Short Bio
Ken Filiano is a bassist, composer, improviser, and teacher who performs around the world, fusing the rich traditions of the double bass with his own seemingly limitless imagination. A “creative virtuoso” (JazzValley), Ken has performed and recorded with a veritable who's who in multiple genres, from Anthony Braxton to Pablo Ziegler. Ken leads two quartets, Quantum Entanglements and Baudolino's Dilemma, and is co-leader of The Steve Adams/Ken Filiano Duo and other collective ensembles. He is also an integral member of groups led by Taylor Ho Bynum, Jason Kao Hwang, Fay Victor, Vinny Golia, Diane Moser, Karl Berger, and others, and was a key member of groups led by the late Roswell Rudd and Connie Crothers. Ken's extensive discography includes the solo CD, "Subvenire"(Nine Winds) and Quantum Entanglements's "Dreams From a Clown Car" (Clean Feed). He is a Guiding Artist and on the Board of Advisors for Creative Music Studio in Woodstock, NY.
Long Bio
Bassist, composer, improviser, teacher Ken Filiano performs around the world, collaborating with leading artists in multiple genres, fusing the rich traditions of the double bass with his own seemingly limitless imagination. Filiano received a Bachelor of Music in Double Bass from Syracuse University in 1978, studying with Vincent Stuart Wheeler. He did graduate work at University of California San Diego, studying with Bertram Turetzky, and at University of Southern California, studying with Dennis Trembley. Relocating to the east coast, he received a Master of Music in Double Bass from Rutgers University, where he studied bass with Carolyn Davis Fryer, John Feeney, and Larry Ridley, and jazz theory, composition, and improvisation with Ted Dunbar, Kenny Barron, Ralph Bowen, and Daniel Goode. Later studies include bass with Orin O’Brien and composition with Edgar Grana.
In addition to being an in-demand bassist for jazz, experimental, improvised, tango, and classical music, Ken leads two quartets, Quantum Entanglements and Baudolino's Dilemma, and is co-leader of several groups including the Steve Adams/Ken Filiano Duo. His extensive discography includes a solo bass CD, “subvenire” (NineWinds), and his quartet's “Dreams From a Clown Car" (Clean Feed). For these and numerous other recordings and performances, critics have called Ken 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.” (JazzValley.com / Robert Rusch / Chris Kelsey).
Ken performs in his New York home base, and tours, appearing in premier concert halls, festivals, and clubs throughout the U.S. and the world. Among his many festival appearances are Bergamo (Italy) Jazz Festival, the Du Maurier Atlantic Jazz Festival (Canada), Tampere (Finland) International Jazz Festival, Texaco New York Jazz Festival, Kassel (Germany) Jazz Festival, Cape Verde International Jazz Festival, Vancouver International Jazz Festival, and frequent appearances at Edgefest (Ann Arbor), and the Vision Festival (New York). His classical work includes performances with the Manhattan Chamber Orchestra, the Princeton Chamber Orchestra, the Sirius String Quartet, and Cascade Festival Orchestra, where he held the principal bass chair from 1985 - 2001.
Ken has performed and/or recorded with Karl Berger and Ingrid Sertso, Bobby Bradford, Anthony Braxton, Connie Crothers, Bill Dixon, Ted Dunbar, Giora Feidman, Vinny Golia, Taylor Ho Bynum, Jason Kao Hwang, Joseph Jarman, Raul Juanena, Joelle Leandre, Frank London, Tina Marsh, Warne Marsh, Dom Minasi, Hafez Modirzadeh, Barre Phillips, Roswell Rudd, ROVA Saxophone Qt., Paul Smoker, Fay Victor, Andrea Wolper, Pablo Ziegler, and many more leading artists in jazz and improvised music. Ken was on the faculty at Mansfield (PA) University. He teaches master classes in bass and improvisation, has a private bass studio, is a frequent guest teacher at School for Visual Arts and Hunter College (New York City), and is a Guiding Artist and Advisor at Creative Music Studio in Woodstock, NY.
“What is rare among today’s arco soloists is Filiano’s mixture of absolutely pitch-perfect intonation and precise bowing hand motion alongside an openness of phrasing that is beholden to very few of his predecessors. His staccato is furious, his legato weeps, and he is able to alternate within the space of a few measures.” (Charles Walker)