Mark Ramsden

Mark Ramsden in 2010

Mark Ramsden (b. Liverpool, July 13, 1956) is a British writer, composer, producer and musician. He studied at Leeds Music College becoming a virtuoso saxophonist and flautist. Since finishing his education he has been active in rock and particularly jazz music, both as a performer and composer.

Career

Much of the 1980s and 1990s saw him playing with artists such as Jimmy Witherspoon, Roy Harper and Bert Jansch as well as partnering jazz musicians such as Steve Lodder, Dominic Ashworth and Jim Mullen. He has also toured with Dudu Pukwana, Loose Tubes, the National Youth Jazz Orchestra and the Grand Union Orchestra, living in Germany and Hong Kong as well as the UK.

After meeting Tom Robinson at the Edinburgh Festival in 1982 he joined the TRB, touring extensively with the band, he appeared on the albums Hope and Glory (1984), Still Loving You (1986) and Love Over Rage (1994).^[1] He part composed Tom Robinson's top ten hit War Baby (1983),^[2] writing and playing the distinctive tenor and soprano saxophone parts.

In 1995 he composed and recorded the pipe organ and saxophone album Above The Clouds^[3] with Steve Lodder (re-released Naxos 1999) in a North London Church. His other critically acclaimed work includes Chilled with Jim Mullen and Andy Hamill and Tribute to Paul Desmond with Dave Cliff.

Throughout his career as a musician, Ramsden has also been a writer and journalist, working mostly in music commentary and within the fetish scene. He has regularly published fiction and articles for titles such as Skin Two, Latex Extra, Desire and The Erotic Review. He was editor of Fetish Times in the mid 1990s and until 2009 was a regular columnist and astrologer for Forum Magazine. His latest book is the teenager's story War School.^[4] He has also recently completed a collaboration with his wife, illustrator Ruth Ramsden, on the Dark Tantra Tarot deck.

Mark Ramsden lives and works on the South Coast of England.He also has two children called Rose ramsden and Raphael Ramsden.

Books

• The Dark Magus and the Sacred Whore (Serpents Tail 1999) ISBN 1852425989
• The Dungeon Master's Apprentice (Serpents Tail 1999) ISBN 1852426233
• Radical Desire – non fiction with Housk Randall (Serpents Tail 2000) ISBN 1852426535
• The Sacred Blood (Serpents Tail 2001) ISBN 1852426810
• War School (Matador 2008) ISBN 1906510180

Additional Sources

• Jazz Journal http://www.jazzjournal.co.uk/
• Rough Guide to Jazz by Ian Carr, Digby Fairweather & Brian Priestly ISBN 1843532565
• http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Garden_of_Uranium
• http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/When_The_Circus_Comes_To_Town

Notes

1. ^ TRB Discographyretrieved January 1, 2011 [1]
2. ^ Tom Robinson Website retrieved January 1, 2011 [2]
3. ^ Eur (2002). The International Who's Who in Popular Music 2002 (Europa International Who's Who in Popular Music), Routledge, 1st ed. p. 309. ISBN 1857431618
4. ^ Interview With Kent Messenger

External links

• http://markramsden.moonfruit.com/

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