The Primordial Jazz Funktet brings a lot of the 21 st century into a (mostly) traditional jazz quintet. Furman started the group in Atlanta, GA, and moved it to New York in 2004. The Funktet plays Furman’s compositions, which are strongly influenced by funk and hiphop beats, as well as by world music sounds. “The music is intense, but it always grooves,” he says.

The intensity is in part due to the exceptional cast of musicians who have played with the Funktet, both in Atlanta and New York. These have included trumpeters Joe Gransden, Lee Hogans and James Cage, saxophonists Joel Frahm, Eric South, David Freeman and Tomas Ramirez, bassists Zack Pride, Alex Hernandez, Blake Gaines, George Grier and Paul Beaudry and drummers Corey Rawls, Che Marshall and Pete VanNostrand.

Furman counts many influences in his music. “I love hard swinging pianists like Oscar Peterson, Wynton Kelly and Johnny O’Neal. Like most other jazz players, I’ve been greatly influenced by Miles, Monk, Coltrane, Ornette Coleman and all the greats. Then there’s the music that we grew up listening to, from rock to funk, from classical to TV themes.”

See the calendar page for upcoming performances.

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Dan Furman | danfurman@aol.com | 212 932-7925 | (c) 404 819-9726