Biography: Mark Townson
I was one of those unlucky kids who went to boarding school when only 8 years old……the silver lining in the affair was that some of my first room mates were from Nigeria and played Fela Kuti at full volume, which was to have some life long lasting effects on me, one of which is I have been fascinated by music and more specifically drumming ever since.
I was playing a three week residency in my local home town blues club at the age of 17 during school holidays, and went to Drum Tech in Los Angeles when I was 20 to study the drum kit. Three years later in the mid eighties I gave up playing when through one thing and another, I ended up managing nearly all of the incredible South African musicians who were in London in exile from apartheid South Africa. These included Grammy award winning Jonas Gwangwa for the music he wrote for the Richard Attenborough film ‘Cry Freedom’, most of Hugh Masekela’s band Kalahari, Bushmen Don’t Surf, Bheki Mseleku, Duze Mahlobo and also acted as tour manager for Malombo when they came to Europe amongst many others. Going to three of four African gigs a week for almost four years is where I learnt to dance, a crucial element of being able to play the drums!
In the early nineties I returned to playing music, but this time as a percussionist playing mainly conga and some timbale, along with all the shakers, tambourines, bells, rattles and a little bit of talking drum and bata. I was signed as an artist to Acid Jazz records with the group Emperors New Clothes, and went on to play and tour for James Taylor Quartet, Brooklyn Funk Essentials and the Acid Jazz All-stars. At the same time I had been working in a Brixton recording studio, through which I got to play and record for Gregory Isaacs, Sugar Minott and Benjamin Zephaniah. Later I went on to tour with Nicolette of Massive Attack fame, and Drum’n’Bass outfit Voyager. I also had a recording session for Goldie.
During this time I started to develop a particular style for playing with DJs, and went on to play for and have residencies at Carwash, Ministry of Sound, Café de Paris, Heaven, the Time and Envy Clubs and the Wag Club.
Over the years I have continued to learn many forms of music through different experiences, but always to develop my own sound and style. More recently I was a member of the Hot Orange and London Jazz Collective big bands, studied with Afro Cuba de Matanzas in Cuba, and in July, a real high point for me, I headlined at the WOMAD festival with Baaba Maal!!!!
My most recent project has seen me finally put my own band together, in which I am blessed to have some of the finest players in Europe, including Richard Bailey on drums, Miles Danso on double Bass, Kishon Khan on piano, Randy Lester on Timbale, Frank Williams on sax and Javier Camilo on vocals. The Band is called: ‘Caractacus the Conga Conqueror and the Afro Latin Ensemble of London’!!
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