The four members of the Brooklyn-based collective Motions combine the rhythms, timbres and melodies from their extensive and diverse backgrounds – traditional and contemporary musics from Japan, Mali, the Middle East, Brazil and the US – to create a unified sound that is both eclectic and organic. The music seamlessly ranges from abstract improvisation to heavy groove, highlighting the flavors and qualities of the different instruments while celebrating their universality.
Featuring Matt Kilmer on percussion, Kaoru Watanabe on Japanese flutes, Chris Dingman on vibraphone and Tim Keiper on kamale nguni.
10/12 Kaoru, Matt and Chris
10/19 Kaoru, Matt and Tim
10/26 Kaoru, Matt, Tim and Chris
Bios
Kaoru Watanabe is a New York based practitioner of various Japanese transverse bamboo fue or flutes, the taiko drum as well as the Western flute. His music can be best described as an ever shifting blend of the folk and classical traditions of Japan with contemporary improvisational and experimental music. Kaoru has performed with such artists as Jason Moran, Kenny Endo, and Kabuki actor Bando Tamasaburo, and was a member and artistic director of iconic Japanese taiko ensemble Kodo. Recent projects have taken him to Mongolia, French Guiana, Argentina, Australia and across the Caribbean, and have received support from the Japan Foundation and Asian Cultural Council. As an educator, Kaoru teaches workshops and masterclasses internationally, as well as courses at Princeton and Wesleyan University and his own studio.
Born in Red Bank, NJ, Tim Keiper moved to New York City in 1999. Since then, he has focused on touring, recording, and building musical instruments. He has worked with Cyro Baptista, John Zorn, Julie Taymor, Jonas Mekas, Mike Stern, Leni Stern, Skeleton Key, and Dirty Projectors. Since 2007, he has worked extensively with Malian guitarist Vieux Farka Toure, including performances at the Festival in the Desert in Timbuktu and recording on Ali Farka Toure’s posthumous release, Ali and Toumani.
Matt Kilmer has received numerous awards and honors, including being named a Carnegie Hall Weill Music Institute fellow. He has produced albums for many contemporary artists and is an in-demand session drummer and percussionist as well as a highly sought-after live musician for touring acts such as Grammy award winning artist Lauryn Hill and master Arabic oudist and violinist Simon Shaheen. He also composed and produced music for the upcoming feature film “Backwards” to be released fall of 2012. His band The Mast recently released “UpUpUp”, an EP with remixes to critical acclaim. “UpUpUp” follows The Mast’s debut album “Wild Poppies”, released in summer of 2011. As Music Coordinator for the critically acclaimed TV show “Louie”, Kilmer has helped to shape the sonic landscape of contemporary television. Deviating from the standard fare of stock-soundtrack and flavor-of-the-month song licensing, the music of “Louie” features all real musicians providing an emotionally charged score that complements the single camera show’s unique blend of everyday ordeals and observational humor as seen through the eyes of Emmy Award-winning comedian Louis C.K.
Vibraphonist Chris Dingman is one of the most sought-after players and composers of his generation. He was voted Rising Star on Vibes in the 2012 Downbeat Magazine Critics Poll, and is the recipient of the 2012-2013 Chamber Music America New Jazz Works grant. A graduate of the prestigious Thelonious Monk Institute of Jazz, he has performed extensively with many of the world’s greatest jazz musicians, including Herbie Hancock, Wayne Shorter, Ron Carter, Benny Golson, Jimmy Heath, and Terence Blanchard, as well as modern heavyweights Ambrose Akinmusire, Steve Lehman, Gerald Clayton, Fabian Almazan, and many others.
