Leader Mark Simeon Ferguson began composing before he knew much
about music at all-and his earliest tunes sure show it! During his undergraduate years he had the great privilege of studying alongside musicians such as Frank DiSario, Ronny Ferella, Peter Raidel and Sandy Klose in his ensembles and occasionally they performed his compositions. After completing his Honours degree he formed his first trio with Jamie Jones and Tim Bowen rehearsing an entirely original repertoire.

In 1997 Mark was asked to put together The Mark Ferguson Quintet for a concert for Jazz Co-ordination SA with Scott Griffiths (alto saxophone), Nick Mulder (trombone), Tim Bowen (bass) and John McDermott (drums). Thankfully the gig went well, and the group was asked to perform at the Adelaide Festival 1998, as part of the Emerging Artists program. By this stage Mark had taken on all of the writing duties and Mike Stewart had replaced Griffiths who had moved to Las Vegas to study.

In 1998, while Mark was studying for his Masters degree he began composing for larger ensembles. With expatriate US saxophonist Dusty Cox on side he formed the newly-named sextet ‘Marmalade Circus' and they played their first gig at the 1998 Glenelg Jazz Festival.

Dusty returned to the US in 1999 so multi-instrumentalist Brett Spilsbury was brought in to fill his enormous shoes. Energetic percussionist Steve Todd also joined the band bringing a much stronger latin emphasis to the ensemble. In 1999 the band also broadcast live on ABCFM's Jazz Track.  

In 2000 trumpeter Warren Heading joined the band to replace Spilsbury who had chosen to move back to South Australia's Riverland. Now with a brass-driven horn section the ‘classic' Marmalade Circus sound was complete and Mark began writing for a much more punchy sound.

In 2001 Marmalade Circus were invited to perform their first interstate gigs at the Thredbo and Manly Jazz Festivals by the late jazz promoter John Speight. Following the success of these performances the band were invited to play at the prestigious ‘Jazz in the Domain' concert in the Sydney Festival in 2002 supporting Maria Schneider (performing with an Australian Big Band) to an audience of 80 000. This was shortly followed by a great performance at the Adelaide Fringe, where their show ‘Live and Sticky' received a 4-star review.

Between 2002 and 2004 Marmalade Circus only played a handful of gigs as Mark dealt with family issues. In 2003, marmalade stalwart Mike Stewart moved to the US to study, so Mark brought in Dusty Cox (recently returned from the US) and Chris Soole who played a gig each.

As a lecturer at the University of Adelaide Mark had the privilege of watching some wonderful musicians grow, but with a smallish band he had no way of including these players in his ensemble. So in late 2004, with the encouragement of promoter Con Virlas, Mark began rewriting the repertoire for six horns, with a view to involving more young talent. Virlas gave the band their first gig at the wonderful East End Jazz Festival in March 2005. The enlarged band brought a fabulous collection of talent onstage together: Dusty Cox on alto, Chris Soole on tenor, Vashti Tyrell on baritone and young Pat Thiele on trumpet, alongside the regular crew.

The new Marmalade Circus were touted as the highlight of the Festival and news of the new sound spread quickly. Mark loved the new sound and lineup, but quickly realised the problems of holding a large band together. He waited six months to try to reassemble the band, but in the end four of his players were unavailable so Mark invited some more young talent into the group, many of whom have remained in the ensemble—Tom Pulford (tenor), Jonathon Hunt (alto) and James Nikkerud (trombone), with the not-quite-so-young Damien Hurn (baritone).

A gig for the COMA organisation at The Wheatsheaf Hotel in January 2006 saw the band pack out the venue well before starting time, with a long line of disappointed punters left out in the cold (well hot because it was January).

At this gig Mark debuted a tune that showed his take on Trad Jazz and a very African-inspired ballad. He also introduced more instrumental colours into the pot. Jon Hunt's first horn had always been clarinet, and he was a dab hand at the bass clarinet too, so Mark wrote new tunes with these instruments in mind. Tom Pulford and new saxophonist Adam Page could also get around a few instruments so Mark added more clarinet and a few flute doubles too.

For the Adelaide Fringe season in 2006 (in which a couple of shows sold-out) Mark added more new repertoire to feature the skills of the band. He wrote the Arabic inspired tune ‘Salaam' as a feature for Jon Hunt's clarinet, while the tune ‘Tom Tommy Tom of the Tommy Tom Tom People' was written to celebrate Tom Pulford's unique dancing style.

By the next gig at the Queens Arms Hotel the ten-piece sound and concept was complete—all original tunes; grooves and musical sounds from all around the world; a host of instrumental colours; a fair amount of silliness; the occasional serious composition; and a bit of band vocal action.

The band is looking forward to a strong 2007 Adelaide Fringe with four shows at the Queens Arms Hotel and maybe a few interstate performances later in the year.

If you have read this far, good for you. Go get a piece of chocolate, you deserve it!