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Glen Velez with Lori Cotler

Grammy-winning Percussionist and Acclaimed Rhythm Singer
www.glenvelez.com

www.loricotler.com

Glen Velez Frame Drum Institute - with special guest Lori Cotler

 

 

"Performances of primal exhilaration ...
seizing the soul of the music at hand."
- Cleveland Plain Dealer

"East-West hybrids that combine a Western sense of proportion with non-Western improvisations and meditative depths —
music that earns a place between two worlds."
- New York Times

 

Glen Velez is considered one of the most influential percussionists our time, as well as being responsible for a world-wide resurgence in the popularity of the frame drum. Glen and Lori's live performances create a sacred-space, a musical setting where the ancient and modern worlds collide, where sound and pulse become a sanctuary. While Glen draws upon the great drumming traditions of the Middle East, South India and the Mediterranean world (ancient and modern), he plays in a totally original style. Utilizing a vast culmination of complex hand and finger techniques, he creates a symphony of sounds and textures from just a single hand-held drum. "Extreme virtuosity and imagination ... astonishing sophistication" - New York Times

Lori Cotler's stunning rhythmic adeptness and genre-bending dexterity puts her in a class all her own. Drawing from the highly sophisticated South Indian rare art form known as Konnakol (Slang name: Indian Beatboxing), she can execute with the human voice, vocal maneuvers which don't seem possible in their rhythmic speed and clarity.  Her scat-inflected improvised solos create an exciting counterpoint to Glen's earthy drumming virtuosity. Look out for their new recording 'Rhythms of the Chakras Vol. 2' to be released in 2008 on the Sounds True label. "Cotler sings konakkol, Southern Indian-style chants at impossibly breakneck speed ... She performed with peerless artistry and  in a seemingly effortless manner. " - The Jerusalem Post

"The audience was rapt, absolutely still, except for those dancing in place." - The Village Voice

 


Glen Velez

Three-time Grammy Award-winning master drummer, composer and educator
Glen Velez has gained international recognition as a solo artist and is also known for his 15-year recording and performing collaborations with composer Steve

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Reich as well as the Paul Winter Consort. His compositions have been featured on National Public Radio's All Things Considered and have been commissioned by the Rockefeller Foundation, Jerome Foundation, and Reader's Digest. He has recorded hundreds of albums on ECM, CBS, RCA, GRP, Warner Brothers, Deutsche Gramophone, Geffen, Nonesuch, Capital, and Sony.


Glen Velez bio Discography reviews (msword)

Read about the frame drum

 

Lori Cotler - Voice Catcher
www.loricotler.com

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"Lori Cotler Sings Konnakol, Southern Indian-style chants at impossibly breakneck speed ... she perforned with peerless artistry and in a seemingly effortless manner."- The Jerusalem Post

 

"…Using her voice in mystically percussive ways."- The New Yorker

 

Lori Cotler's stunning rhythmic adeptness and genre-bending dexterity puts her in a class all her own among contemporary vocalists.  Drawing from the highly sophisticated South Indian rare vocal art form known as Konnakol, she can execute with vocal maneuvers which do not seem possible in their rhythmic speed and clarity — jazz chanteuse meets consummate rhythm vocalist meets, conquers and fuses the sound of the urban world.This New York-born talent is a fearless vocalist who can soar through complex rhythmic syncopations, then in half a moment flow into achingly tender velvet-toned melisma.

More about Lori Cotler

Lori's bio (msword)

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Glen Velez & Lori Cotler- Conversation in 5