mark de Clive-Lowe's 2012 solo album, Renegades,was released 14 November 2011 on Tru Thoughts. 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 big band 'Take the Space Trane' (Tru Thoughts Records) recorded live at De Doelen, Rotterdam Netherlands. 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.
In October, 2013, the musician announced his 11th studio album, CHURCH, which was to be funded as a crowd-funded project on Kickstarter.The album is named after the music event Mark has presented in New York and Los Angeles since 2011.It was released on Mashibeats/Ropeadope May 27, 2014 and features guests including Miguel Atwood-Ferguson, Nia Andrews, Robin Eubanks and more.