HeĬame to international prominence during his decade living in London between 19, a became a regular collaborator with a community of producers including Bugz in the Attic, 4Hero and Restless Soul. Mark de Clive-Lowe is a half-Japanese, half-New Zealander musician, composer and producer raised in Auckland, New Zealand. “It’s a favourite of mine, with its two main characters being such juxtaposed personalities, but their only way to succeed is to work together – the lessons and reflection in that alone is self-evident,” adds de Clive Lowe.Ĭompositions such as ‘Lullabies of the Lost’ are a deep meditation that transports us simultaneously back hundreds of years into the right here and now, while the horn-heavy, fusion-driven ‘Art of Altercation’, confronts the skill of conflict and confrontation.Įlsewhere, the impulsive and free-flowing ‘Cosmic Collisions’ merges raw grooves and electronics – an interstellar configuration of stars, light years from each other, while ‘Circle of Transmigration’ challenges the never ending circle of life, fusing soaring horns and piano-driven melodies. The musical ‘stories’ contained in ‘Sonkei’ are each named after episodes from Samurai Champloo, an Edo-era, Japanese anime series following two ronin and their charge in search of the elusive “samurai who smells of sunflower”. There’s a beautiful word for this in Japanese: sonkei,” says de Clive-Lowe. In every way there’s so much respect and reverence for the music, and for each other – which is no coincidence given how much Japan is built on an ingrained culture of respect. That’s the heart of the ‘jazz’ in Ronin Arkestra – being wide open to the moment and letting the music happen as it wants to. “That’s the beauty of this collective – everyone is so great at what they do, playing to the music rather than their own egos and so open to the moment. Reaching out to his musician friends including Sauce81, they began recording at Red Bull Studio in Tokyo and the chemistry was instant, creating an impulsive sound that blended spiritual jazz and beat sensibilities heavy on the improvisation. Rōnin Arkestra started life with de Clive Lowe wanting to create a project with some of his favourite Japanese musicians, unaware of the sound, shape or vibe it would manifest. “The members of Rōnin Arkestra are some of my favorite musicians anywhere and the way we all come together in battle formation with so much heart and soul is making magic,” says de Clive Lowe. It’s a fascinating evolution that has a parallel to each member in the Rōnin Arkestra collective – master musicians from different bands and clans coming together to create a vagabond band of like-minded musicians – weaving the stories of their lives into a collective sound. As the need for their swordsmanship declined, they became master artisans making textiles, crafting poetry, painting and writing books. Deadly master swordsmen who, without lords to serve, roamed Japan offering their skills wherever needed. The super-group takes their name from Rōnin, the masterless samurai of a time gone by. The album follows the release of their critically acclaimed debut EP ‘First Meeting’, released earlier this year. Think of it this way: If Hawkeye is an Avenger who helps save the day, Ronin is a vigilante who kills (mostly bad guys) at will.Led by producer, composer, and multi-instrumentalist Mark de Clive Lowe, Tokyo’s Rōnin Arkestra brings together some of the most supreme and innovative players in Japan’s Jazz and electronic scene, featuring members of Kyoto Jazz Sextet, WONK, Cro-Magnon, Root Soul, Sleepwalker, Sauce81 and Kyoto Jazz Massive.įormed in 2017, the collective’s debut album ‘Sonkei’, released 27th September via Albert’s Favourites, fuses ’60s deep and spiritual jazz with experimental electronica. So despite the fact that the name Ronin is never uttered in “Avengers: Endgame,” Hawkeye was Ronin in that one scene. What fans may not know is that Hawkeye’s little ninja sequence in “Avengers: Endgame” is a nod to a comics run that saw his character take on the alter ego of Ronin, and in “Hawkeye” it’s revealed that his time fighting criminals as Ronin has made some very serious enemies. Natasha was able to convince Hawkeye to lay down his sword and join her and the other surviving Avengers to try and go back in time and reverse Thanos’ snap - which they ultimately did, but at the cost of Natasha’s life. Hawkeye had a different haircut and even a different costume, and had devoted his life to becoming a vigilante in the wake of his entire family’s disappearance when Thanos snapped half the universe out of existence. If you’ll recall, shortly after that jaw-dropping five-year time jump in the 2019 film “Avengers: Endgame,” Natasha Romanoff (Scarlett Johansson) tracked her old pal Hawkeye down in the streets of Tokyo where he was slicing and dicing members of organized crime.
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