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Kavuma And The Banger Factory by Howard Lawes
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Like many musicians, trumpeter Mark Kavuma was impacted by the lockdowns caused by Covid-19 but in his case it gave him an opportunity to fulfill the ambition of forming his own record company. In conversation, Mark explained that in normal times setting up a record label would have been a far more daunting task, but with the help of industry experts such as Emma Perry and Elaine Crouch he has been able to solve any problems that arose and he is now proudly releasing the first album on Banger Factory Records - Arashi No Ato by Mark Kavuma & The Banger Factory.
Arashi No Ato is Japanese for 'After the Storm' which alludes to the ending of lockdown - 'the Japanese version of the title just sounds better'.
Listen to the title track Arashi No Alto.
Before the Covid storm gathered, Mark played a weekly standing gig at the Prince of Wales pub in Brixton and as he says "If we got the people dancing with our original music then we knew we were onto a banger. As a result we would strive to play bangers all night long for the people". The word 'banger' is often used to describe great music and Mark Kavuma's plan for the Banger Factory is to rapidly expand production, but apart from releasing albums it is his hope that The Banger Factory will bring different communities together through their music. Mark also pays tribute to the Serious Take 5 development programme which has recently provided further help in developing his career.
Mark's desire to benefit local communities parallels the support and fellowship he experienced as a teenage trumpeter with Kinetika Bloco and Tomorrow's Warriors; organisations that he is still involved with. Mark is a tutor and Bloco Leader with Kinetika Bloco; at Tomorrow's Warriors he is an associate music leader and as a member of their professional performance ensembles including Nu Civilisation Orchestra, Jazz Jamaica small band and Jazz Jamaica all-stars. Mark says about his 
educational work "Music has truly changed my life. It has given me purpose and a sense of belonging. Passing on the joy that music has brought into my life to others fills me with more joy and happiness. It is a blessing supreme".
In 2012 the Tomorrow’s Warriors Youth Jazz Orchestra was invited to be part of the UK wide expression of Jazz at Lincoln Center’s acclaimed Essentially Ellington High School Big Band programme; Mark Kavuma was voted best soloist and was rewarded by being featured at a concert with Wynton Marsalis and Jazz at Lincoln Center Orchestra. He repeated this achievement in 2016, while in the same year at a conference of musicologists at the University of Surrey, his performance of the iconic Miles Davis' Kind of Blue remains in the memory. Mark comments "Miles is a big inspiration for me. I remember listening to a lot of Miles when I was getting into jazz. In fact, it was the four classic albums he did on Prestige: Cookin’, Steamin’, Workin’, and Relaxin’ with the Miles Davis quintet that really got me hooked on jazz. I was obsessed with those albums. His playing, the ensemble playing, the arrangements and the style, I was captivated by it all. So in that sense Miles has always been a big inspiration for me, even now".
Another string to Mark Kavuma's bow is his work in the theatre. In 2013 he was part of the on-stage band at the National Theatre for a production of James Baldwin's play Amen Corner directed by Rufus Norris. Set in Harlem in the 1950s both jazz and gospel singing were a crucial part of the drama. Also in 2013 his performance in Eugene O'Neill's El Train at Hoxton Hall was described as 'virtuoso' by critic Kate Kellaway who awarded the production five stars. In 2014 he toured worldwide with Peter Brook's production of the The Suit, set in a township in South Africa during the apartheid era - the story incorporates jazz, classical and South African township music. In 2019 Mark curated the music for a Barbican Art Gallery exhibition called Into The Night which was spanning the 1880s to the 1960s."Into The Night celebrated the creative spaces where artists congregate to push the boundaries of artistic expression", he says. "The exhibition offered insight into the heady atmosphere of Berlin clubs in Weimar Germany; the energy of Harlem’s jazz scene; the vibrant context of the Mbari clubs in 1960s Nigeria; and many more."
In 2018 Mark Kavuma graduated from Trinity Laban College and also released his debut album, Kavuma, closely followed in 2019 by The Banger Factory, both on Ubuntu Records. A track from Kavuma called Into The Darkness is available on YouTube accompanying contemporary dancers directed by Mark Kavuma and arts collective Odd Venture:
Arashi No Ato features the Banger Factory Band, which apart from Mark himself on trumpet, is Mussinghi Brian Edwards, Kaidi Akinnibi (tenor saxophone); Artie Zaitz (guitar); David Mrakpor (vibraphone); Reuben James (piano/organ); Dechanel Gordon (piano); Michael Shrimpling (double bass) and William Cleasby (drums). There are also a number of guests Dylan Jones (trumpet); Theon Cross (tuba); Misha Fox (trombone/vocals); Deji Ijishakin (tenor saxophone) and vocalists Shayanna Harris, Marcina Arnold, Megan Linnell, Livi Graham, Leena Chabula, Felicia Thandie Bhebhe, Django Booker-Roi Edwards, Ijishakin and Ritchie Seivwright, all of whom feature on the final track of the album which is the gospel classic, One More River To Cross. The melodic title track soothes the mind after the trials and tribulations of the storm while track 2, Eliud was inspired by the remarkable Kenyan, Olympic gold medal winning marathon runner Eliud Kipchoge, a brisk tune to go for a run with and get rid of all the lockdown blues.
Listen to Eliud.
The romantic Love Will Find A Way not only features Theon Cross on tuba but is taken from the 1921, hit Broadway musical which, with its all African-American cast was credited with inspiring an intellectual and cultural revival of African-American music, not the least of which included the music of Duke Ellington and Louis Armstrong. The composition Hedz by Musshinghi Brian Edwards is a Banger Factory standard, the sort of tune that got the Prince of Wales audience dancing and so of course had to be on the album, while David Danced is from Duke Ellington's Sacred Music that was performed by the Nu Civilisation Orchestra at the BBC Proms in 2019.
Listen to Love Will Find A Way.
It is clear that this album is very personal to Mark Kavuma, a celebration of those things that he holds dear that includes his African heritage (he was born in Uganda), the African music that he remembers from family gatherings, the spiritual music he fell in love with through the church, his new record label and of course the Banger Factory band. Mark says "I love all the guys in the band dearly. We are very good friends and the relationships we have built over the years are instrumental to the success of the unit and the music we create. I hang out with these guys a lot outside of music and so when we do get together to create music it is that much more special." He also has so many happy memories of gigs at the Prince of Wales. Mark says "this is where my identity as a musician has really been shaped. I have had the freedom to explore and experiment. I have had the opportunity to develop my band-leading skills, my original material and also how I engage with the audience. The POW has provided me with the freedom to grow as an artist."
The next release on Banger Factory records will be the Kinetika Bloco All-Stars Album in December featuring a host of London’s burgeoning new jazz generation including Theon Cross, Nubya Garcia, Ruben Fox, Sheila Maurice Grey and Reuben James .... to name a few. In the meantime Arashi No Ato is a varied album of well-crafted arrangements from a great band that really knows its bangers.
Click here for details of the album.
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