Humble genius of the drums.
Oliver Weindling writes:
It was a privilege to have known Martin for nearly 40 years.
Not just for his skill and imagination, but also as a human being. I was so fortunate that he let me release Spin Marvel on Babel, one of his only releases in his own name.
Martin was involved in some of the seminal London bands of the past years, so many of which played regularly at the Vortex: Perfect Houseplants, Human Chain, projects by Billy Jenkins, Kenny Wheeler and of course the trio with John Taylor and Palle Danielsson. One would suddenly realise that groups like these which were, of course, already great, were enhanced by Marv’s drumming.
A selfless genius, when I look at my own collection, I realise that many of my favourite albums of the past 30 years or so have Martin on the kit, such as Perfect Houseplants, Human Chain, Billy Jenkins with The Fun Horns, Huw Warren’s 100 of Things A Boy Can Make, Iain Ballamy’s All Men Amen, Delightful Precipice. And not least Spin Marvel itself. So th list goes on. In fact, was he ever on a bad album?
Just to give an idea as to how in demand Martin France was, this episode of the Billy Jenkins podcast gives an idea, In 1993, for example, he apparently averaged 91.3 miles a day in his car. And then he was abroad, with so many lineups, even nearly escaping wars. http://www.wulfie.co.uk/listeningclub12.htm
We are fortunate that, having also been such a great teacher, most of the younger drummers whom we hear at the club regularly, such as Jay Davis, Tim Giles and Dave Storey, were taught, mentored or influenced by him.
Not bad for a man who just celebrated 15 birthdays (as a leap year baby).
Here is a tribute by Mark Lockheart who knew Marv as well as anyone. https://londonjazznews.com/2024/09/07/martin-france-a-tribute-by-mark-lockheart/
And a video of him solo. https://youtu.be/grwI_QM8ojA?si=uR1n_pGP1EGTb8Kt
Main photo by Stephen Cropper
other photo by Beowulf Mayfield