Dialogues with Dion Kerr – A Debut Album

TAGS: Concert Jazz

Sat 09/07/2024

Dion Kerr, a visionary artist from Delray Beach, FL, boasts a multi-faceted creative spirit. His artistry seamlessly weaves together a diverse array of influences and artistic mediums. With an extensive background that includes global tours and recordings as both a frontman and a collaborator across multiple musical genres, Dion Kerr brilliantly showcases his unwavering talent as a producer, a multi-instrumentalist, and a conceptual artist.

Dion Kerr skillfully blends acoustic and electric elements, drawing from various inspirations and styles to craft a unified, genre-defying sound that transcends conventional musical boundaries. Dion’s records feature melodic, groove-based instrumentals that glimpse his eclectic musical palate. At the heart of Kerr’s creative process lies an unwavering commitment to experimentation, vividly reflected in the fluidity of his work.

Dion’s YouTube series ‘Dialogues’ has won awards and grants for his series showcasing duo performances of acclaimed musicians and singers. His latest project and upcoming record, “eko vizion meusik,” an audio-visual album, collaborates with veteran drummer Miguel Russell and New York-based guitarists Tim Watson and Emmanuel Michael. Dion recently wrapped up a successful European tour with Marcus Strickland’s Twi-life. He has dates set in 2024 with legendary Ignacio Berroa and Tal Cohen Trio, with whom he plays integral roles. He contributed to a live album with the renowned Ignacio Berroa’s Trio while playing critical roles in groups such as The Smoogies and Seafoam Walls.

PERFORMER BIO:
Dion Kerr, a visionary artist between Miami and New York City, boasts a multi-faceted creative spirit. His artistry seamlessly weaves together a diverse array of influences and artistic mediums. Kerr has performed with groups like the Immanuel Wilkins Quartet, Ignacio Berroa Trio, Godwin Louis’ Global, Jean Caze’s Amede, Emmet Cohen Trio, and Tal Cohen Trio, and alongside artists like Justin Brown, Chantae Cann, and many others. He recently got off a tour of European festivals with Marcus Strickland’s Twi-Life in Switzerland and London, a second tour of European residency in Germany, Greece, and Poland, and sharing the infamous The Blue Note NYC stage with Tivon Pennicott. Dion also co-founded the band The Smoogies, who released their debut album, Planet Smoogies, featuring trumpeter Nicholas Payton, in 2020 and their sophomore release, People Music, in 2022. They are set to release their next record, a live album, in 2024. Dion was also the guitarist, lead engineer, and co-producer of Seafoam Walls record XVI, released on Thurston Moore and Eva Printz’s label Ecstatic Peace Library. They recently supported Unknown Mortal Orchestra on a nationwide tour and have secured a sponsorship with Fender. Dion also proudly endorses Benevolent Basses, Marino Custom Cables, and Fender Guitars.

Kerr’s latest project and upcoming record is a collaboration with veteran drummer Dave Chiverton, known for his work with artists like Marcus Miller, Lauryn Hill, and Troy Roberts. It also features former child prodigy Miguel Russell, who, at age 21, already tours internationally alongside Theo Croker and Jahari Stampley and collaborates with Stanley Clarke. The band is rounded out by two young NYC guitarists: Emmanuel Micheal (also 21), who is the newest member of Ambrose Akinmusire Quintet and frequently performs in groups led by artists like Dayna Stephens, Aaron Parks, and Immanuel Wilkins, and Tim Watson (24), who is known for his performances with leading South Indian classical musicians, and his work in projects lead by Nazir Ebo, Cisco Swank, and Ignacio Berroa. Kerr’s ‘eko vizion meusik’ will bathe audiences in waves of futuristic textures, lush harmony, and Caribbean, African, and gospel-inspired grooves. It presents a new quartet sound in jazz, one heavily impacted by Micheal and Watson’s virtuosic, heartfelt, and sonically warped guitar stylings (a sound that has already taken them to many of NYC’s finest jazz clubs and abroad) and the rhythmic mastery of Kerr Russell, and Chiverton. With the group’s members already working with some of today’s most prominent jazz stars, it must be seen as a vision of jazz’s future…

BAND MEMBERS:
Dion Kerr – Bass
Tim Watson – Guitar
Emmanuel Michael – Guitar
Miguel Russell – Drums