International Archives For The Jazz Organ (IAJO) - The Jazz Organ Scene USA

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Karen Mantler

Karen (*1966 in New York City), pianist, singer and composer, is the daughter of Carla Bley and Michael Mantler. Her musical debut consisted of contributing vocals on Carla Bley's albums Escalator Over the Hill (1971) and Tropic Appetites (1974). She then continued performing and recording on glockenspiel, organ and chromatic harmonica in many of Carla Bley's ensembles and projects from 1977 on to the present.

She studied at the Berklee College of Music in Boston on a scholarship from 1985-87. She moved back to New York City in 1987 where she formed her own ensemble to record her first two albums for the XtraWATT record label, My Cat Arnold (1989) and Karen Mantler and Her Cat Arnold Get the Flu (1990). The band toured Europe several times and also appeared at venues in New York, on Dave Sanborn's NBC Night Music television show, and at the Montreal International Jazz Festival (1991). She recorded two more albums of her music, Farewell (1996) and Pet Project (2000). In 2003 she collaborated with Robert Wyatt on his album Cuckooland, playing keyboards, singing and contributing three compositions.

She has performed and recorded with a wide variety of musicians including Steve Swallow, Motohiko Hino, Michael Mantler, Terry Adams, Robbie Dupree, Artie Traum, Peter Blegvad, John Greaves, Chris Cutler, Dagmar Krause, Annie Whitehead, Anton Fier's band The Golden Palominos and Tony Scherr. She has also been featured in Hal Willner productions. At the same time she has been working with her trio featuring bassist Kato Hideki and multi-instrumentalist Doug Wieselman.

from Wikipedia

My Cat Arnold Xtrawatt/3; ECM 839093-2 recorded spring 1988 in Willow, NY/USA	Karen Mantler, vocals, harmonica, organ, piano Eric Mingus, vocals Jonathan Sanborn, bass Ethan Winogrand, drums Marc Muller, guitar Steve Weisberg, synthesizers Steven Bernstein, trumpet Pablo Calogero, baritone sax
Fleur Carnivore Watt/21; ECM 839 662-2 recorded live November 1988 at The Montmartre, København/Denmark	Carla Bley, piano Karen Mantler, organ, vibes, harmonica, chimes Wolfgang Puschnig, alto sax, flute Roberto Ottini, soprano sax, baritone sax Christof Lauer, soprano sax, tenor sax Andy Sheppard, tenor sax, clarinet Frank Lacy, French horn, flugelhorn Gary Valente, trombone Jens Winther, trumpet Lew Soloff, trumpet Bob Stewart, tuba Steve Swallow, bass Buddy Williams, drums
Get The Flu XtraWATT/5 recorded in summer 1990	Karen Mantler, organ, harmonica, vocals Steve Weisberg, keyboards Pablo Calogero, baritone sax, flute Steven Bernstein, trumpet Marc Muller, guitar Jonathan Sanborn, bass Ethan Winogrand, drums Eric Mingus, vocals
The Very Big Carla Bley Band XtraWATT/23 recorded October 1990 in Ludwigsburg/Germany	Karen Mantler, organ Carla Bley, piano Wolfgang Puschnig, alto sax, flute Andy Sheppard, soprano sax, tenor sax Pete Hurt, tenor sax, clarinet Pablo Calogero, baritone sax Roger Janotta, oboe, flute, clarinet, soprano sax Ashley Slater, bass trombone, trombone Fayyaz Virji, trombone Gary Valente, trombone Richard Edwards, tromone Claude Deppa, trumpet Guy Barker, trumpet Lew Soloff, trumpet Steven Bernstein, trumpet Steve Swallow, bass Victor Lewis, drums Don Alias, percussion
It's There Enja Records CD 8030-2	Motohiko Hino, drums Steve Swallow, bass Karen Mantler, organ John Scofield, guitar Mike Stern, guitar Dave Liebman, soprano sax Terumasa Hino, trumpet
Farewell XtraWatt/8 recorded December 1995 in Willow, NY/USA	Karen Mantler, vocals, harmonica, organ, piano, glockenspiel, synthsizer Michael Evans, drums, percussion, alto sax, vibes, bells
Carla Bley Big Band Goes To Church XtraWatt/27 recorded live July 1996 at Chiesa San Francesco Al Prato in Pergia/Italy	Carla Bley, piano Karen Mantler, organ, harmonica Wolfgang Puschnig, alto sax Roger Jannotta, flute, soprano sax, alto sax Andy Sheppard, tenor sax Jerry Underwood, tenor sax Julian Argüelles, baritone sax Chris Dean, trombone Gary Valente, trombone Pete Beachill, trombone Richard Henry, bass trombone Claude Deppa,trumpet Guy Barker, trumpet Lew Soloff, trumpet Steve Waterman, trumpet Steve Swallow, bass Dennis Mackrel, drums
Karen Mantler's Pet Project Virgin Classics 7243 5 45397 0 1 recorded August/September 1999 in Willow, NY/USA	Karen Mantler, vocals, harmonica, piano, organ Pablo Calogero, baritone sax, flute Carla Bley, C melody sax Michael Evans, drums, glockenspiel Kato Hideki, bass Hiram Bullock, guitar Arturo O'Farrill, piano, organ Gary Valente, trombone Steven Bernstein, trumpet Eric Mingus, vocals
My Cat Arnold Virgin Classics 7243 5 45397 0 1 recorded August 1999 in Willow, NY/USA	Karen Mantler, vocals, harmonica, organ, piano Pablo Calogero, baritone sax, flute Carla Bley, C melody sax Michael Evans, drums, glockenspiel Kato Hideki, bass Hiram Bullock, guitar Arturo O'Farrill, piano, organ Gary Valente, trombone Steven Bernstein, trumpet Eric Mingus, vocals
Appearing Nightly WATT/33 recorded live 17 and 18 July 2006 at The New Morning in Paris/France	Carla Bley, conductor, piano Roger Jannotta, soprano sax, alto sax, flute Wolfgang Puschnig, alto sax, flute Andy Sheppard, tenor sax Christophe Panzani, tenor sax Julian Argüelles, baritone sax Beppe Calamosca, trombone Gary Valente, trombone Gigi Grata, trombone Richard Henry, trombone Earl Gardner, trumpet Florian Esch, trumpet Giampaolo Casati, trumpet Lew Soloff, trumpet Karen Mantler, organ Steve Swallow, bass Billy Drummond, drums

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