Mark Tipton Septet & Quartet
Mark currently leads a jazz septet in Boston including the following NEC colleagues: Gabriel Nieves – sax, Joey Dies – trombone, Keegan Marshall-House – piano, Kai Lance – guitar, Daniel Mayer – bass, and Caleb Montague – drums. The versatility of the musicians allows them to perform in a variety of musical contexts, depending on the setting and mood of each performance, including a wide spectrum of original and classic jazz works, free improvisations, multi-media installations, and more. The Mark Tipton Septet strives to include works by underrepresented artists, genre-bending surprises, and innovative arrangements of music from global traditions.
Mark also leads a quartet (and trio) in Maine that includes Ryan Blotnick on guitar, Tyler Heydolph on bass, and Beau Lisy on drums.
Mark Tipton Trio – Live at Camden Opera House, April 9, 2021
A big thank you to Camden Opera House for live-streaming this COVID-safe (no live audience) show!
Les Sorciers Perdus record Mark’s original score for Joan of Arc
In June/July 2021 Les Sorciers Perdus recorded Mark Tipton’s original score for Carl Theodor Dreyer’s 1921 silent film, The Passion of Joan of Arc. Dreyer’s Joan of Arc is an intense journey through one woman’s struggle at the hands of a male-dominated authoritarian society. She is blameless and they are relentless in their attempt to break her spirit. Mark’s score closely follows the drama on the screen, and seeks to augment the emotional impact of Jeanne Falconetti’s remarkable performance as the title character. A TBD screening for all ages will be accompanied by the recording.
Funded in part by a grant from the Maine Arts Commission, an independent state agency supported by the National Endowment for the Arts.
Les Sorciers Perdus* (LSP):
Les Sorciers Perdus (LSP) is a genre-defying quartet that specializes in performing new works by director Mark Tipton, including jazz and contemporary works, performance art installations, and original silent film scores. LSP also performs classic jazz works, free improvisations, and innovative arrangements of world folk music.
Members include: Mark Tipton – trumpet, Daniel Fisher-Lochhead – saxophones, Ryan Blotnick – guitar, Tyler Heydolph – bass, and Beau Lisy – percussion.
LSP has performed at: Bowdoin and Colby Colleges, SPACE Gallery, Mayo Street Arts, the Apohadion Theater, the Waterville Opera House, The Strand in Rockland, The Grand in Ellsworth, the Colonial Theatre in Belfast, 1932 Criterion Theatre in Bar Harbor, One Longfellow Square, the Eastport Arts Center, the Saco River Theatre, and at other venues. Featured several times in the Portland Press Herald, on Maine Public Radio, WMPG, and on WCSH-6, Les Sorciers Perdus released their debut CD, Alchemist’s Dream, in March of 2017. The album is dedicated to the memory of the group’s founding bassist, the late Chris Sprague, and was mastered by Bob Ludwig at Gateway Mastering. In mid-December of 2019 the current lineup recorded material for a new album featuring original works by members of the ensemble.
LSP’s former members have included: pianists Peter Dugas & Jesse Feinberg; guitarists Don Pride, & Gary Wittner; bassists Chris Sprague & Joshua DeScherer; saxophonist Tracy McMullen; flautist Carl Dimow; violinist Megumi Sasaki; cellists Benjamin Noyes & Shannon Allen; and drummer Peter McLaughlin.
Guests have included: pianist Jesse Lynch; guitarist Dan Cole; bassists Fitz Jenkins, John Clarke & Ezra Rugg; saxophonists Matt Langley & Frank Mauceri; and drummers Gary Gemmiti, Mike Bennett, Phil McGowan, Hayes Porterfield, and Andrew Roseman.
*(The name Les Sorciers Perdus was suggested by a Parisian friend when Mark was searching for a name that was evocative of creative artists searching for truth and beauty throughout time, with a feeling of the old world meets the new, and just a hint of monomania. The French word “perdu” can mean “lost” in a physical sense as well as in a psychological sense.)
RECENT PERFORMANCES:
◆ the gravity sessions, a monthly collaborative arts series at the Apohadion Theater, Portland; LSP, TRIAGE, Ear Bus, Barbara Truex Ensemble; Phil James – shakuhachi; Gil Helmick, Betsy Sholl, Lennie Newman, Jim Donnelly, Maya Williams – poetry, Rush Brown – visual art, Duane Ingalls & Jim Winters – sound art, Shana Bloomstein & Marita Kennedy-Castro – dance / 2017-18
◆ Nosferatu, The Phantom Carriage, and Sunrise (silent films) at The Grand, Ellsworth / 2017-18
◆ Safety Last! and Robin Hood (silent films) at The Strand, Rockland / 2018
◆ Sunrise at the 2017 Maine International Film Festival (MIFF), Waterville; 7th Heaven at MIFF 2018; and Joan of Arc at MIFF 2019.
◆ Summer 2018 Maine Tour: 2-month tour from Cumberland Washington Counties (and many points in-between)
◆ Nosferatu at the 1932 Criterion Theatre in Bar Harbor (October 27th, 2018)
MEMBERS:
Trumpeter/Composer Mark Tipton (please see Bio page).
Saxophonist/Composer Daniel Fisher-Lochhead grew up in New York, where his musical journey began before he moved to Maine. He began by performing and composing in jazz and improvised idioms, and has since expanded his artistic horizons by also working with musicians from a diverse array of musical backgrounds, including folk, rock, electronic, avant-garde, etc. He has released
four albums as a leader: “On Ceremony” (2016), “Wake The Baby Up” (2015), “Piano Songs” (2015), and “Tools of The Abstract” (2015), and has also appeared on numerous albums as a contributor. His compositions are noted for their organic blend of complexity and simplicity, their pervasive sense of mindfulness, and their creative orchestration. He and his partner Katherine live on MDI.
Guitarist/Composer Ryan Blotnick has toured throughout the US and Europe, has performed with Bill McHenry, Michael Blake, Kresten Osgood, and Lee Konitz, and has released several critically-acclaimed jazz albums, including KUSH (2017). He attended William Patterson University and holds a Master’s degree from the Rhythmic Music Conservatory in Copenhagen. He recently scored the Sundance Film Festival Audience Award-Winning documentary, “Knock Down the House,” and will soon be embarking on additional film scoring projects.
Bassist Tyler Heydolph has been active in the New England jazz and improvised music scene for over a decade. He can be heard on Les Sorciers Perdus’ debut album, Alchemist’s Dream and on drummer Alex Snydman’s Fortunate Action. Tyler also performs with Tracy McMullen’s Ear Bus.
Southwest Harbor based drummer Beau Lisy has studied jazz and African drumming extensively, teaches at the Ellsworth Community Music Institute, and performs with Up Ensemble, Mike Bennett and Balantama, and Paul Sullivan. He was active for many years in the Cleveland, Ohio jazz scene.
SILENT FILM SCORES:
FULL LENGTH:
F.W. Murnau: The Haunted Castle [81min.] (1921) / 2019
Carl Theodore Dreyer (Renee Jeanne Falconetti): La Passion de Jeanne d’Arc [81min.] (1928) / 2019
King Vidor (Marion Davies): The Patsy [77min.] (1928) / 2019
Allan Dwan (Douglas Fairbanks): Robin Hood [133min.] (1922) / 2018
Frank Borzage: 7th Heaven [110min.] (1927) / 2018
Harold Lloyd: Safety Last! [73min.] (1923) / 2018 & 2012 (two separate scores)
Victor Sjöstrom: The Phantom Carriage [106min.] (1921) / 2018
F.W. Murnau: Nosferatu [94min.] (1922) / 2017 & 2010 (two separate scores)
F.W. Murnau: Sunrise [95min.] (1927) / 2017
Fritz Lang: Metropolis [148min.] (1927) / 2016
Buster Keaton: The General [78min.] (1926) / 2015
Robert Wiene: The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari [77min.] (1920) / 2014
Charlie Chaplin: The Gold Rush [95min.] (1925) / 2012 (cannot perform due to copyright laws)
Paul Wegener: The Golem [86min.] (1920) / 2008
SHORT FILMS:
Buster Keaton: The Haunted House [23min.] (1921) / 2019
Charley Bowers: Now You Tell One [22min.] (1926) / 2019
Charley Bowers: There It Is! [19min.] (1928) / 2019 & 2015 (two separate scores)
Buster Keaton: Cops [18min.] (1922) / 2018
Joris Ivens: Regen [14min.] (1929) / 2018
Buster Keaton: The Boat [27min.] (1921) / 2018
Buster Keaton: The Electric House [23min.] (1922) / 2018
Man Ray: Les Mystéres du Château du Dé [20min.] (1929) / 2018 – LSP (live) with original audio collage derived from vintage LP’s
Viking Eggeling: Symphonie Diagonale [7min.] (1924) / 2017
Ralph Steiner: H2O [12min.] (1929) / 2017
Herman S. Weinberg: Autumn Fire [15min.] (1931) / 2017
Alberto Cavalcanti: Rien que les heures [45min.] (1926) / 2017 – live trumpet and original audio collage derived from vintage LP’s & pre-recorded keyboard passages written/performed by composer
Harold Lloyd: From Hand to Mouth [22min.] (1919) / 2013
Harold Lloyd: An Eastern Westerner [24min.] (1920) / 2013
Harold Lloyd: Ask Father [13min.] (1919) / 2012
Edwin S. Porter (Thomas Edison): The Great Train Robbery [12min.] (1903) / 2011
Georges Meliès: A Trip to the Moon [12min.] (1902) / 2011
CHAMBER WORKS:
last hope suite (3 Mvts.); LSP; the gravity sessions, Apohadion Theater, Portland, ME / 2017
The Alice Dances (3 Mvts.); LSP/Northern Lights Dance Troupe; The Grand, Ellsworth / 2017
Alchemist’s Dream (original jazz album): LSP; Mastered by Bob Ludwig at Gateway Mast. / 2017
After You’d Gone: Four Alan Brooks Poems; LSP/Speaker; Back Cove Contemp. Music Fest/2017
Unfolding (Ballet); LSP/Portland [Maine] School of Ballet students / 2015
Four Meditations on Mindfulness (jazz suite); Dimensions in Jazz series, Portland, ME / 2015
In A Nutshell; LSP/Brass Quintet/Pipe Organ; Back Cove Contemp. Music Fest. / 2014
Around the Corner (performance art piece); LSP & Piano; Back Cove Contemp. Music Fest. / 2014
Around the World in Myth & Melody; LSP/Narrator/Projections; Mayo Street Arts / 2014
The Forgotten Heart (3 Mvts.); LSP with flute & violin; Mayo St. Arts, Portland / 2011
WORKSHOPS / LECTURES:
Film Studies Lecture at Bowdoin College: German Expressionism & The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari; Brunswick, ME / 2015
Silent Film Workshop at Merriconeag Waldorf School; various films (1896-1913), with Peter Mezoian, banjo; Freeport, ME / 2012