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Musical Style: World Music, Fusion, Jazz, Indian Classical"One of the rare near-perfect performances in my long history of seeing live performances. Absolutely mind-melting musicianship!" an audience member raved after Kortet’s debut performance at Dazzle in August. Kortet is Denver's newest world music fusion project featuring diverse instrumentation, virtuosic musicianship, and soulful originals. Known as one of Denver's premier percussionists specializing in the Indian tabla and Flamenco cajon, Andy Skellenger leads this group into new territory with his original compositions written on the West African Kora. The masterful playing of sitar and tabla by Nepali artist Bijay Shrestha gives this group a heavy Indian Classical influence and their sets often include extended ragas. Matt Reid, Matt Skellenger, and Glenn Taylor bring a refined creative camaraderie born out of years of playing together in the Matt Skellenger Group. Special guest, Mary Cowell, violist and longtime member of the Colorado Symphony, brings sensitivity and depth of harmony to ensemble pieces and fiery virtuosity to her duo performances with Andy. This one of a kind show, sometimes funky, sometimes sublime, is not to be missed!Andy Skellenger ~ Kora, Tabla, Percussion
Matt Reid ~ Trumpet and Effects
Mary Cowell ~ Viola
Bijay Shrestha ~ Sitar and Tabla
Matt Skellenger ~ Bass Guitar
Glenn Taylor ~ Pedal Steel Guitar
Bios:
Andy Skellenger is a professional tabla player, having begun his study of tabla and Indian Classical Music in India at the age of 18. As a young man living in the mountains of southern Colorado, Andy created the business Nautilus Cajons, building custom cajon drums for a decade. During this period he became immersed in flamenco and modern methods of cajon playing, eventually becoming one of the most sought after flamenco percussionists in Colorado. In recent years he has taken up a variety of other instruments including the West African Kora, Ngoni, and Handpan. In 2023 he founded the group “Kortet” and released his debut album based around his playing of the Kora. Andy has performed and recorded with some of the biggest names in Indian Classical Music, flamenco, and global fusion, with dozens of albums under his belt. He is also the host of a weekly internet radio program called “Lingua Musica” on TAVN, The Arts Validation Network.
Fresh off his performance and Denver University with the Legend of Tabla, Anindo Chatterjee, Bijay Shrestha is one of the most promising young exponents of Indian Classical Music. Being equally proficient on Tabla and Sitar, he is uniquely talented and versatile, skilled at both accompaniment and composition. The son of Rabin Lal Shreshta, Nepal’s foremost tabla player, Bijay has been performing since the age of 7 and is carrying his father’s lineage to new horizons and heights since moving to the States in 2016. He has shared the stage with world renown flautist Hariprasad Chaurasia, sitarist Indrajit Bannerjee, Mohan Vina artist Debashish Chakraborty, tabla legend Anindo Chatterjee and more.
Electric bassist, Matt Skellenger, has always been an exception to the rules. By combining forward thinking creativity, progressive techniques and natural musicality, Skellenger displays a uniquely identifiable sound. Born and raised in Denver, CO., Matt has been composing, performing, recording, and teaching in Colorado for over 30 years. Matt earned a B.A. in Music from Metro State University in 2002. He has also studied with world renowned bassist and educator Victor Wooten. In addition to leading his own group, Skellenger performs solo and has been a music teacher at Swallow Hill Music School since 2008. Matt’s music is frequently played on 89.3 KUVO in Denver.
Glenn grew up in the San Francisco Bay Area. Inspired by hippie-country bands like the Grateful Dead and the New Riders of the Purple Sage, he bought his first pedal steel guitar in 1975 and took some lessons from Joe Goldmark in West Oakland. After moving to Colorado in 1980, he started gigging a lot during the Urban Cowboy boom. He also started branching out into other musical genres: jazz, African pop, free improv. Bands included Orchestra King Mama, Slim Cessna’s Auto Club, Ron Miles Group, Monkey Siren, The Railbenders, Matt Skellenger Group, and Bonnie and the Clydes. He designed and built a pedal steel guitar in 1989, and since then he’s built 17. He enjoys jumping into atypical musical projects and playing shows, always remembering that pedal is an instrument, not a genre.
Matt Reid is a trumpet player from Washington State, re-located to Colorado in 2014. Matt earned his B.A. in Music from Washington State University in 2006 with special studies at William Paterson in New Jersey. He has the chance to study with Mulgrew Miller, Bill Mobley, Greg Yasinitsky, and Horace Alexander-Young. Matt has been fortunate to share the performance stage with Russell Malone, Clark Terry, Slide Hampton, and more. Matt brings an energetic and dynamic approach to trumpet performance, and leverages effects pedals and loops to create a truly unique sound that has added another sound dimension to traditional jazz trumpet playing. Matt can be heard on Kortet's debut album, as well as on the last three Matt Skellenger Group recordings.
Born in Wyoming, raised in the Pacific Northwest, (and a little bit in the Russian Far East) violist Mary Cowell is proud to call Denver Front Range home since 2004. She has enjoyed performing across the Front Range in various ensembles, and as a member of the Colorado symphony since 2007. Mary studied viola performance at the University of Wyoming and the Cleveland Institute of Music.
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Event Venue & Nearby Stays
1080 14th Street Denver, CO, United States, Colorado 80202, 1080 14th St, Denver, CO 80202-2344, United States,Denver, Colorado
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