Old & New Friends with Bryan Nichols: JT Bates, Cody McKinney, Kaleena Miller, and Bryan Nichols
Rekindling a pre-pandemic project, these four dance around each other—literally and musically—to improvise new forms and connect music and dance in previously unheard ways.
Sunday, October 19 at 7:30pm
At Berlin
$15 (general admission)
Band Members: Bryan Nichols (Piano), Kaleena Miller (Dance), JT Bates (Drums), Cody McKinney (Bass)
Bryan Nichols is a pianist, composer, and educator based in Minneapolis. Often found playing jazz and improvised music, but at home in a variety of musical worlds, he leads and composes for his own trio, quintet, and nonet, in addition to performing, recording, and touring with a variety of forward-thinking artists. The Star Tribune has called him “a versatile, daring and inventive keyboardist…one of the Twin Cities’ most respected jazz players.” He is a recipient of a prestigious McKnight Fellowship for Performing Artists and a residency at the Kennedy Center for Betty Carter’s Jazz Ahead program. Nichols has released two albums as a leader to critical and audience acclaim: an original solo piano work, Looking North, and a suite of originals for his quintet, Bright Places.
Named one of DANCE Magazine’s 25 to Watch, Kaleena Miller has received a McKnight Fellowship for Dance and a Sage Award for People’s Choice, was a finalist for the Jerome Hill Fellowship, and has received funding from the Jerome Foundation and Minnesota State Arts Board. Miller co-founded the Twin Cities Tap Festival with Brenna Brelie and co-directed the festival from 2015 to 2021. Miller has had the honor of performing in works by Roxane Butterfly, Joe Chvala, Heather Cornell, Michelle Dorrance, Jon Ferguson, Derick Grant, Lisa La Touche, Michael J. Love, April Sellers, Sandy Silva, Jumaane Taylor, and Laurie Van Wieren.
Growing up in a musical family gave JT Bates an early start into sound and rhythmic exploration. He set on the path to becoming a working musician while playing in his father’s big band as a teen. Over the years, he remained steeped in the improvised music scene, both as a performer and presenter. In 2015, he produced and released his first solo album, Open Relationships (Totally Gross National Product), and in 2021, he released an album called Not Other Stuff. As a session drummer, Bates has appeared on Grammy record of the year Folklore (Taylor Swift) and Swift’s follow-up album, Evermore. He has also performed on the Grammy-nominated album s/t (Bonny Light Horseman) and critically acclaimed records by Bon Iver, Big Red Machine, Cassandra Jenkins, The National, Maya Hawke, and Ed Sheeran.
Cody McKinney is a bassist, composer, improviser, and sound artist residing in the Twin Cities. He has been actively composing, recording, and performing since the mid-1990s. Some of McKinney’s recent works have been recorded by his contemporary trio, Bloodline.