The Motet is leading the new Funk revival and today the band announces a special New Year’s Eve celebration at Portland, Oregon’s Crystal Ballroom on December 31, 2014. Known for throwing some of the best dance parties around, The Motet’s “New Year’s Eve in Funklandia” promises a festive night of great music, good vibes, and plenty of surprises. On hand for party are 8 piece afro-beat orchestra Polyrhythmics and Portland’s own turntablist DJ Weather. Tickets, including special VIP packages, go on sale on Friday, August 8 at www.themotet.net.
Also announced today, The Motet will make some runs in the southeast and northeast this November. On the schedule so far are stops at Terminal West in Atlanta, Georgia, Asheville Music Hall in North Carolina, a return to New York’s Brooklyn Bowl and Boston’s Brighton Music Hall, with other dates still to be announced. See below for the complete list of The Motet’s currently confirmed tour dates.
The Motet has been on tour this summer in support of their brand new album, simply titled The Motet. Fresh off festival stops including Summer Camp, Northwest String Summit, Euphoria Camping & Music Festival and a sold-out Red Rocks performance, the band is set to return to Colorado’s Front Range for their famed annual Halloween shows along Colorado’s Front Range. Unveiled as this year’s always-anticipated theme for the famed parties: “Mixtape 1975.” Tickets for The Motet’s “Mixtape 1975” shows are currently on sale at www.themotet.net.
Meanwhile, outside of the extensive tour dates, “More energy is being put toward writing original music,” Motet vocalist Jans Ingber explains. “That’s the difference between The Motet four years ago and The Motet now.”
In this spirit, The Motet recently released their self-titled 7th album, which has been hailed as “ambitious, airtight and built to travel” (Boulder Weekly). The nine tracks on The Motet (released February 2014) seamlessly showcase an evolved, keenly refined musical vision of The Motet; a band committed to pushing the sonic envelope, while remaining dedicated to the musical traditions - funk, afrobeat, disco, jazz, and soul - that have long defined their sound. The Motet are well known in Colorado and beyond for keeping audiences in a dancing frenzy by layering precise and vibrant live instrumentation and electronic rhythms into a style that is uniquely their own. And in this age when EDM reigns over the dance music scene, The Motet is proof that funk is not even close to dead. For this studio recording, each member of the band contributed to the writing and arranging of the album’s nine original songs. Using traditional analog recording methods including tape, tubes and transistors, the music on The Motet offers all the crunch and bite of a classic 70’s funk record and is warm, rich, and organic in tone. But the music is fresh and forward – as much a glimpse into the future of funk music as it is homage to the past.
Started ten years ago by seasoned drummer Dave Watts as a rotating cast of musical friends, today The Motet has refined their sound and vision into a dynamic and expressive force. The Motet features an astonishingly talented cast of musicians who enjoy a palpable rapport when put together – Dave Watts (drums, musical director), Garrett Sayers (bass), Joey Porter (keyboards), Ryan Jalbert (guitar), Jans Ingber (vocals) and horn players Gabe Mervine (trumpet) and Matt Pitts (sax).
Touring nationwide for the first time in the band’s history, The Motet are being hailed as “the best live band right now” (Source Audio).
The Motet’s current tour dates are as follows:
- Sunday, August 10 Santa Cruz Mountain Sol Festival Felton CA
- Friday, August 15 YarmonyGrass Music Festival Bond CO
- Friday, August 22 Camp Barefoot Bartow WV
- Thursday, August 28 Sculpture Park Denver CO
- Saturday, August 30 North Coast Music Festival Chicago IL
- Friday, September 5 (with Eminence Ensemble) - Saturday, September 6 (with The Magic Beans) Mishawaka Amphitheatre Bellvue CO
- Thursday, October 9 WorkPlay Theatre Birmingham AL
- Friday, October 10 Fly Free Festival Lafayette GA
- Friday, October 24 Art Outside Rockdale TX
- Saturday, October 25 - Sunday, October 26 Hangtown Halloween Ball Placerville CA
- Tuesday, October 28 Vilar Performing Arts Center Beaver Creek CO – “Mixtape 1975”
- Thursday, October 30 - Friday, October 31 Boulder Theater Boulder CO - “Mixtape 1975”
- Saturday, November 1 Ogden Theatre Denver CO - “Mixtape 1975”
- Friday, November 7 Terminal West Atlanta GA
- Saturday, November 8 Asheville Music Hall Asheville NC
- Friday, November 21 Brooklyn Bowl Brooklyn NY
- Saturday, November 22 Brighton Music Hall Boston MA
- Wednesday, December 31 Crystal Ballroom Portland OR “New Year’s Eve in Funklandia”
- with Polyrhythmics and DJ Weather
- Tuesday, January 6 - Sunday, January 11 Jam Cruise 10 Fort Lauderdale FL
Additional dates to be announced.
To stay up to date on all news on The Motet, please visit www.themotet.net and the official Facebook, Twitter, YouTube and Soundcloud pages.
