Artist description Violinist/violist Karen Bentley and multipercussionist Ian Dogole possess a far-reaching musical vision, traversing the realms of Bach, Bartok and Brahms, segueing seamlessly into free improvisation, morphing into Finnish tango and then onto Corea, Gershwin and Monk by way of a Danish salsa. Never constrained by preexisting formulas, their musical adventures transport listeners to previously uncharted musical landscapes.

Music Style Cross-pollination of classical, jazz, world and free improvisation

Musical Influences Bach, Coltrane, Bartok, Gershwin, Monk, Brahms, Indian classical, West African pop

Similar Artists Kronos String Quartet

Artist History Formed in 1999, Karen Bentley and Ian Dogole have been thrilling audiences throughout the San Francisco Bay Area with their highly adventurous blend of genre-bending musical forms and exotic instruments from all over the globe. June-July 2000 will see this dynamic duo performing on World Explorer Cruises, departing Vancouver June 27. Plans for European concert tour TBA.

Group Members Ian Dogole: For over 20 years, Ian Dogole has articulated his vision of Global Fusion Music as a multipercussionist, bandleader, composer, recording artist, producer and educator. He has released three records – Along the Route, (Dr. Unit Records) Dangerous Ground (Café/Mobile Fidelity Sound Lab) and Ionospheres (CEI). Ian has also recorded with Ancient Future, Kate Price, Raphael, Paul McCandless, Dmitri Matheny and Shafqat Ali Khan to name a few. In addition to composing for his own recordings and those by Ancient Future, Ian’s compositions can be found on independent projects for Brown University, the San Francisco Giants, the Philadelphia Phillies and the Indonesian Park Service. He has performed throughout the U.S. with his group Global Fusion, and with recording artists Kate Price, Ancient Future and Spencer Brewer. Ian Dogole's arsenal of global percussion instruments includes: udu, talking drums, mbiras, balafon, caxixi, dholak, dumbek, doira, gongs, native American Indian drums, cymbals and assorted multicultural percussion effects. He received a Jazz Performance Fellowship from the National Endowment for the Arts in 1991 and was featured as the September 1992 cover story of California Jazz Now magazine. Dogole, along with bassist/flutist Bill Douglass, currently presents educational programs in Global Fusion Music both for Young Audiences of the Bay Area and independently. Karen Bentley: Karen Bentley is active in the San Francisco Bay Area as a violinist, violist, conductor and pianist. She has concertized throughout Europe, Asia, the United States, Canada and Russia where she performed Vivaldi's Four Seasons and the Beethoven Violin Concerto. She is the violinist in the progressive rock band Tesseract and has several recordings of original music including Electric Diamond, Weeping Angel, Konzerto and Succubus by Stuart Diamond, and Ariel View, featuring violin and piano duets which she wrote and recorded with Los Angeles pianist/composer Bruce Hanifan. A champion of contemporary music, she has premiered numerous compositions for violin and piano, solo violin, and violin withelectronics. Ms. Bentley has toured with Mikhail Baryshnikov's White Oak Dance Project, Barbra Streisand's 1994 concert tour, the New York Philharmonic and the Bolshoi Ballet. She attended Indiana University where she studied with Josef Gingold and Yuval Yaron. Other teachers include Camilla Wicks, Nathan Milstein, Glenn Dicterow and Jean JacquesKantorow. She has served as concertmaster of the Junge Deutsche Philharmonie Kammerorchester as well as the New York String Orchestra under AlexanderSchneider. She is currently Associate Concertmaster of the Monterey County Symphony and conductor of the Palo Alto Chamber Orchestra Preparatory Orchestra.

Instruments mbira, violin, cajon, viola, talking drum, hardingfele, dumbek, udu, mondo drum

Location Palo Alto, CA - USA

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