Music
Press
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Discography
As a side-musician, Catherine has played on many records, including the following:
Louise Attaque "A Plus Tard Crocodile" (2004)
Joe Jackson – "Two Rainy Nights" (Great Big Island 2002), and "Joe Jackson Live" (Koch 2004)
John Cale – "HoboSapiens" (EMI 2003)
Michael Hashim and the AXIS String Quartet – "Green Up Time: The Music of Kurt Weill" (Hep 2001)
"Lee Konitz and the AXIS String Quartet play French Impressionist Music" (Palmetto 2000)
Anthony Braxton – "Trillium R: Composition 162 - An Opera In Four Acts" (Braxton House 1999)
Patti Rothberg – "Candelabra Cadabra" (with the AXIS String Quartet, string arrangements by Catherine Bent)
Joe Gallant and Illuminati – "Music of the Grateful Dead and Beyond" (Relix 2000), "Code of the West" (1997)
Sister Machine Gun – "Metropolis" (1997)
Brandon Evans Quartet – "Recurring Moons" (Parallactic 1997)
Betty – "Limboland" (1996)
Live at the Knitting Factory – "Downtown Does the Beatles", (Knitting Factory Works 1992)
Photos
Bio
Catherine Bent is a cellist, composer, arranger and teacher. She has a Masters Degree in Jazz Performance from New England Conservatory of Music. She leads a 6-piece jazz/originals band (Waters of March) and a 5-piece choro/originals band (Choros com Chocolate). She also performs as a soloist, amplified or acoustic, clean and natural or with effect and loops.
Cat’s credentials speak for themselves: You've seen her play with Cirque du Soleil, Enya, Joe Jackson, Kanye West, Joan Osborne, Donna Summer, Greg Osby, Merce Cunningham's Dance Company, and as principal cellist of the One World Symphony. Probably you've also seen her supporting the rise of a star at the Bitter End, Rockwood Music Hall, or the Bowery Ballroom. But there's more to Catherine than a gorgeous tone and stage presence.
Catherine is committed to expanding the role of cello in creative music. Daughter of two British musicologists, and a cellist and pianist since childhood, Catherine’s musical and technical sophistication serve her well in the world of improvisation. You'll hear her soloing fluently over changes, until -- with a graceful gesture gestated in years of chamber music -- she passes the torch to another and assumes a complementary role, supplying harmonic support, rhythmic punctuation, color, whatever the music wants. Bass line? Cat's as comfortable walking the low wire as the flying the high lines.
This is the essence of a unique sound and creative vision. On a practical level, there are a few more things you should know about Catherine: She is an Ace sightreader (perhaps from years of playing New Music with New York’s top classical musicians). She composes swoony ballads ("I Shouldn’t Care") as well as angular Monkish tunes ("Bare-Topped Trees"). She has spent time in Brazil and the flavors of Rio and Bahia find their way into most of her compositions (“Pale In Comparison”, "Curly Wings"). She has great time-feel. She can arrange almost any tune for almost any instrumentation (The Pogues' "Fairy Tale of New York" for two percussive cellos, "The Nutcracker" in nine minutes for Happy Hour Clowns at Dance Theater Workshop). She's a consummate professional, always giving 100% to the music and the musicians around her.
And of course, she writes a mean arrangement. Whether your music is swinging, rockin', theatrical, or something else you dreamed up yourself, Catherine Bent will make your record shine.
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