Home » Jazz Musicians » Ken Filiano

Ken Filiano

Ken Filiano performs throughout the world, playing and recording with leading artists in jazz, spontaneous improvisation, classical, world/ethnic, and interdisciplinary performance, fusing the rich traditions of the double bass with his own seemingly limitless inventiveness. Ken's solo bass CD, “subvenire” (NineWinds), received widespread critical praise. For this and numerous other recordings, Ken has been called a "creative virtuoso," a "master of technique" . . . "a paradigm of that type of artist. . . who can play anything in any context and make it work, simply because he puts the music first and leaves peripheral considerations behind."

Ken composes for his quartet with Michael Attias, Tony Malaby, and Michael T.A. Thomspon; a collective with Attias and Tomas Ulrich; and for his decades-long collaborations with Steve Adams and Vinny Golia. His prolific output also includes performances and/or recordings with artists including Bonnie Barnett, Rob Blakeslee, Bobby Bradford, Taylor Ho Bynum, Roy Campbell, John Carter, Nels Cline, Alex Cline, Connie Crothers, Mark Dresser, Ted Dunbar, Marty Ehrlich, Giora Feidman, Bob Feldman, Eddie Gale, Georgian Chamber Orchestra, Dennis Gonzalez, Lou Grassi, Phil Haynes, Fred Hess, Jason Hwang, Joseph Jarman, Sheila Jordan (with the Aardvark Orchestra), Raul Juarena, Joe Labarbera, Joelle Leandre, Frank London, Manhattan Chamber Orchestra, Tina Marsh, Warne Marsh, Dom Minasi, Hafez Modirzadeh, Butch Morris, Barre Phillips, Don Preston, Herb Robertson, Bob Rodriguez, Roswell Rudd, ROVA Saxophone Quartet, Ursel Schlicht, Paul Smoker, Chris Sullivan, Peeter Uuskyla, Fay Victor, Biggi Vinkeloe, Kenny Wessel, Andrea Wolper, Pablo Ziegler. With Tomas Ulrich, Elliott Sharp, and Carlos Zingaro, he is a member of T.E.C.K. String Quartet.

Ken tours widely, playing across the United States, Canada, Europe, Asia, and South America. He has appeared at festivals including the Charles Ives Festival, Summerfest Orchestra at Rutgers University, Kuhmo Chamber Music Festival (Finland), Cascade Festival of Music (principal bass, Bend, OR), Jazz em Agosto (Lisbon), Seixal Jazz Festival, Jazz Ao Centro (Coimbra, Portugal), Fundacio Joan Miro (Barcelona), Vancouver International Jazz Festival, Montreal International Jazz Festival, Jazzin' Tondela, Bergamo Jazz Festival, Banlieues Bleues Festival (Paris), Tampere International Jazz Festival ( Finland), Texaco New York Jazz Festival, Bell Atlantic Jazz Festival, NY JVC Jazz Festival; Vision Festival (New York), and on concert stages worldwide, including Carnegie Hall, Berlin Philharmonie, and Philharmonie am Gasteig (Munich).

Ken has been a guest lecturer, performer, and workshop leader at institutions in the United States and Europe. He earned a MM from Rutgers University and is currently on faculty at Mansfield University.

Tags

Album Review

IDR - Italian Doc Remix: Pandemonium

Read "Pandemonium" reviewed by Neri Pollastri


Chitarrista e compositore campano da tempo trasferitosi a New York, Marco Cappelli da qualche anno ha messo in piedi, assieme al percussionista italo-americano Jim Pugliese, una formazione denominata IDR, Italian Doc Remix, composta in larga parte da italiani residenti negli Stati Uniti o da italo-americani, con i quali “gioca" con la tradizione delle sue terre, rinnovandola con strumenti e arrangiamenti contemporanei che attingono ampiamente a stilemi jazzistici senza abbandonare forme espressive tradizionali, ma anche filtrandola attraverso il modo in cui ...

6
Album Review

WeFreeStrings: Love In The Form Of Sacred Outrage

Read "Love In The Form Of Sacred Outrage" reviewed by Mark Corroto


History does repeat itself, violist Melanie Dyer draws from the same well of inspiration as Max Roach's We Insist! Max Roach's Freedom Now Suite (Candid, 1961). Maybe better put, history reveals Martin Luther King's arc of the moral universe has only bent a few degrees in the past sixty years. With Love In The Form Of Sacred Outrage, the ensemble WeFreeStrings follows up their debut Fulfillment (self released, 2018). Dyer, a classically trained violist, found inspiration in the music ...

4
Album Review

Jason Kao Hwang: Human Rites Trio

Read "Human Rites Trio" reviewed by Mike Jurkovic


Chattering dances. That's the first image that springs to mind when encountering Human Rites Trio, the fascinating new music from prolific violinist/composer Jason Kao Hwang and his rhythmic, shapeshifting compatriots, drummer Andrew Drury and bassist Ken Filiano. Building on a freneticism all their own, the opening two-part suite “Words Asleep Spoken Awake" is a hyper-active, many headed hydra of spontaneous interplay. Counterpoint groove and muscle memory all come into play with Hwang's sound moving from mournful strains to ...

14
Album Review

Jeff Pearring/Pearring Sound: Socially Distanced Duos

Read "Socially Distanced Duos" reviewed by Karl Ackermann


Jeff Pearring's background in jazz, classical, reggae and other genres has informed his creative process in ways that are not always apparent. That turns out to be a good thing as his ability to encapsulate influences without genuflecting is part of his music's appeal. The alto saxophonist, a Brooklyn-based Colorado native, is a Connie Crothers protégé with a similarly independent mindset. Billed as “Pearring Sound," the saxophonist surrounds himself with a rotation of players varying on three previous, self-produced albums, ...

3
Album Review

Sana Nagano: Smashing Humans

Read "Smashing Humans" reviewed by Hrayr Attarian


Violinist Sana Nagano is an idiosyncratic and accomplished artist who is immersed in New York's avant-garde scene. Her sonic experiments are an end in themselves, thrilling and provocative as well as quite intimate. Nagano's debut with her new quintet, the electrifying, Smashing Humans, expresses this singular vision to its fullest, creating a wholly absorbing work of rare beauty. The cinematic “Humans in Grey" starts off with Nagano playing repeating scales that saxophonist Peter Apfelbaum echoes. The entry of ...

2
Album Review

Bob Gluck: Early Morning Star

Read "Early Morning Star" reviewed by Jerome Wilson


On this release, pianist Bob Gluck mixes the realms of classical music and jazz in interesting ways. The formal, declarative music produced by Gluck, clarinetist Kinan Azmeh and vocalist Andrea Wolper is given flow and earthiness by the rhythmic pull of bassist Ken Filiano and drummer Tani Tabbal. The front-line combination fluidly rises and falls through pieces like the sparkling “A Time of Singing," with Wolper singing words from the Bible's Song of Songs over surging piano, and ...

5
Album Review

Jason Kao Hwang: Human Rites Trio

Read "Human Rites Trio" reviewed by Dan Bilawsky


Observance is at the heart of violinist Jason Kao Hwang's work, and no two musicians respect and fulfill the promise in his ritualistic art to the degree of bassist Ken Filiano and drummer Andrew Drury. The relationship between these three has traversed time and space(s), manifesting in a sea of strings for Symphony of Souls (Mulatta Records, 2011), playing to poetic notions on Lifelines (Innova Recordings, 2015), taking on a horn and harmonist in Sing House (Euonymus Records, 2017) and ...

Read more articles
2

Recording

"Tranceformation In Concert”: October 9 Release By Connie Crothers / Ken Filiano / Andrea Wolper

"Tranceformation In Concert”: October 9 Release By Connie Crothers / Ken Filiano / Andrea Wolper

Source: Michael Bloom Media Relations

TranceFormation, the improvising trio of Connie Crothers (piano), Ken Filiano (bass), and Andrea Wolper (voice), subverts expectation on several counts. From the first moment, this seemingly traditional bass-vocal-piano formation leaves tradition behind: there are no assumed or assigned roles, no leader, no side players. Instead, three strongly individual “voices" join to make music cooperatively as they weave in, out, and among one another, extending, bending, and experimenting with the sonic capabilities of their respective instruments. The music and words are ...

45

Radio

The Jazz Session #295: Ken Filiano

The Jazz Session #295: Ken Filiano

Source: AAJ Staff


154

Event

Tomas Janzon Trio Featuring Ben Dixon & Ken Filiano

Tomas Janzon Trio Featuring Ben Dixon & Ken Filiano

Source: All About Jazz

Tomas Janzon Coast to Coast to Coast

Cornelia Street Cafe 29 Cornelia St Sunday Oct. 28, 8:30 PM

Featuring: Tomas Janzon-compositions, guitar Ben Dixon-drums Ken Filiano-bass

Reservations recommended (212) 989-9319

Time Traveling Sessions:

“When deciding to make a record of my recent experiences I realized the last couple of years has involved so much traveling that it would be natural to use the aspect of different locations and different people in the ...

80

Performance / Tour

Andrea Wolper, Ron Affif, Ken Filiano @ 55 Bar June 21

Andrea Wolper, Ron Affif, Ken Filiano @ 55 Bar June 21

Source: All About Jazz


101

Performance / Tour

Andrea Wolper, Ron Affif, Ken Filiano @ 55 Bar on June 21

Andrea Wolper, Ron Affif, Ken Filiano @ 55 Bar on June 21

Source: All About Jazz

Wed., June 21 7 - 9 pm Andrea Wolper +Ron Affif +Ken Filiano 55 Bar 55 Christopher St. near 7th Ave. So. & W. 4th 1 train to Christopher St. or trains to W. 4th station No cover charge www.55bar.com (click on We Are Here to see exact location) Hear Andrea, Ron, & Ken: Free MP3 Download #2 ...

136

Performance / Tour

Dom Minasi/Tomas Ulrich/Ken Filiano Sunday, November 13 7-9 pm at 5C Cafe

Dom Minasi/Tomas Ulrich/Ken Filiano Sunday, November 13  7-9 pm at 5C Cafe

Source: All About Jazz

November 11, 2005 To: Listings/Critics/Features From: JAZZ PROMO SERVICES Press Contact: JIM EIGO, [email protected] CDM News The Listen Loud Series Sunday, November 13 7-9 pm The Dom Minasi String Trio DDT “...hits with a mature force that absolutely kills." Charles Walker - Sudden-Thoughts.com Dom Minasi-guitar, Tomas Ulrich-cello, Ken Filiano-bass 2 sets of original through composed music 5C Cafe, 68 Ave C, East 5th & Ave C in New York 212 477 5993 http://www.5ccc.com/schedule.html Next Week : The Dom Minasi Trio ...

117

Performance / Tour

Dom Minasi/Ken Filiano/Jackson Krall: Free Listen: Live From CBGB'S + Four Sundays at 5C Cafe

Dom Minasi/Ken Filiano/Jackson Krall: Free Listen:  Live From CBGB'S + Four Sundays at 5C Cafe

Source: All About Jazz

October 5, 2005 To: Listings/Critics/Features From: JAZZ PROMO SERVICES Press Contact: JIM EIGO, [email protected] CDM News Flash !! Live From CBGB'S Recorded 4/27/05 The Dom Minasi Trio featuring Ken Filiano-bass & Jackson Krall Drums On Green Dolphin Street http://www.domminasi.com Upcoming Dates: * Four Sundays * Four Different Groups * 5C Cafe 7-9PM Nov 6th: Borah Bergman/ Dom Minasi Duo Nov.13th: DDT- Dom Minasi-guitar, Tomas Urlich-cello & Ken Filiano-bass Nov.20th: The Dom Minasi Trio featuring: ken Filiano-bass & Jackson Krall-drums Nov.27th: ...

Primary Instrument

Bass

Photos

Concerts

Music

Recordings: As Leader | As Sideperson

Pandemonium

41st Parallel Records
2022

buy

Smashing Humans

577 Records
2021

buy

Socially Distanced...

Self Produced
2021

buy

Early Morning Star

FMR Records
2020

buy

Human Rites Trio

True Sound Recordings
2020

buy

The Girls In Their Dresses

From: Parallel Lives
By Ken Filiano

Videos

Similar

Get more of a good thing!

Our weekly newsletter highlights our top stories, our special offers, and upcoming jazz events near you.