Martin France (born 1964) is one of the top jazz drummers in the UK. He has recorded on over 100 albums and is a Professor at the Royal Academy of Music in London. He is sponsored by
Paiste
Paiste (English pronunciation: , ) is a Swiss musical instrument manufacturing company. It is the world's third largest manufacturer of cymbals, gongs, and metal percussion. is an Estonian word that means "shine".
Apart from cymbals and gong ...
cymbals
Career
France began performing at the age of twelve with singers in Working Men's clubs and organ trios in Manchester, England. After moving to London in 1983, he began his recording career for ECM. He has been active for many years as a studio musician in London, performing on recording sessions for European and American films and television . He is involved in composing music for KPM/EMI in London which has been used for worldwide TV and commercial broadcast.
His use of electronic and sequenced drums and percussion has resulted in performances and recording sessions for many musicians. He released two albums with his band Spin Marvel. They performed at
Cheltenham Jazz Festival
Cheltenham Jazz Festival is one of the UK's leading jazz festivals, and is part of Cheltenham Festivals' annual festival season, also including the Science, Music and Literature Festivals in Cheltenham Spa.
Introduction and history
The Chelt ...
in the UK with the line up featuring Nils-Petter Molvaer and John Paul Jones of Led Zeppelin. He is a regular performer with NDR Big Band in Hamburg.
He has been invited to perform with the
ASKO Ensemble Asko or ASKO may refer to:
* Asko (name), a male given name common in Finland and Estonia
* Askø, a Danish island
* Asko Cylinda or Asko Appliances AB, a Swedish company producing household appliances
* AskoSchönberg, a Dutch chamber orchestra
...
,
BBC Big Band
The BBC Big Band, originally known as the BBC Radio Big Band is a British big band, previously run under the auspices of the British Broadcasting Corporation ( BBC). The band broadcasts exclusively on BBC Radio, particularly on BBC Radio 2's long ...
,
BBC Concert Orchestra
The BBC Concert Orchestra is a British concert orchestra based in London, one of the British Broadcasting Corporation's five radio orchestras. With around fifty players, it is the only one of the five BBC orchestras which is not a full-scale sym ...
,
BBC National Orchestra of Wales
The BBC National Orchestra of Wales (BBC NOW) ( cy, Cerddorfa Genedlaethol Gymreig y BBC) is a Welsh symphony orchestra and one of the BBC's five professional radio orchestras. The BBC NOW is the only professional symphony orchestra organisatio ...
,
BBC Philharmonic
The BBC Philharmonic is a national British broadcasting symphony orchestra and is one of five radio orchestras maintained by the British Broadcasting Corporation. The Philharmonic is a department of the BBC North Group division based at Med ...
,
Bergen Big Band
Bergen Big Band (BBB) is a Norwegian big band established 1991 as a continuation of Knut Kristiansen's Bergen Band. BBB is known from cooperations with musicians like Phil Woods, Paquito D'Rivera, Joe Henderson, Maria Schneider, Diana Krall, Si ...
,
Britten Sinfonia,
DR Big Band
The Danish Radio Big Band (aka: DR Big Band), often referred to as the Radioens Big Band is a radio ensemble and big band founded in Copenhagen in 1964 at the Danish Broadcasting Corporation (DR).
Band history
Originally called the New Radio ...
,
Duisburg Philharmonic
The Duisburg Philharmonic Orchestra (in German: Duisburger Philharmoniker) is a German orchestra based in Duisburg. The orchestra was founded in 1877.
Conductors include:
* Walter Josephson (1899 to 1920)
* Paul Scheinpflug (1920 to 1928)
* Eug ...
,
hr-Bigband
The hr-Bigband is the big band of Hessischer Rundfunk, the public broadcasting network of the German state of Hesse. Founded 1946 as Tanz- und Unterhaltungsorchester des Hessischen Rundfunks it was renamed to hr Big Band in 1972. Since 2005 it is ...
,
Royal Liverpool Philharmonic
Royal Liverpool Philharmonic is a music organisation based in Liverpool, England, that manages a professional symphony orchestra, a concert venue, and extensive programmes of learning through music. Its orchestra, the Royal Liverpool Philharmon ...
,
City of London Sinfonia,
London Sinfonietta
The London Sinfonietta is an English contemporary chamber orchestra founded in 1968 and based in London.
The ensemble has headquarters at Kings Place and is Resident Orchestra at the Southbank Centre. Since its inaugural concert in 1968—givi ...
,
London Symphony Orchestra
The London Symphony Orchestra (LSO) is a British symphony orchestra based in London. Founded in 1904, the LSO is the oldest of London's symphony orchestras. The LSO was created by a group of players who left Henry Wood's Queen's Hall Orc ...
,
Luxembourg Philharmonic Orchestra
The Luxembourg Philharmonic Orchestra ( lb, Lëtzebuerger philharmoneschen Orchester, french: Orchestre philharmonique du Luxembourg), abbreviated to OPL, is a symphony orchestra based in Luxembourg City, Luxembourg. The orchestra formerly perfor ...
,
MDR Leipzig Radio Symphony Orchestra
The MDR-Sinfonieorchester (in English, MDR Leipzig Radio Symphony Orchestra) is a German radio orchestra based in Leipzig. It is the radio orchestra of Mitteldeutscher Rundfunk, the public broadcaster for the German states of Thuringia, Saxony ...
,
Royal Scottish National Orchestra
The Royal Scottish National Orchestra (RSNO) ( gd, Orcastra Nàiseanta Rìoghail na h-Alba) is a British orchestra, based in Glasgow, Scotland. It is one of the five national performing arts companies of Scotland. Throughout its history, the O ...
, and
WDR Symphony Orchestra Cologne
The WDR Symphony Orchestra Cologne (German: WDR Sinfonieorchester Köln) is a German radio orchestra based in Cologne, where the orchestra mainly performs at two concert halls: the WDR Funkhaus Wallrafplatz and the Kölner Philharmonie.
Histo ...
.
He has worked with
Eivind Aarset
Eivind Aarset (born 23 March 1961) is a Norwegian guitarist who has worked with Ray Charles, Dee Dee Bridgewater, Ute Lemper, Ketil Bjørnstad, Andy Sheppard, Mike Mainieri, Arild Andersen, Abraham Laboriel, Dhafer Youssef, Django Bates, and N ...
,
Arild Andersen
Arild Andersen (born 27 October 1945) is a Norwegian jazz musician bassist, known as the most famous Norwegian bass player in the international jazz scene.
Career
Andersen was born at Strømmen, Norway. He started his musical career as jazz g ...
,
Victor Bailey,
Django Bates
Django Bates (born Leon Bates, 2 October 1960) is a British jazz musician, composer, multi-instrumentalist, band leader and educator. He plays the piano, keyboards and the tenor horn. Bates has been described as "one of the most talented music ...
,
David Binney
David Binney (born August 2, 1961) is an American alto saxophonist and composer.
Early life
Binney was born in Miami, Florida, and was raised in Carpinteria, California. From his parents, who loved music, he was exposed to albums by John C ...
,
Liane Carroll
Liane Carroll (born 9 February 1964, London) is an English vocalist, pianist and keyboardist.
Jazz critic Dave Gelly of ''The Observer'' has described her as "one of the most stylistically flexible pianists around, with a marvellous, slightl ...
,
Elvis Costello,
Palle Danielsson
Nils Paul "Palle" Danielsson (born 15 October 1946) is a Swedish jazz double bassist born in Stockholm, Sweden. From 1974 to 1979, he was a member of Keith Jarrett's quartet. He is the brother of pianist Monica Dominique.
Career
Danielsson's ...
,
John Dankworth
Sir John Phillip William Dankworth, CBE (20 September 1927 – 6 February 2010), also known as Johnny Dankworth, was an English jazz composer, saxophonist, clarinettist and writer of film scores. With his wife, jazz singer Dame Cleo Laine, he ...
,
Sidsel Endresen
Sidsel Endresen (born 19 June 1952) is a Norwegian singer, composer, and actress. She was part of the Jon Eberson group. Since 1987, Endresen has pursued a successful solo career, recording for ECM.
Career
Endresen was one of the most pronou ...
,
Paul Englishby
Paul Englishby is a film and theatre composer, orchestrator, conductor and pianist. He is best known for his Emmy Award-winning jazz score for David Hare's ''Page Eight'', his orchestral score for the Oscar nominated ''An Education'', his BAF ...
,
Mark Feldman,
Mike Gibbs,
Arve Henriksen
Arve Henriksen (born 22 March 1968) is a Norwegian trumpeter.
Career
Henriksen was born in Stranda and educated on the Jazz program at Trondheim Musikkonservatorium; he later studied music pedagogy, while he played in «Bodega Band» (1987 ...
,
Charles Hazlewood
Charles Matthew Egerton Hazlewood (born 14 November 1966) is a British conductor. After winning the European Broadcasting Union conducting competition in 1995 whilst still in his twenties,[Dave Holland
David “Dave” Holland (born 1 October 1946) is an English jazz double bassist, composer and bandleader who has been performing and recording for five decades. He has lived in the United States for over 40 years.
His extensive discography r ...]
,
Marc Johnson,
John Paul Jones
John Paul Jones (born John Paul; July 6, 1747 July 18, 1792) was a Scottish-American naval captain who was the United States' first well-known naval commander in the American Revolutionary War. He made many friends among U.S political elites ( ...
,
Anders Jormin
Anders Bertil Michael Jormin (born 7 September 1957) is a Swedish bassist and composer.
Jormin established a musical partnership with Bobo Stenson in the mid-1980s which led to international recognition playing with Charles Lloyd, in the early ...
,
Lee Konitz,
Joe Lovano
Joseph Salvatore Lovano (born December 29, 1952)"Joe Lovano." ''Contemporary Musicians''. Vol. 13. Farmington Hills, MI: Gale, 1994. Retrieved via ''Biography in Context'' database, May 5, 2017. is an American jazz saxophonist, alto clarin ...
,
Joanna MacGregor
Joanna Clare MacGregor (born 16 July 1959) is a British concert pianist, conductor, composer, and festival curator. She is Head of Piano at the Royal Academy of Music and a professor of the University of London. She is currently artistic direc ...
,
Charlie Mariano
Carmine Ugo Mariano (November 12, 1923 – June 16, 2009) was an American jazz saxophonist who focused on the alto and soprano saxophone. He occasionally performed and recorded on flute and nadaswaram as well.
Biography
Mariano was born in ...
,
Claire Martin,
Bob Mintzer,
Nils Petter Molvær
Nils Petter Molvær () also known as NPM (born 18 September 1960) is a Norwegian jazz trumpeter, composer, and record producer. He is considered a pioneer of future jazz, a genre that fuses jazz and electronic music, best showcased on his most ...
,
Evan Parker
Evan Shaw Parker (born 5 April 1944) is a British tenor and soprano saxophone player who plays free improvisation.
Recording and performing prolifically with many collaborators, Parker was a pivotal figure in the development of European free ja ...
,
Jason Rebello
Jason Matthew Rebello (born 29 March 1969) is a British pianist, songwriter, and record producer.
Career
Rebello was born in Carshalton, Surrey. His father's family is from India. Rebello was raised a Catholic in Wandsworth, London. He was cl ...
,
Adam Rogers,
Maria Schneider Maria Schneider may refer to:
* Maria Schneider (politician) (born 1923), East German politician
* Maria Schneider (actress) (1952–2011), French actress
* Maria Schneider (musician)
Maria Lynn Schneider (born November 27, 1960) is an Americ ...
,
Gwilym Simcock
Gwilym Simcock (born 24 February 1981) is a Welsh pianist and composer working in both jazz and classical music, often blurring any distinction between the two musical forms.
Simcock was chosen as one of the 1000 Most Influential People in Lo ...
,
J. Peter Schwalm,
John Surman
John Douglas Surman (born 30 August 1944) is an English jazz saxophone, bass clarinet, and synthesizer player, and composer of free jazz and modal jazz, often using themes from folk music. He has composed and performed music for dance performanc ...
,
Steve Swallow
Steve Swallow (born October 4, 1940) is an American jazz bassist and composer, known for his collaborations with Jimmy Giuffre, Gary Burton, and Carla Bley. He was one of the first jazz double bassists to switch entirely to electric bass guitar.
...
,
June Tabor
June Tabor (born 31 December 1947 in Warwick, England) is an English folk singer known for her solo work and her earlier collaborations with Maddy Prior and with Oysterband.
Early life
June Tabor was born and grew up in Warwick, England. As ...
,
Ralph Towner
Ralph Towner (born March 1, 1940) is an American multi-instrumentalist, composer, arranger and bandleader. He plays the twelve-string guitar, classical guitar, piano, synthesizer, percussion, trumpet and French horn.
Biography
Towner was born i ...
,
Stephen Warbeck
Stephen Warbeck (born 21 October 1953) is an English composer, best known for his film and television scores.
Warbeck was born in Southampton, Hampshire. He first became known for the music for ''Prime Suspect'' and won an Oscar for his score fo ...
,
Bugge Wesseltoft
Jens Christian Bugge Wesseltoft (born 1 February 1964) is a Norwegian jazz pianist, composer, and producer, son of jazz guitarist Erik Wesseltoft.
Career
In 1989, Wesseltoft collaborated with the Knut Riisnæs Quartet and was soon after ...
,
Kenny Wheeler
Kenneth Vincent John Wheeler, OC (14 January 1930 – 18 September 2014) was a Canadian composer and trumpet and flugelhorn player, based in the U.K. from the 1950s onwards.
Most of his performances were rooted in jazz, but he was also active i ...
,
Norma Winstone
Norma Ann Winstone MBE (born 23 September 1941) is an English jazz singer and lyricist. With a career spanning more than 50 years, she is best known for her wordless improvisations. Musicians with whom she has worked include Michael Garrick, ...
, and
Yazz Ahmed.
References
External links
Official websiteAll About Jazz articleSpin Marvel articleZildjian articleSound on Sound: software samplingJazzwise bioInterview with Martin FranceBBC Masterclass with Martin France
{{DEFAULTSORT:France, Martin
1964 births
English jazz drummers
Living people
British male drummers
Musicians from Kent
People from Rainham, Kent
British male jazz musicians
Delightful Precipice members
Human Chain members
ECM Records artists
Edition Records artists
Basho Records artists