Karen Mantler is the daughter of jazz musicians Carla Bley and Michael Mantler. As a songwriter and a bandleader, her style has attracted a world-class list of musicians to her band throughout the years, including Steven Bernstein, Eric Mingus, Hiram Bullock and Arturo O’Farrill. As an instrumentalist and vocalist, Mantler has shared the stage with the likes of Terry Adams, Jack Bruce and Elvis Costello to name a few. She has performed frequently in Europe with various musicians, most notably John Greaves, Chris Cutler and Peter Blegvad. Robert Wyatt included three of Karen’s compositions on his 2003 recording, “Cuckooland”, which also featured her on harmonica and vocals. As a Hammond organ player, Karen has been touring and recording with The Carla Bley Big Band since 1988. In December 2013 Anton Fier hired her to play keyboards and harmonica with his band The Golden Palominos. Most recently she has been performing in New York with her Trio featuring Doug Wieselman and Kato Hideki. They are currently working on a CD, which will be released sometime in 2013 on the label XtraWATT (ECM).
 
wattxtrawatt.com