Mark Simmonds (saxophonist)
{{short description|Australian musician}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=August 2020}}
{{Use Australian English|date=May 2011}}
{{Infobox musical artist
| name = Mark Simmonds
| birth_date = {{birth year|1955}}
| birth_place = Christchurch, New Zealand
| death_date = {{death date and age|2020|09||1955}}
| genre =
| occupation = Musician
| instrument = Saxophone
| years_active = 1970s–2000
| label = Birdland
| associated_acts = Mark Simmonds' Freeboppers
}}
Mark Simmonds (1955 – September 2020) was a New Zealand-Australian jazz tenor saxophonist, composer, and leader of the group The Freeboppers. Born in Christchurch, New Zealand, he moved to Sydney, New South Wales, Australia when he was 10 years old.Jazz - The Australian Accent by John Shand
Career
Prominent in the Australian jazz scene throughout the 1970s, 80s and 90s, Mark Simmonds also worked in many other musical settings such as soul, funk groups The Dynamic Hepnotics (1985–1986), Jackie Orszaczky's Jump Back Jack, and also contemporary music groups such as Phil Treloar's Feeling to Thought, PipeLine and The Umbrellas. In addition to these, the Australian Rock database lists Simmonds as a member of Drain, Corroboree, Chris Turner Band, Silver Studs, Keys Orchestra, Moonlight, Ol' 55, Bentley's Boogie Band, and Renee Geyer Band.{{cite web|title=Dynamic Hepnotics|url=http://hem.passagen.se/honga/database/d/dynamichepnotics.html|work=Australian Rock Database|accessdate=11 December 2011|url-status=usurped|archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20131022063158/http://hem.passagen.se/honga/database/d/dynamichepnotics.html|archivedate=22 October 2013}} Simmonds led his own groups, mostly under the name of The Freeboppers. In December 1981, Mark Simmonds' Freeboppers played at the All Souls Feast Dance, a music event conceived and produced by Alessio Cavallaro, at the Trades Union Club in Sydney, along with Laughing Clowns, The Makers of the Dead Travel Fast, and improviser, Jon Rose.{{cite web|title=All Souls Feast Dance|url=http://spill-label.org/FastForward/ff08/ff08-zine05-large.jpg|work=Fast Forward (Cassette Magazine)|accessdate=11 December 2011|archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20120415070102/http://spill-label.org/FastForward/ff08/ff08-zine05-large.jpg|archivedate=15 April 2012|page=9|date=December 1981}}
Two songs of The Freeboppers were featured on the KMA (Keys Music Association) compilation LP in 1982 entitled March of the Five Limbs. Mark Simmonds' Freeboppers released a full-length double CD entitled 'FIRE' in 1993 on Birdland Records (BL002).{{cite web|title=Fire|url=http://nla.gov.au/nla.cs-ma-an12130057|work=Music Australia|publisher=National Library of Australia|accessdate=11 December 2011|date=27 June 1996}}{{cite web|url=http://www.birdland.com.au/catalogue/category634/p38349|title=Mark Simmonds Freeboppers - Fire|publisher=Birdland Records|accessdate=5 October 2010}} The album won an Aria Award for Best Jazz Album in 1995.{{cite web|author=Soap |url=http://www.ariaawards.com.au/history-by-year.php?year=1995 |title=ARIA Awards 2010 : History: Winners by Year |publisher=Aria Awards |accessdate=5 October 2010 |url-status=dead |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20070926235646/http://www.ariaawards.com.au/history-by-year.php?year=1995 |archivedate=26 September 2007 }} A song called Kings Cross Drag was included on the 1993 Vox Australis album, Beyond El Rocco : The Ultimate Australian Jazz Soundtrack.{{cite web|title=Beyond El Rocco : The Ultimate Australian Jazz Soundtrack|url=http://nla.gov.au/nla.cs-ma-an26047422|work=Music Australia|publisher=National Library of Australia|accessdate=11 December 2011|date=27 July 2004}}
Simmonds' collaborators include Steve Elphick (bass), Phil Treloar (percussion), David Adés (alto sax), Jamie Fielding (keyboards), Greg Sheehan (drums), Miroslav Bukovsky (trumpet), Peter Dehlsen (drums), Louis Burdett (drums), Peter Fine, Daniel Fine (sax), Steve Hunter (bass), Serge Ermöll (piano), Kees Steen (guitar), Rob Gador (bass), Michael Sheridan (guitar), Chris Abrahams (piano),{{cite web|title=Biographies - Chris Abrahams|url=http://www.thenecks.com/bio|work=The Necks|accessdate=11 December 2011}} Cleis Pierce (violin), Samila Sithole (percussion), Andrew Gander (drums), Thierry Fossemalle (bass), Scott Tinkler (trumpet), Simon Barker (drums),{{cite web|title=Simon Barker (Drums)|url=http://aao.com.au/people/musicians/bio/simon-barker/|work=The Australian Art Orchestra|accessdate=11 December 2011|url-status=dead|archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20120203235828/http://aao.com.au/people/musicians/bio/simon-barker|archivedate=3 February 2012}} Azo Bell (guitar), Duncan Archibald (drums), Diane Peters (harp), Bobby Gebert (piano), Mark Shepherd (bass), Will Guthrie (drums), Scott Lambie (drums), Philip Rex (bass), Tony Buck (drums), Elliött Dalgléish (saxophones), Rick Caskey (bass), Charlie Owen (guitar).
In an article from The Sydney Morning Herald 13 May 1987, jazz critic Gail Brennan wrote: "Mark Simmond's Freeboppers devastated the Basement with an unbroken hour-and-a-half orgy of rhythm and fire." The article reviews a double-bill with the Dale Barlow Quintet at Sydney's most renowned jazz venue, The Basement, on 11 May 1987. It goes on to say Mark "led a band that had played in public for a month (at the Piccadilly) and their confidence and cohesion were glorious to hear" and concludes; "It is not often that a reviewer of Australian jazz has no choice but to gush. This was one of those nights."Sydney Morning Herald, 13 May 1987
Mark retired from regular public performance in the early 2000s, but continued to play music with fellow musicians up until his death. His last live performance- a duet with Jeffrey Wegener, took place in Leichhardt, New South Wales, in 2019. Wegener says that Simmonds, on this occasion, "played magnificently".
Awards
=ARIA Music Awards=
The ARIA Music Awards is an annual awards ceremony that recognises excellence, innovation, and achievement across all genres of Australian music. They commenced in 1987.
{{awards table}}
|-
| 1995
| Fire {{small|(as Mark Simmonds Freeboppers)}}
| {{won}}
|-
{{end}}
References
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Category:Australian jazz saxophonists
Category:Australian male saxophonists
Category:New Zealand emigrants to Australia
Category:New Zealand jazz saxophonists
Category:Musicians from Christchurch
Category:21st-century Australian saxophonists
Category:21st-century Australian male musicians