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Spin(ning) Marvel(lously)  Drummer, Martin France, has been a vital and creative force on the British jazz scene for some twenty five years, but always seeming to be ploughing his creative energies into other peoples bands and projects. Now at long last he is set to make his mark with his first recording under his own name with Spin Marvel. We send Nick Lea to find out more. Tell us a little about your new recording, Spin Marvel. How was it conceived and recorded? The record took a long time to produce, as I needed to get all the right blocks in the right places. We started recording two years ago and these recordings formed the basis for many of the tracks. As well as recording the acoustic instruments we then spent a long time editing and programming the music. In the final stages the audio files were swapped between myself and Terje in Oslo, spending a long time making the final minor adjustments. I then went to Oslo to do the final mix with him. How much of the album is composed, and were the compositions subject to change during the process of recording the album?  I was commissioned by Tony Dudley Evans and Cheltenham Jazz Festival to write music for the band in 2002. This recording is seen as a continuation of work that started with Tony. Bassist, Tim Harries and I decided to record together under the Spin Marvel umbrella but once we started work the project took on its own life. We were keen to make the music as organic as possible and let it follow it?s own path. There are traces of some of the compositions in the music on the record but it is in effect a totally new project. How did you go about choosing the musician's that appeared on the album? I have worked with both Tim (Harries) and John (Parricelli) for many years. They are very serious musicians with total respect for the music. They bring with them so much experience of all types of music, they are great improvisers but they also bring a great understanding with them of something else that is important to me ? sound, which is what it?s all about isn?t it? Terje is very much a multi talented musician too who I met here in London. Not only is he a great drummer but he has other skills too, which mark him out as a very special musician to me. He worked hard on this project too and we didn?t have to say much to each other, we followed our instincts, knew what was working and when it was right. How did you first get into music and playing drums? As a child I played violin briefly but switched to drums at the age of 9years old. I was lucky to have good teachers who inspired me in not only their teaching methods but also with the music that was around me. Have you always been interested in playing jazz, or did you start off playing other types of music? I suppose I was always interested in playing jazz as I listened to a lot of the American and British big band players. My main drum teacher was also a keen jazz fan but looking back he taught me all round skills, more than likely grooming me for session work. Later on and in my professional career I have always listened and been influenced by many different styles of music. I first came across your playing with the band First House, that featured Django Bates and saxophonist, Ken Stubbs with whom you recorded a couple of albums for ECM. You were also playing with Iain Ballamy's quartet, and were associated with the Loose Tubes big band. Tell us a little about this early period of your career.  When I first moved to London I met so many young musicians of my age, which provided a lot of inspiration, and I was also able to play a lot of original music. This gave me a direction and a style, which I could develop. I was also very fortunate to play with musicians who were my idols in the European jazz scene: Kenny Wheeler, John Taylor and Evan Parker.Since then the musical relationships initially formed in the eighties have continued to develop. You still play with Django Bates and Iain Ballamy in Human Chain, along with colleagues such as guitarist John Parricelli, and saxophonist Mark Lockheart (whose forthcoming album 'Moving Air you have recently played on). Why do you think that the musical friendships forged twenty years ago have continued to flourish and grow? Musical relationships change and develop like other relationships and therefore not all of these musical relationships still exist, but I think that the most artistic, creative and important ones for me are still developing and growing. I suspect this is not only to do with having musical common ground but also having a similar high respect and regard for the serious art of music making. In your career to date, you have played on more than fifty albums. Do you have any particular favourites, or special memories or anecdotes? I have been very lucky to have had a lot of experience both good and bad in many different musical situations, which have formed my musical outlook and wisdom. Every experience of playing music stays with you and changes your music so I feel that I am constantly developing and distilling my ideas. Looking at it that way I would have to say that my playing is getting better, therefore it follows that the last recording I made has to be the best! But seriously I have a record about to be released on CAM that I played on with John Taylor and Palle Danielssen and this was a wonderful experience for me to play with these very, very special musicians. Making pure music and nothing else. You are shortly to tour the music from Spin Marvel. Will the same musicians be in the band, and will there be any difficulties to overcome to bring the music to a live performance? Yes there will be problems, mostly technical but we will find ways around this! Don?t forget this music has many qualities of jazz even though it may not sound to some listeners very similar at all. Like all great jazz musicians we will be trying, above everything else, to improvise with sound. 
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