Our first CD was like being in a  Forest, our next CD is like coming to a clearing and blinking in the light and finding some strange buildings all round you

We're coming to Alaska in August 2008. Be great to see you there. If you're a musician say hi!

Dan Wilson Mark Huggett Project: Max Roach Park:

Background:

Mark Huggett is an English drummer and Annie Whitehead/ Jennifer Maidman collaborator ( David Sylvian , Robert Wyatt, Loius Moholo, Claude Deppa, Dudu Pukwana, Richard Ajifeye). He has toured Europe extensively, supporting bands such as Crowded House, The Pogues and Johnny Thunders. He played in the cult 90’s Irish rock band Dr Millar and the Cute Hoors, who had a top twenty single, as well as Red Harvest, who were produced by Pete Shelley of the Buzzcocks and with Adrian Borland of the influential English Rock band " The Sound". Mark is now an in demand session drummer in London playing Rock Jazz, ska and club music.

Dan Wilson is from Durban and has worked with Kenny Henson and Richard Ellis in the South African world music band Endangered Species. Dan has also worked with well-known Durban stalwart Syd Kitchen in his Amakool band, performing at several festivals such as Oppikoppi and Splashy Fen and playing bass on his seminal ’Africa’s Not for Sissies’ album, which was voted one of the top SA rock albums on its release.

They have been working together for a number of years both on their own projects and with other artists. Their music is an eclectic mix of sample and loop based grooves mixing 1970s rock sensibilities with cutting edge production . Their material draws as much from Gilles Peterson style jazz as it does from bands like Groove Armada. Can, Brian Eno Bootsy Collins and Sly and Robbie. There music has a Widescreen sound and fuses World music with Miles Davis influenced vamps

So Why Max Roach Park?
The CD is so called because Mark lived close by to the Park named after the famous Jazz Drummer The park symbolized the multi ethic vibrancy of the Brixton area of London where it was situated and Max Roach was closely associated with South Africa. Mark also loved the fact that they named a Park after a drummer!
The CD is a blend of music perfect for the Ipod shuffle generation. Mixing classic grooves with rock intensity. Jazz influenced but with economy of structure and emphasis on song writing utilising World music, South African, English , Norwegian and American influences.

Reviews
" Haunting Big grooves"
" Mesmerising"
"Strikes a deep-seated emotional chord"
"The grooves and the melodies are wonderful; really fresh, new and inventive, and the production is superb"
"Max Roach Park is the kind of record you’d hear in an aching cool club, a particularly sophisticated dinner party or at 6am when you’ve rolled in from a club and need to RELAX...?Makes you want to go an lay in a beach in the sunshine..."

Hi everyone just to let you know that we’ve been nominated for best jazz CD at this years South African Music Awards. Below is a press release from our record company Musketeer Records



Musketeer Records is best known for working with rock bands like Seether and Fevertree but The Dan Wilson Mark Huggett Project sent the label a CD that was too good to ignore. Max Roach Park is a fascinating World Music/Jazz album that has seen the record label dive into unfamiliar territory and surface smiling.



The Dan Wilson Mark Huggett Project has a very unique and refreshing style. The SAMA judges clearly agree that this album is too good to ignore. Max Roach Park sits comfortably in the "Best Traditional Jazz" category alongside Carlo Mombelli & the Prisoners of Strange, Johnny Fourie, Mccoy Mrubata and Wessel van Rensburg.



Delighted with the nomination Mark Huggett had the following to say from London,

"I feel honoured to be nominated for such a prestigious award and to be in such esteemed company as the other nominees. I would like to thank everyone that has come to see us play in South Africa or bought our CD, I would also like to thank, for their continuing support, our record company Musketeer Records and in particular Paul Seele. I would like to dedicate our nomination to Richard Haslop of SAFM for his interest and generosity"



The album is a truly global product with bassist Dan Wilson based in Durban and drummer Mark Huggett living in London. The duo worked on the project telephonically sending files back and forth, drawing on a diverse range of musical and social influences. The album features guest artists from around the globe including Yngvil Vattn Guttu, a Norwegian trumpeter based in Anchorage.



The album title came from a park in Brixton, London. The cultural diversity that Huggett saw in the park was as much an inspiration for the band as Jazz Legend Max Roach’s drumming.



The Dan Wilson Mark Huggett Project performed a series of shows in South Africa last year. The group is embarking on a steadily-paced world tour, visiting various countries each year. The group will be touring America in June 2008.



For more information visit:

http://www.myspace.com/danwilsonmarkhuggettproject
The SA Music Awards
http://www.samusicawards.co.za/

South African Tour 2007: Max Roach Park

The stage was set , Yngvil would arrive in Durban from Alaska via New York and Jo berg 3 days after I got in from London. Planning the trip I spoke to my Dad, he came to Durban in 1942. He sailed from Scotland on The Durban Castle. They arrived from a war torn London with its blackouts, rationing and nightly bombing raids. They thought they had come to paradise. At the centre of that particular rose was a thorn however, apartheid. He told me how shocked the sailors were at the signs saying whites only.

Spin on 65 years and I wander down to the Durban beach to see the surfers on spectacular waves. I see guys selling rickshaw rides like I saw in my Dads photos, I ring my him from the beach and describe how Durban looks today.

First up we play a house party in the Kloof, with the Indian Ocean directly below us. As we played, beautiful fire dancers performed to our music. It was a great way to start the tour. I meet so many welcoming and warm people.

Our second gig at Lounge Kloof is cancelled but some good friends of Dan turn up and suggest we go back to their house for an impromptu session and a some fine wine. I think why not? I'll probably just sit in the corner and play bongos or something. We arrive at their house and loads of people start turning up so we do a couple of full sets. One thing that I've noticed in South Africa is that audiences really listen when you're playing. At the university of Kwa Zulu Natal we are joined by a local pianist Thor, who also plays with us at the Phansi museum. Both gigs go down really well

We do the Richard Haslop show on SA FM., which is a really enjoyable experience. Richard is a hugely knowledgeable person. He definitely has us sussed musically and he plays music that has greatly influenced the CD. Another highlight was meeting with the journalist Giselle Turner who showed us great hospitality and a great insight into what we are bout. We also get to meet some great guys at Tuks FM .

We see the other side of South Africa too, Yngvil our trumpet player and Anne who is making a film about our tour are robbed at knifepoint by a gang in broad daylight in a market in Durban. They are not physically harmed but lost all their stuff and are badly shaken up.

Our tour of South Africa is totally self-financed so losing a load of stuff is really bad news. We have a meeting to decide about how we will handle going to Jo Berg in terms of cost and getting about safely etc. A couple of friends of Dans come to the rescue. They let us stay with them at their house in Jo berg whilst we play the record store and mall gigs in the city. In return we play a gig at their party. We hook up in Jo Berg with Paul Seele form Musketeer records. Paul set up the gigs and helps us out on the day to day stuff too. It was great to finally meet Paul, he also set up the distribution of Max Roach Park in SA.

In between all the this we travel back up to the Drakensberg where we stay miles from anywhere. Someone told me that it's where Tolkein styed just before he wrote Lord of The Rings, I can see how someone could be incredibly inspired by such a magnificent landscape. One night as a blood red sunset sank over the giants castle I could see Mordor right there. We use our time there to rehearse and to work on some new material.

we're going to be playing some gigs in the USA in August. We're going to be playing Alaska for sure, let us know where else we should come to

DWMHP

Hi

Seem to have lost a load of myspace friends. If you find you're no longer on my friend list please don't take it personal and just send me another request

ATB M

Big up to  Richard Haslop of SAFM in South Africa for playing the CD on his late night show on Wednesday, check the show out here;

www.safm.co.za/programmedetails/index.jsp?programmeid=21

Another Big up to Sean Millar of East Coast Radio In Ireland for also playing the CD, check out his show here;

www.eastcoastradio.tinet.ie/ecr/ecronline.htm

More hugs to Wired magazine for making the CD record of the month, check them out here;

http://wiredmag.co.uk/

Reviews n stuff live here;

http://www.jazzcds.co.uk/artistreview_id_656

Food for you ipod lives here

http://www.jazzdirect.co.uk/artistsupport.html

Regards Mark