Martin France

Martin France (born February 29, 1964 in Rainham / Kent ) is a British jazz drummer.

Live and act

Coming from a musical family (both parents are amateur musicians), France began playing the drums in Manchester in 1975 . He received drum lessons from Geoff Riley, Kenny Clare and Richard Smith and initially accompanied singers in organ trios. In 1982 he moved to London and joined the ECM label through the collaboration with Evan Parker and Kenny Wheeler , where he has released two albums since 1983 with the collaborative band First House , which also includes Ken Stubbs , Django Bates and Mick Hutton . He toured with various bands of the label and became a member of his friend Django Bates' band projects Human Chain and Loose Tubes . He then worked with musicians such as Iain Ballamy , David Gilmour , John Taylor , Lee Konitz , Dave Holland , Steve Swallow , Nils Petter Molvær , Bugge Wesseltoft , Michael Gibbs , Maria Schneider , the Cologne Saxophone Mafia , Vitold Rek , Norma Winstone and Sidsel Endresen together. He also played music for film soundtracks and worked on crossover projects with the " London Sinfonietta " and the " BBC National Orchestra of Wales ", among others . He was also involved in some productions of the NDR big band .

In total, France played as a sideman on more than 100 albums, including with Billy Jenkins , Julian Argüelles , Eddie Parker , Cleveland Watkiss , John Parricelli and Michiel Braam . He worked in a quartet with the pianist Jan Gunnar Hoff , the guitarist John Parricelli and the bassist Bjørn Kjellemyr . He then founded the group Spin Marvel with bassist Tim Harries , guitarist John Parricelli and keyboardist Terje Evensen , whose album of the same name was released in 2005.

France is Professor of Jazz Drums / Percussion at the Royal Academy of Music .

Ian Carr et al. A., The Rough Guide to Jazz . London: Rough Guide 2004; ISBN 978-1843532569
John Chilton , Who's Who of British Jazz . London: Continuum 2004; ISBN 978-0826472342