Born in Gunnison Colorado, Sean Conly started his love of music at a very young age.The son of a pianist and an artist Sean grew up around band rehearsals and concerts, experiencing the early 70’s in the last glow of hippiedom. By the age of six He started playing guitar and writing songs trying to be in turn each of the Beatles.
Moving to Topeka Kansas at the age of six (where he stayed through high school) he gravitated to the drums in the school band but as his teen years arrived He wanted to start a band. “There were several guys who already had drum sets and several guys with guitars so I decided to try bass.” Sean’s grandma bought him his first electric bass for christmas when he was 13.” I stayed up all night making my way through the book that came with the bass and the next day I went to tryouts for a band! It is like the jokes they always say about bass players!”
The bass soon became an obsession.Sean began playing gigs all around the region.’At first I thought I wanted to be a rock star but I started going to this crappy record store and checking out different stuff that I would hear about. In one summer I discovered a plethora of very different music from Black Flag and Mdc to Miles Davis, Jaco Pastorius, Mingus, Ornette Coleman and The Revolutionary Ensemble With Sirone just by flipping through the bins at that tiny store.” At the end of high school Sean chose to move to Kansas City Mo. to attend the U.M.K.C conservatory and study the contrabass, but his real education happened on the bandstand with local legends such as Ahmad Aladeen, Jay McShann, Claude “fiddler” Williams and many others. “I was really lucky to have a chance to learn from all these great older musicians something that is rare for a man in my generation. I got my butt kicked a lot!”
In 1992 Sean Decided to move east to study with Rufus Reid at William Paterson University. It was a time of preparation in anticipation of moving to New York. He arrived in the big apple in the fall of 1994. Since then he has gone on to tour the world and/or record with such artists as Gregory Tardy, Freddie Hubbard, Regina Carter, Ray Barretto, Charles Blenzig, Michael Franks, Tom Harrell, Deidre Murray, Pheeroan AkLaff, Andrew Hill, Nicholas Payton, Stefon Harris, Yoron Israel, Eric Lewis, Anthony Coleman, James Moody , Mike Stern, Rick Margitza, Michael Attias, Tony Malaby , Russ Lossing, Myron Walden, Sam Bardfeld, Ed Cherry, The Vana Gierig Trio, Joel Harrison, Rale Micic, Philip Harper, Melissa Walker, Alma Micic, Jazz Mandolin Project, Diedre Murray, JD Allen and many others. In 2000 Sean toured with The Newport Millenium Celebration with Cedar Walton, Randy Brecker, Howard Alden , Lew Tabakin and others. Recently he was involved in a project with artist Robrt Longo and his wife, actress Barbara Sukowa Sean has also performed clinics in high schools and universities all over the world. “ I have always enjoyed the challenge of playing a wide variety of music as there is a lot you can learn from others, But at heart my favorite things is to compose and play my own music.” Sean writes almost every day and has composed hundreds of works for his and various others ensembles.
Re:action, a quartet composed of Michael Attias, Pheeroan Aklaff , Tony Malaby and himself is his latest project. “ this group started off as a trio the Michael put together for some dates in Portugal with the great Take Toriyama and it was an almost instantaneous success for us!” Back in New York, Tony Malaby was added and with Take's passing the incredible Pheeroan Aklaff was brought on board Defining the group's new shape. This group is conceived to play music that gives the players a ballpark of expression ,without overcoming the improvisor. “My goal with this group is to let people play the way they play.The compositions are merely the topic. After that it is up the band to work together and make music out of it, not just blow around with no direction.I am looking for the ugly beauty in this imperfect world, the real deal, not some upper class aesthetic of what beauty should be!”
Re:action’s first gig in New York was voted one of the best gigs of the year by All About Jazz magazine. “ While still in it’s early evolution, I am ecstatic about the group’s promise! Our First Release is forthcoming on Clean Feed in October 2008 so I have posted a few cuts from that Recording. I have also included a live track for people to check out that our friend Scott Friedlander was kind enough to document at Barbes (which is most appreciated)!"
Also included is a track from a previous group of Sean’s “ The Invisibles”. This conglomeration included Tony Malaby, Ben Monder, and Tony Moreno. “I have included this track as it was sort the start of a new path for me. the whole piece is constructed from the idea of the drums starting some random 16th note patterns over which I would enter, get a mood and set Tony and Ben free on it!” Look For Sean Conly's Re:Action soon!!
“In the end everything is action or reaction. I guess I want to be in the middle of the stew, swimming exposed, my own actions/reactions to life love and music spilling out of me and adding my own flavor to the soup.”
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