The Motet Set to Trample Jacksonville, Atlanta & Nashville with Funk
[Feature photo of Motet creator Dave Watts from Fool’s Paradise by Matt Hillman]
The Motet, a true force of nature, collides for the first time with Jacksonville Thursday, March 14, at 1904 Music Hall. After a short break after the first five shows of their March campaign, the septet plays Jacksonville, then Atlanta and Nashville. As summer rolls around, their festival calendar includes a show at Red Rocks with Galactic and Moon Hooch in July, and they are scheduled to play Backwoods at Mulberry Mountain, Bonfire Music & Arts Festival, Strange Creek Campout, Targhee Festival, Jeezum Crow Festival, and FloydFest as their festival card starts to fill up.
As if that’s not enough, they’re preparing to funk up Jazz Fest at House of Blues New Orleans!
The show at 1904 will also feature Exmag opening for The Motet. They are a livetronica trio whose work covers jazz, hip hop, R&B, funk and much more. New Orleans’ outstanding Naughty Professor is on the Atlanta date, and fusion blasters Electric Kif will join the band in Nashville.
The Motet are: Dave Watts, drums; Joey Porter, keys; Garrett Sayers, bass; Ryan Jalbert, guitar; Lyle Divinsky, vocals; Parris Fleming, trumpet; and Drew Sayers, sax.
This musical collective is the brainchild of drummer Dave Watts, who put the Colorado group together in 1998. The band’s first album, Breathe, was released the following year, with Play following in 2001. The band has included 21 members over the years. Bassist Garrett Sayers joined in 2004 in time to perform on the brilliant Music for Life, highlighting the band’s Afrobeat and Cuban rhythms and magical funk. There was also a live album in 2002 and a live DVD title Shine of their 2001 Hallowe’en show featuring the music of Herbie Hancock and the Headhunters.
Ryan Jalbert came on board in 2005, ahead of the band’s excellent Instrumental Dissent in 2006. Joey Porter, the man with more bounce to the ounce, became keyboard king shortly after that album’s release. Dig Deep came out in 2009. For the most part, those albums were instrumental, although the band had a great vocalist in Jans Ingber, also the group’s percussionist.
There was a shift in focus in 2014 as the band turned more toward deep funk, powered by Ingber’s vocals, evidenced on the eponymous album that year. Ingber announced that he was leaving the group, and Lyle Divinsky appeared to continue that excellent vocal funk tradition. Drew Sayers (brother of Garrett) joined at the same time in 2016, leading to their Totem album, and finally Parris Fleming came on board last year on trumpet ahead of the recording of the band’s brand new album, Death or Devotion.
They truly rocked the boat on Jam Cruise in January with two great sets plus Dave Watts hosting Jam Room, a Lyle Divinsky Atrium set, Drew Sayers late-night room, and numerous sit-ins throughout the six-day cruise. Divinsky and Jalbert sat in with TAUK, Porter with SunSquabi, Divinsky (again — he was everywhere) with Natural Selectah, and several of the boys at Isaac Teel’s jam. And those were just ones I saw!
If you’ve already gotten an “Extraordinary High” from The Motet, then you already know. Make sure all your friends, do, too. You know you’re all “Highly Compatible”!
“DAMN!”
THE MOTET
03/14 1904 Music Hall | Jacksonville FL w/ Exmag
03/15 Variety Playhouse | Atlanta GA w/ Naughty Professor
03/16 Exit In | Nashville TN w/ Electric Kif
04/27 House of Blues New Orleans | New Orleans LA
04/28 House of Blues New Orleans | New Orleans LA
05/24-27 Strange Creek Campout | Greenfield MA
05/31-06/02 Backwoods at Mulberry Mountain | Ozark AR
06/06-08 Bonfire Music & Arts Festival | Hillsboro WI
07/12 Red Rocks Amphitheatre | Morrison CO w/ Galactic, Moon Hooch
07/13-14 Targhee Festival | Alta WY
07/20 Jeezum Crow Festival | Jay VT
07/24-27 FloydFest | Floyd VA
THE MOTET
Website
Facebook
Instagram
Twitter