Mark Hewins is one of the generation of musicians which followed in the wake of the experimental groups of the sixties, represented by Pink Floyd and Soft Machine among others, whose attitudes to sound and music were forever coloured by the experience. However, he started playing guitar professionally in 1970 at the age of 15 on the famous London 'Pub Rock' circuit with Mother Sun, and by the mid-seventies was an established figure working around the more innovative music circuits in London, whether at the London Musicians' Collective or playing solo interval slots at London's 100 Club and Trevor Watts' New Merlin's Cave. Many of the radical techniques Hewins employs in his guitar play stem from this time; in particular from 16-hours-per-day sessions in duet with guitarist and filmmaker Richard Coldman. At that time in the mid-70's he first met Anne Beverly, Sid Vicious' mother, and after the New York family tragedy Anne stayed with Mark for a while on her return to London from America.

Hewins' creativity brought him to the attention of musicians such as Watts (Amalgam), and John Stevens (Away) who gave him opportunities to play with South African musicians, Dudu Pukwana, Louis Moholo and Mervyn Afrika and a place in the Dance Orchestra (CD A Luta Continua - featuring Phil Collins, John Martyn, bassist Danny Thompson (with whom he subsequently worked alongside Julie Felix) and Elton Dean who he has probably duetted more frequently with than with any other musician. Over the years musical liaisons have flourished; US jazz collaborations include work in New York with Dennis Gonzalez and Andrew Cyrille, CD âÄòThe Earth and Heart; in Europe with Django Bates in Research Social Systems and as a continuing member of the Elton Dean Quartet. Hewins' first solo CD, Electric Guitar, was released by Daagnim Records in the USA (1987)...[more]