Mark–Almond was a jazz-influenced English pop group of the 1970s and early 1980s, sometimes also called The Mark-Almond Band. The core members were Jon Mark, who sang lead and played guitar, percussion, and harmonica and Johnny Almond who played saxophone, flute and bass flute and sang back-up. Various other musicians recorded and toured with the duo at various times, notably including drummer

Dannie Richmond Charles Daniel Richmond (December 15, 1931 – March 16, 1988) was an American jazz drummer who is best known for his work with Charles Mingus. He also worked with Joe Cocker, Elton John and Mark-Almond. Biography Richmond was born Charles ...

, a long-time associate of jazz bassist Charles Mingus.

Early history

In 1963, Jon Mark, using his given name John Michael Burchell, and a former schoolmate, Alun Davies; singer-songwriter,

folk guitar Folk or Folks may refer to: Sociology *Nation *People * Folklore ** Folk art ** Folk dance ** Folk hero ** Folk music *** Folk metal *** Folk punk *** Folk rock ** Folk religion * Folk taxonomy Arts, entertainment, and media * Folk Plus or Fol ...

ist and

skiffle Skiffle is a genre of folk music with influences from American folk music, blues, country, bluegrass, and jazz, generally performed with a mixture of manufactured and homemade or improvised instruments. Originating as a form in the United State ...

musician, (later of Cat Stevens' band), recorded as a duo, an album entitled ''Relax Your Mind'', on Decca Records.Anderson, Murphy
Magicat: ''Relax Your Mind With Jon and Alun''
/ref> From 1965 on, Mark accompanied

Marianne Faithfull Marianne Evelyn Gabriel Faithfull (born 29 December 1946) is an English singer and actress. She achieved popularity in the 1960s with the release of her hit single " As Tears Go By" and became one of the lead female artists during the British I ...

on her recordings and concerts. Moreover, he wrote and arranged many tracks on her first three albums ("Marianne Faithfull", "Come My Way" and "North Country Maid"), also writing a few songs for her ("Come My Way", "Lullaby"). In 1968 Mark and Davies founded the short-lived band Sweet Thursday. The five-piece band had only one recording, the eponymous '' Sweet Thursday'' on Fontana Records. The band was composed of Jon Mark, Alun Davies,

Nicky Hopkins Nicholas Christian "Nicky" Hopkins (24 February 1944 – 6 September 1994) was an English pianist and organist. Hopkins performed on many popular and enduring British and American rock music recordings from the 1960s to the 1990s, most notably ...

, Harvey Burns, and Brian Odgers. However, the album was not promoted by their record label, and the bandmates never toured. Johnny Almond, born John Albert Almond on 20 July 1946 in Enfield, Middlesex, previously played in

Zoot Money's Big Roll Band Zoot Money's Big Roll Band is a British rhythm and blues and soul group, also influenced by jazz, formed in England by Zoot Money, in the early autumn of 1961. The band has had a number of personnel changes over the years and was still performing ...

and the Alan Price Set, as well as performing considerable session work in England. In 1969 he had founded ''Johnny Almond's Music Machine'' and had recorded two solo records ''Patent Pending'' and ''Hollywood Blues''. On ''Patent Pending'' Almond is accompanied by Geoff Condon, Jimmy Crawford, Steve Hammond, Roger Sutton and Johnny Wiggins. On ''Hollywood Blues'' he jams with

Curtis Amy Curtis Amy (October 11, 1929 – June 5, 2002) was an American jazz saxophonist. Biography Amy was born in Houston, Texas, United States. He learned how to play clarinet before joining the Army, and during his time in service, picked up the teno ...

Hadley Caliman Hadley Caliman (January 12, 1932 – September 8, 2010) was an American jazz saxophone and flute player.All ...

, Joe Harris,

Charles Kynard Charles Kynard (20 February 1933 – 8 July 1979) was an American soul jazz/ acid jazz organist born in St. Louis, Missouri. Kynard first played piano then switched to organ and led a trio in Kansas City including Tex Johnson (flute, sax) ...

, Ray Neapolitan,

Joe Pass Joe Pass (born Joseph Anthony Jacobi Passalaqua; January 13, 1929 – May 23, 1994) was an American jazz guitarist. Pass is well known for his work stemming from numerous collaborations with pianist Oscar Peterson and vocalist Ella Fitzgerald, an ...

, Earl Palmer and

Vi Redd Elvira "Vi" Redd (born September 20, 1928) is an American jazz alto saxophone player, vocalist and educator. She has been active since the early 1950s and is known primarily for playing in the blues style. She is highly regarded as an accomplis ...

. Almond and Mark began playing together on John Mayall's (post-

Bluesbreakers John Mayall & the Bluesbreakers are an English blues rock band led by singer, songwriter, and multi-instrumentalist John Mayall. While never producing a hit of their own, the band has been influential as an incubator for British rock and blues ...

) records '' The Turning Point'' (1969) and '' Empty Rooms'' (1969). From that experience they decided to form Mark-Almond.

Mark-Almond

Mark-Almond's first two albums, ''Mark-Almond'' (1970) and ''Mark-Almond II'' (1971) were recorded for Bob Krasnow's

Blue Thumb Blue is one of the three primary colours in the RYB colour model (traditional colour theory), as well as in the RGB (additive) colour model. It lies between violet and cyan on the spectrum of visible light. The eye perceives blue when o ...

label, and were noted for their embossed envelope-style album covers. The first album, including "The Ghetto", received many plaudits. It also contained "The City", which, at 10 minutes, 32 seconds, is notable for its range of styles and musical expertise. The band's second album contained the Boston regional hit song "One Way Sunday", which garnered airplay for them in the United States on album-oriented rock stations in

Boston Boston (), officially the City of Boston, is the state capital and most populous city of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, as well as the cultural and financial center of the New England region of the United States. It is the 24th- mo ...

, Massachusetts on the WBCN FM AOR radio station, and in Baltimore, MD at WAYE, according to Program Director Ty Ford. The group then recorded two albums for Columbia Records, ''Rising'' (1972) and the live album, ''Mark-Almond 73'' (1973), by which time the group's members had grown to seven. In October 1972, Mark was involved in an accident in Hawaii and lost most of his left-hand

ring finger The ring finger, third finger, fourth finger, leech finger, or annulary is the fourth digit of the human hand, located between the middle finger and the little finger. Sometimes the term ring finger only refers to the fourth digit of a left-han ...

. Speaking on the incident, Mark was quoted later in '' Melody Maker'' as saying he "climbed like a native and fell like an Englishman". "What Am I Living For" from ''Mark-Almond 73'' gained the group the most U.S.

radio Radio is the technology of signaling and communicating using radio waves. Radio waves are electromagnetic waves of frequency between 30 hertz (Hz) and 300 gigahertz (GHz). They are generated by an electronic device called a transmi ...

airplay Airplay is how frequently a song is being played through broadcasting on radio stations. A song which is being played several times every day (spins) would have a significant amount of airplay. Music which became very popular on jukeboxes, in n ...

they would get, but nevertheless they disbanded later that year. Mark released a solo record for Columbia ''Song for a Friend'' in 1975. He and Almond reunited in 1975 and released ''To the Heart'' on ABC Records (which had acquired Blue Thumb) in 1976, which featured the drummer

Billy Cobham William Emanuel Cobham Jr. (born May 16, 1944) is a Panamanian–American jazz drummer who came to prominence in the late 1960s and early 1970s with trumpeter Miles Davis and then with the Mahavishnu Orchestra. He was inducted into the ''Mode ...

. Other notable musicians, who have recorded or toured with Mark-Almond include drummer Dannie Richmond, violinist Greg Bloch, keyboardist

Tommy Eyre Tommy Eyre (5 June 1949 – 23 May 2001) was an English session keyboardist from Sheffield, England, who appeared on records by Joe Cocker, John Martyn, Gary Moore, Michael Schenker, The Sensational Alex Harvey Band, Greg Lake, B.B. King, ...

and bassist Roger Sutton. Eyre and Sutton later teamed in

Riff Raff Riff Raff, Riffraff, or Riff-Raff, a term for the common people but with negative connotations, may refer to: In music * Riff Raff (rapper), from Texas * Riff Raff (band), a UK progressive rock band * Riff Raff, a band formed by Billy Bragg * ...

A&M Records A&M Records was an American record label founded as an independent company by Herb Alpert and Jerry Moss in 1962. Due to the success of the discography A&M released, the label garnered interest and was acquired by PolyGram in 1989 and began distr ...

signed the duo in 1978 and released ''Other Peoples Rooms'', but the record did not sell as well as earlier releases. Mark-Almond disbanded again in the mid 1980s, after releasing two albums, ''Tuesday in New York (1980) and a live offering ''The Last & Live'' (1981). In 1996 Mark-Almond reunited again for a CD release, ''Night Music'', which featured keyboardist

Mike Nock Michael Anthony Nock (born 27 September 1940) is a New Zealand jazz pianist, currently based in Australia. Biography He was born in Christchurch, New Zealand. Nock began studying piano at 11. He attended Nelson College for one term in 1955.' ...

and others.

Late history

Mark moved to New Zealand in the mid 1980s, and released a number of successful solo Ambient music recordings on his White Cloud record label, as well as collaborating with other artists on traditional Celtic and folk recordings and producing other artists. A release of Tibetan Monk chants Mark recorded and produced with his wife Thelma Burchell won a

Grammy Award The Grammy Awards (stylized as GRAMMY), or simply known as the Grammys, are awards presented by the Recording Academy of the United States to recognize "outstanding" achievements in the music industry. They are regarded by many as the most pr ...

in 2004. Almond lived in the

San Francisco Bay Area The San Francisco Bay Area, often referred to as simply the Bay Area, is a populous region surrounding the San Francisco, San Pablo, and Suisun Bay estuaries in Northern California. The Bay Area is defined by the Association of Bay Area Go ...

. He died on 18 November 2009 from cancer, aged 63. He occasionally surprised local bar owners, arriving with his sax to jam, some of which was recorded, including a rousing rendition of "

Stormy Monday "Call It Stormy Monday (But Tuesday Is Just as Bad)" (commonly referred to as "Stormy Monday") is a song written and recorded by American blues electric guitar pioneer T-Bone Walker. It is a slow twelve-bar blues performed in the West Coast blu ...

Discography

* 1970: ''Mark-Almond'' (

BTS-27; CD reissue: Line LICD 9.00105; latest CD reissue: Varese Sarabande PC: 030206730289 * 1971: ''Mark-Almond II'' (Blue Thumb BTS-32; CD reissue: Line LICD 9.00517) * 1972: ''Rising'' ( Columbia KC-31917; CD reissue: Line LICD 9.00511) * 1973: ''Mark-Almond 73'' (Columbia KC-32486; CD reissue: Line LICD 9.00514) * 1973: ''The Best Of Mark-Almond'' (Blue Thumb BTS-50) – compilation * 1976: ''To The Heart'' ( ABC AB-945; CD reissue: One Way 22084) * 1978: ''Other Peoples Rooms'' ( Horizon/A&M SP-730; CD reissue: Universal/A&M apan latest CD reissue: Elemental Music PC: 8435395500897 – AUS No. 72 * 1980: ''Tuesday in New York'' (Line 6.24242; CD reissue: Line LICD 9.00056) * 1981: ''The Last & Live'' (Line 6.28538 LP CD reissue: Line LICD 9.00415) * 1981: ''Best Of...Live'' (Pacific Arts PAC7-142) - compilation * 1991: ''The Best Of'' (Rhino MIC 53872) – compilation * 1996: ''Nightmusic'' (White Cloud 11026 PC: 747313002627

Band members

* Johnny Almond * Bill Berg *

* Geoff Condon * Ken Craddock * Mark Cranny * Alun Davies *

Steve Gadd Stephen Kendall Gadd (born April 9, 1945) is an American drummer, percussionist, and session musician. Gadd is one of the best-known and highly regarded session and studio drummers in the industry, recognized by his induction into the '' Modern ...

* Colin Gibson *

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Larry Knechtel Lawrence William Knechtel (August 4, 1940 – August 20, 2009) was an American keyboard player and bassist who was a member of the Wrecking Crew, a collection of Los Angeles-based session musicians who worked with such renowned artists as Simon & ...

* Will Lee * John Leftwich *

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Ralph MacDonald Ralph Anthony MacDonald (March 15, 1944 – December 18, 2011) was a Trinbagonian-American percussionist, songwriter, musical arranger, record producer, steelpan virtuoso and philanthropist. His compositions include "Where Is the Love", a Gra ...

* Jon Mark * Dave Marotta * Jeannie McLaine * Wolfgang Melz * Roberto Pattacia *

Leon Pendarvis Leroy Leon Pendarvis (born 1945) is an American session musician. He plays keyboards and is a background vocalist. He is also an occasional guitarist. The artists he has worked with over the years include Bonnie Raitt on her ''Streetlights'' album ...

* Carlos Rios * Mark Ross * Jim Salargie * Roger Sutton *

Tommy Tedesco Thomas Joseph Tedesco (July 3, 1930 – November 10, 1997) was an American guitarist and studio musician in Los Angeles and Hollywood. He was part of the loose collective of the area's leading session musicians later popularly known as The Wrec ...

* Bobby Torres *

John Tropea John Tropea (pronounced 'tro-pay'; born January 7, 1946) is an American guitarist. Career Tropea began guitar studies at the age of 12. His musical education continued at Berklee College of Music in Boston, where he studied jazz guitar, harmo ...

* Bobby Vega *

Larry Williams Larry Williams (born Lawrence Eugene Williams, a.k.a. Lawrence Edward Williams; May 10, 1935 – January 7, 1980) was an American rhythm and blues and rock and roll singer, songwriter, producer, and pianist from New Orleans, Louisiana. Williams ...

References

External links

* Rolling Stone Encyclopedia
Mark-Almond Band
* allmusic-Biografie
Mark-Almond.
* Franco

* David E. Miller
Mark-Almond bio
* Andrew Gilbert
Johnny Almond, unknown musician legend, plays Santa Cruz.

Obituary John Almond.

Mark-Almond Band – In Session – 1970 – Past Daily Soundbooth: Tribute Edition (Jon Mark – 1943-2021).

Mark-Almond: The City.
August 24, 2015. {{Authority control 1970 establishments in England 1981 disestablishments in England English rock music groups Musical groups established in 1970 Musical groups disestablished in 1981 Harvest Records artists Blue Thumb Records artists Columbia Records artists ABC Records artists