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Mark Lotz

Flutist, Improvisor, Composer Mark Lotz is more than just a big voice in the European jazz scene. He is at the forefront of jazz, classical and World Music and is obviously enjoying every minute of it! (Tomas Pena, Jazz.com & Latin Jazz Network) Raised in Thailand, Uganda and Germany Marks appetite for musical adventures takes him all over the globe ever since. This spans an arc of collaborations with not only in jazz but also world music, theater, performance art, visual arts, film, dance and Vj. As improviser and composer Lotz is transporting his horn into areas of contemporary music. His personal language combines esthetics and techniques of contemporary and classical music with the virility of jazz. His interpretations of Afro Cuban religious folklore, West African Fula music, Turkish free improvised music and his solo recitals particularly gained much international high acclaim. Mark maintains a busy schedule in multiple capacities as soloist, bandleader, composer, producer, teacher and curator. Seeking to capitalize on the music-hungry fanbase that developed Mark launched festivals and concert series, serving the community through the arts. Mark is passionately committed to music education and outreach, having given clinics and masterclasses around the world. Some facts:

  • Grew up in Thailand and Uganda as son of jazz researcher Dr. Rainer Lotz. Started playing flute at age of seventeen and ended up studying both jazz and classical music at the School of Arts Amsterdam, The Netherlands. Private tuition in the US. Price winner of the Karlovy Vary and Middlesea Jazz competions. 2008-2010 student of Indian Bansuri Flute at Codarts.
  • Through the years Mark has performed and recorded with many unknown and many equally talented famous artists. Literally from A(rmenia) too Z(ambia). A.o. Don Byron, Chris Potter, Dave Tronzo, Carlos Zingaro, members of the Conjunto Folklorico Nacional de Cuba, Miguel "Anga" Diaz, Michael Moore, Jason Robinson & Cosmologic, Najma Akthar, Eddy Martinez, Nicky Marrero, Petar Ralchev, Amelia Pedroso, Anatol Stefanet, David Haney, Michael Vatcher, Zuco 103, Theo Lovendie, Ernst Reisegger, Han Bennink, Thomas Strønen, etc.
  • Toured Festivals in Canada, USA, Moldavia, Ukraine, Russia, Suriname, Bulgaria, French Guyana, Senegal, Cuba, Egypt, China, Taiwan, Japan, Poland, Portugal, Nepal, India, Scottland, Spain, Finland, France and Turkey.
  • Mark Lotz was part of the “Music: World Series” concert organisation and the free improvised music concert series "u-ex(perimental)". Curated Festivals in Holland and Taiwan. At present is director of the 'Jazz On The Sofa' Festival, VOLfest and Jazzcafé Zeist. Mark has hold masterclasses in Holland, Germany, Portugal, Turkey, Finland, Poland, Italy, Japan and Taiwan. Teaches flute at the HKU and Codarts Conservatories in the Netherlands.
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Album Review

Mark Lotz: Freshta

Read "Freshta" reviewed by Alberto Bazzurro


Il sessantenne poliflautista e compositore tedesco Mark Lotz dedica questo suo nuovo lavoro all'attivista per i diritti delle donne Freshta Kohistani, uccisa a ventinove anni da un commando armato nella provincia di Kapsia in Afghanistan, dove viveva, poco più di tre anni or sono, nel dicembre 2020 (del resto ognuno degli undici brani presenti nel cd ha una sua dedica). Già da questa prima annotazione si comprenderà come l'aspetto architettonico-compositivo debba avere una rilevanza particolare nell'opera, ciò che un sestetto ...

3
Album Review

Mark Lotz: Turn On, Tune In, Drop Out!

Read "Turn On, Tune In, Drop Out!" reviewed by Mike Jurkovic


There's a curious sense of humor rampant throughout flautist Mark Lotz's 2023 trio outing Tune In, Turn On, Drop Out!. And why shouldn't there be? Given the nature of Lotz's inspiration--acid folk-hero Timothy Leary's era defining treatise by the same title--the music should be that and a whole lot more. And it is! Lotz, a three decade veteran of the hotbed Dutch jazz scene who has recorded/gigged with Chris Potter, Don Byron and a host of ...

13
Album Review

Mark Alban Lotz: The Wroclaw Sessions

Read "The Wroclaw Sessions" reviewed by Don Phipps


Mark Alban Lotz has infused his album The Wroclaw Sessions with a collection of standards, classics and four originals (three of which he co-wrote) that explore a wide range of musical styles. Aided by bassist Grzegorz Piasecki and drummer Wojciech Buliński, Lotz easily makes transitions over a diverse musical terrain, which includes numbers such as Sam Rivers' “Euterpe" and Victor Young's “Song for Delilah" (from the soundtrack for the 1949 movie Samson and Delilah). Lotz's gift lies in ...

3
Album Review

Mark Alban Lotz: The Wroclaw Sessions

Read "The Wroclaw Sessions" reviewed by Mark Corroto


Mark Alban Lotz is bringing sexy back into jazz with his trio recording The Wroclaw Sessions. The German born / Dutch resident draws from not only jazz but folk and classical influences for these nine tracks, four of which are originals. It's sexy because the music conveys a certain charisma or musical pheromone fashioned to affect behavior as it is released into the aural airwaves. Opening with Sam Rivers “Euterpe" from the 1967 recording Contours (Blue Note), Lotz ...

1
Album Review

Lotz Of Music: Live At JazzCase

Read "Live At JazzCase" reviewed by Troy Dostert


With an upbringing that involved living in Thailand, Germany and Uganda, it was perhaps inevitable that flautist Mark Alban Lotz would take a global approach to his craft as a musician. His substantial recorded output (over a dozen releases to his name, to date) bears ample witness to his restless quest for new forms of expression, while always remaining at least tangentially rooted in the jazz tradition. On his latest release, a live recording from JazzCase in Dommelhof, Belgium, Lotz ...

8
Album Review

Mark Lotz and Alan Purves: Food Foragers

Read "Food Foragers" reviewed by Don Phipps


Somewhere there is a dense green forest. One can barely see through the foliage. Inside this forest is a meadow. There stands Mark Alban Lotz, surrounded by flutes of various sizes and shapes. Next to him is Alan Purves, encircled by an array of bizarre and ancient percussion instruments. Together, these two artists are creating odes to forests, jungles, and deserts, the subconscious mind, peaceful meditations, and odd and humorous tales--music that hearkens back to ancient rituals, dreams, and time ...

8
Album Review

Mark Alban Lotz: Solo Flutes

Read "Solo Flutes" reviewed by Eyal Hareuveni


The eclectic, even eccentric musical tastes of German, Netherlands- based flute master Mark Alban Lotz may be attributed to his personal history. He grew up in Thailand, Germany, and Uganda, while studying jazz, contemporary music, and Indian bansuri flute playing in Amsterdam, New York, and jny: Los Angeles. This globe-trotting biography is reflected in his flute solo performances of contemporary composed music and associative improvisations, all recorded in one go with no overdubs or sound processing. ...

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Recording

Mark Alban Lotz & Meinrad Kneer CD Release "U-Ex(perimental)"

Mark Alban Lotz & Meinrad Kneer  CD Release "U-Ex(perimental)"

Source: Mark Alban Lotz

Holland based multi flutist Mark Alban Lotz and German bassist Meinrad Kneer released a new CD with 26 tracks of extreme textures and atmospheres with both established, as well as emerging new talents of the Dutch improvised scene. An example of the present-day developments and diversity of free music in Holland. u-ex(perimental) is an improvised music concert series, based in Utrecht, the Netherlands. a platform for spontaneous encounters of improvising musicians in concert. Evil Rabbit Records ERR17. Musicians include: Mark ...

  • Unprecedented phenomenon in the Dutch impro-scene. (Draaiomjeoren.com, NL)
  • Ambitious composer of unique contexts. (Cadence Magazine, USA)
  • Lotz opens a view into the jazz of the future. (Nieuwsblad v/h Noorden, NL)
  • Mark Alban Lotz - a German-Dutch genius and flute master. (Jazz, T.Basanta, USA)
  • article at latinjazz.net
  • article at jazz.com
Primary Instrument

Flute

Willing to teach

Advanced only

Credentials/Background

Teaches flute at the Utrecht Conservatory HKU The Netherlands

Photos

Music

Recordings: As Leader | As Sideperson

Turn On, Tune In,...

ZenneZ Records
2023

buy

Freshta

ZenneZ Records Berthold records
2023

buy

Live At JazzCase

El Negocito Records
2019

buy

Food Foragers

Unit Records
2018

buy

Solo Flutes

Lop Lop Records
2014

buy

Isabel

From: Freshta
By Mark Lotz

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