Ellington In Anticipation Mark Lockheart

• 1 It Don’t Mean A Thing (If It Ain't Got That Swing) 05:46
• 2 My Caravan 06:05
• 3 Come Sunday 05:02
• 4 Jungle Lady 06:38
• 5 Take The A Train 06:05
• 6 Azure 03:57
• 7 Uptown 03:43
• 8 Creole Love Call 06:15
• 9 Beautiful Man 04:33
• 10 Mood Indigo 05:37
• 11 Indian Summer 04:15
• Total Runtime 57:56

Info for Ellington In Anticipation

Inspired by the music of Duke Ellington and taking many of Ellington’s most revered compositions, such as Satin Doll, Mood Indigo, Take The A Train, It Don’t Mean A Thing and Creole Love Call, I've deconstructed and arranged these melodies into a set of new music, rich in orchestration and very different from the originals, but hopefully respectful to the beauty of Ellington’s original creations.

The album has been extensively featured on BBC’s Jazz Line-Up, Late Junction and Jazz On 3 programmes, and the band’s concert at the Welsh School Of Music & Drama was broadcast in June 2013.

I formed the group in late 2012 and we released this album in February 2013, followed by a nine-date sell-out major UK tour. Recent performances include Kings Place and Queen Elizabeth Hall (London Jazz Festival).

The group gained much critical success, with four-star reviews in the Guardian, Times, Jazzwise and Jazz Journal, as well as being awarded ‘Jazz Album of 2013’ by MOJO magazine and nominated for ‘Best Jazz CD of 2013’ at the 2014 All Party Parliamentary Awards.

“The end results are Ellington for the 21st century” - BBC Music

“Ellington reinventions are radical, but never less than heartfelt tributes” - Guardian

“With Ellington in Anticipation, the Duke has rarely sounded so young...or relevant” All About Jazz

“And of course humour's never far away; Lockheart's own ‘Uptown’ sounds more like Ellington than Ellington, with the Cotton Club now twisted into a Weill-like cabaret groove” - Jazzwise

“this is a rich, rewarding and often surprisingly radical set, impeccably performed by a vigorously interactive band” London Jazz News ****

Mark Lockheart, tenor saxophone
Finn Peters, alto saxophone
James Allsopp, clarinet and bass clarinet
Emma Smith, violin
Liam Noble, piano
Tom Herbert, bass
Sebastian Rochford, drums

Recorded by Sonny Johns at Livingston Studios London 2nd and 3rd May 2012
Mixed by Haydn Bendall at The Strongroom
Mastered by Pete Beckman
Produced by Mark Lockheart

Mark Lockheart
first came to prominence in the mid 1980s with the influential and radical big band Loose Tubes, which he toured with throughout the USA and Europe and recorded with until its demise in 1989. The late 1980s also saw Mark composing and touring his own music, performing three times at Ronnie Scott's in London, and at festivals in Vienna, Paris and Berlin.

The formation of the co-led Perfect Houseplants in 1992 saw the emergence of one of Mark's most important projects, which is still very much developing today. Perfect Houseplants has released six albums and is involved in several crossover projects such as its collaborations with the Orlando Consort (Extempore, 1998), with baroque violinist Andrew Manze, and more recently with recorder virtuoso Pamela Thorby (New Folk Songs, Linn, 2002). This period also saw Mark collaborating with Irish pianist and composer Micheal O'Sullebhain, and recording a world/jazz album entitled Matheran (Isis, 1993) with guitarist John Parricelli.

In the mid-nineties Mark toured extensively with Django Bates' Delightful Precipice, performing at many international festivals including Berlin, Molde and Willisau, and recording with jazz, folk and pop artists June Tabor, Billy Jenkins, Stereolab, Jah Wobble, Robert Wyatt, Prefab Sprout, Don Um Romao ,Thomas Dolby, and more recently Anja Garbarek and Radiohead.

In 1997 Mark was awarded the Peter Whittingham Award to record his semi-orchestral 11-piece group The Scratch Band. This formed the basis of Through Rose-Coloured Glasses, which was released in 1998 to critical acclaim and voted by Time Out as one of the Top Ten albums of 1998.

A commission from the Cheltenham Jazz Festival and Birmingham Jazz led to a suite of pieces inspired by dance forms, which formed the basis for the Scratch Band's second album, Imaginary Dances (Staytuned Records, 2002). In 2001 with the help of The Arts Council of England Touring Grant the Scratch Band undertook a ten date nationwide tour.

In 2003 Mark joined Seb Rochfords Polar Bear and has toured throughout Europe and recorded three albums with the group, the bands second CD Held On The Tips Of Fingers was nominated for the 2005 Mercury Award.

In 2005 Mark released his critically acclaimed recording Moving Air (basho records) featuring John Parricelli, Martin France and Mark's muti-tracked reeds., this album has been described as his most personal album yet. A major Arts Council funded tour, entitled Big Idea to promote the album took place Oct/Nov 2005.

In 2007 Mark was featured soloist (along with John Pattitucci and Gwilym Simcock) in Mark Anthony Turnage's About Water which was premiered on the Southbank in June 2007 and this year Mark will be playing another Turnage piece, A Man Descending with the Southbank Sinfonia.

Current projects include the Mark Lockheart’s In Deep Group (a new band with Liam Noble, Jasper Hoiby, Dave Smith and Dave Priseman, -CD entitled In Deep released may 2009) Polar Bear, Perfect Houseplants, Nicki Iles/Norma Winstone Group and Robert Wyatts Soup Songs.

This album contains no booklet.