During the past month the world as we knew it changed drastically. The Covid-19 virus has moved with surprising speed and the norms of everyday life are now upended. People need music as it’s a balm for the soul.
Two weeks ago, Mark de Clive-Lowe gave a concert in Auckland as part of his much anticipated worldwide tour. Raised here by his Japanese mother and New Zealand father, de Clive-Lowe is a keyboardist, composer and remix/dance music producer based in Los Angeles since 2008 (after a decade in London). His tour itinerary encompassed several countries where travel restrictions have been imposed. Organizing such tours is obviously a big undertaking and having them curtailed has consequences for everyone involved.
The clip below was recorded in Auckland and is a fine example of jazz hybridity. The piano provided was less than perfect, but the music hit a deep groove which pleased the sell-out jazz club audience
Jazz fans of a certain age often turn up their noses at cross-genre improvised music, but they should reflect that jazz itself arose out of musical hybridity. There were no such misgivings from this particular Auckland crowd.
Mark de Clive-Lowe, piano, keyboards, live samples; Marika Hodgson, electric bass; Brandon Combs, drums, at the CJC Creative Jazz Club @ Anthology, Auckland, March 8, 2020.
De Clive-Lowe is a Bandcamp artist; his albums are available from markdeclivelowe.bandcamp.com
While New Zealand has effectively closed its borders and curtailed large scale events, the clubs and bars are open for now. That is not the case throughout much of Europe or Asia, and as I write North America is facing similar lockdowns.
Being in regular contact with jazz lovers in Milan, as the storm broke there I learned first hand how severely lives were impacted. I watched in horror and then an idea came to me, so I ran it past Mirian Arbalejo a jazz writer in Madrid. Her beautiful city had been locked down days earlier. Mirian and I developed the plan for Jazz On Lockdown with Jazz Journalist Association colleagues Howard Mandel and Alex Rodriguez in the U.S and Bob Rosenbaum in Israel.
Our mission: to keep improvised music alive during these difficult times; to reach the musicians in places most affected and bring their music to listeners across borders, everywhere, as if they were there. We make efforts to direct funds to those musicians whose gigs are gone, too.
Our posts will counteract the social isolation this virus is affecting, ironically, if they themselves go viral — are amplified, shared, reposted to ensure we hear what was supposed to be heard in defiance of an illness that requires our self-isolation (for now, for now). Jazz On Lockdown could come to you in many forms and from unusual places, but it will play on. Send posts for editorial consideration — name the artists, where their gigs were cancelled, provide performance video and context — to JazzOnLockdown@JazzJournalists.org. — John Fenton, JazzLocal32
