The Motet

Started ten years ago by seasoned drummer Dave Watts as a rotating cast of musical friends, today progressive funk band The Motet has refined their sound and vision into a dynamic and expressive force. The Motet features an astonishingly talented cast of musicians who enjoy a palpable rapport when put together – Dave Watts (drums, musical director), Garrett Sayers (bass), Joey Porter (keyboards), Ryan Jalbert (guitar), Jans Ingber (vocals) and horn players Gabe Mervine (trumpet) and Matt Pitts (sax).

Today, The Motet is touring nationwide for the first time in the band’s history, and are being hailed as “the best live band right now” (Source Audio). Recent months have found the band’s audiences growing exponentially – with sellout shows from coast to coast including Portland’s Wonderland Ballroom, Denver’s Fillmore Auditorium, and Brooklyn Bowl, and huge festival plays such as Wakarusa, Summer Camp, Oregon County Fair, and Arise Music Festival, among others.

In January 2014 the band released their 7th album – self titled The Motet. The nine tracks on The Motet (released January 2014) seamlessly showcase an evolved, keenly refined musical vision of The Motet; a band committed to pushing the sonic envelope, while remaining dedicated to the musical traditions – funk, afrobeat, disco, jazz, and soul – that have long defined their sound. The Motet are well known in Colorado and beyond for keeping audiences in a dancing frenzy by layering precise and vibrant live instrumentation and electronic rhythms into a style that is uniquely their own. And in this age when EDM reigns over the dance music scene, The Motet is proof that funk is not even close to dead. For this studio recording, each member of the band contributed to the writing and arranging of the album’s nine original songs. Using traditional analog recording methods including tape, tubes and transistors, the music on The Motet offers all the crunch and bite of a classic 70’s funk record and is warm, rich, and organic in tone. But the music is fresh and forward – as much a glimpse into the future of music as it is homage to the past.

Choosing to self-title their 7th release says it all – this is a band that feels like it has finally become.

And critics agree:

“This is a studio record worthy of the name; original tunes, utterly flawless production and not a throwaway in the bunch. Ambitious, airtight and built to travel.” (Boulder Weekly)

“…55 glorious minutes of Motet music that showcases their growth as individuals and as an unstoppable funk machine…” – (Upstate Live)