Our ‘Sitting In’ series invites guest artists to curate playlists for JAZZIZ.com. Today’s featured artist…
Mark de Clive-Lowe (Photo: Steven Taylor)[/caption]
De Clive-Lowe credits his eclectic taste and style to his upbringing. He was born in New Zealand to a Japanese mother and New Zealander father, and was first introduced to jazz through his father's big-band record collection. He began playing piano shortly afterward, his passion ignited by artists like Ahmad Jamal, Miles Davis and Kenny Kirkland.
In high school, a friend turned him on to A Tribe Called Quest, De La Soul and other members of the rap collective Native Tongues Posse, and before long, a full-on hip-hop obsession was born. Self-taught as a DJ and producer, he began tinkering with making beats of his own, using jazz as a foundation. "I loved the vibe and production of hip-hop," said De Clive-Lowe, "but what I really loved was the samples. I had no idea at the time that these were samples of [jazz artists] Ronnie Foster and Max Roach, but once I realized that, something clicked."
Soon enough, he began applying the techniques of hip-hop — live remixing, sampling, looping and synthesis — to his jazz performances, forging entirely new sounds in real time. He loved the combination of spontaneity and technology, even as he ventured into unknown territory. "I had no guide book, no YouTube," said De Clive-Lowe. "I was just stumbling around in the dark. But there's a lot to be said for finding your own way." De Clive-Lowe insists that it was this abiding love of experimentation that would set the course of his career. In time, he would find his way into producer credits on more than 300 releases, including more than 20 of his own. 
Now that crossover jazz is having its moment — as the popularity of hip-hop-friendly artists like drummers Makaya McCraven and Kassa Overall can attest — De Clive-Lowe's name has taken on a more effulgent glow. Two recent releases have expanded his profile considerably. The first, #Bluenoteremixed Vol.1, found him projecting classic melodies from the Blue Note catalog through the prism of contemporary hip-hop. Its follow-up, Church, sought to replicate — in sound and spirit — the keyboardist's famous DJ sets in New York and L.A.
In February 2017, De Clive-Lowe released the EP Live at the Blue Whale on Ropeadope/Mashibeats, which included tributes to Sun Ra, Yusef Lateef and others. His latest album is Heritage, which will be released on Feb. 8 and features tracks that explore his Japanese roots.
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De Clive-Lowe in a publicity photo for his new album 'Heritage,' due out February 8. (Renae Wooton)[/caption]
JAZZIZ asked De Clive-Lowe to curate the first playlist in the "Sitting In" series, in which we ask artists to share the tracks that most inspire them — presently and historically.
"I could easily compile a playlist of my favorite hard-bop records," said De Clive-Lowe, "but there's so much new stuff going on right now that pulls from this tradition in ways that are undeniable. If you listen to players like Shabaka Hutchings or the group Ill Considered, you can hear those influences in there, but in ways that are recontextualized. Believe me, these guys can all play standards, they know the language, but they're taking the opportunity to find their own voice and contribute their own reflections on our music's history. It's like, 'I love the tradition, but also fuck the tradition. And to really fuck the tradition, it has to come from a place of love."