Musical maverick Mark de Clive-Lowe returns to his roots with a new electro-acoustic record ‘Dreamweavers', displaying his talent as a pianist and composer in partnership with creative collaborators bass player Andrea Lombardini and drummer Tommaso Cappellato. The two Italians have been a consistent presence on Mark de Clive-Lowe’s European tours for several years now, and it was during a road trip from Italy to Switzerland that Lombardini and Cappellato envisioned producing an MdCL album themselves.
De Clive-Lowe’s stylistic signature is usually found in his role as conductor, producer and manipulator of sounds behind his highly customized, mind-boggling setup of intertwining synths, drum machines and live-remixing technology. With all but a grand piano and a few keyboards stripped away from him, and the production in Lombardini and Cappellato’s hands, ‘Dreamweavers’ is the first non- self-produced MdCL album in 25 years.
‘Dreamweavers’ reflects on and celebrates the sounds that de Clive-Lowe grew up loving and finding inspiration in - from Sakamoto’s meditative melancholy and Ahmad Jamal’s soulful playfulness, to the rhythms of broken beat, boom bap and global rhythms. With the Italian rhythm section in empathetic support from start to finish both in their playing and producing, de Clive-Lowe embraces new found freedoms on ‘Dreamweavers’.
All originals composed by MdCL, with the exception of “Strolling Down On Degnan” composed by the late, legendary beat maker Ras G, ‘Dreamweavers’ is packed with sonic treats - the visceral trio interplay of “Motherland” and “Volta Ao Mundo”, inspirations of de Clive-Lowe's Japanese roots (“Natadera Spirit Walk”, “Kodama Shade”), allusions to Airto and George Duke’s visions of Brazil (“Birds of Prey”), the dreamstate journey-making of the title track and “In Answer To Your Question” and more. ‘Dreamweavers’ is an offering in significant contrast to de Clive-Lowe’s usual self, but still undeniably MdCL. An artist who has melded genres and crossed continents numerous times over his 25-year career, de Clive-Lowe continues to explore and redefine himself.
Conceptualized on a trans-European road trip, composed (for the most part) in Kaga, Japan, and brought into reality over a three-day recording session in Vicenza, Italy, ‘Dreamweavers’ is released on Mother Tongue Records October 23rd 2020.