Nearly two decades ago, drummer Dave Watts assembled a group of like-minded Jazz, Funk and AfroBeat players in Denver to create The Dave Watts Motet, a swinging combo that blended its collective love of R&B and Funk with a Jam and Rock mindset.
By 2000, Watts had taken his name off the marquee and shortened the band’s name to The Motet. While the cast of players rotated in and out during the subsequent years, the focus on razor-sharp Funk/R&B with a side of Jam has never wavered. Over the course of six studio albums and thousands of live appearances, The Motet has crafted a brilliant soundscape that should captivate fans of Earth Wind & Fire, Frank Zappa, Phish, Stevie Wonder and all the faces/phases of George Clinton.
The biggest Motet news of late was the recent loss of longtime vocalist/percussionist Jans Ingber, who announced his departure on social media just weeks before the band’s New Year’s Eve shows. The split seems amicable. Ingber is detoxing from the road and planning a solo career, while keeping an open mind about returning to the band in the studio or for the odd show date. The Motet continues to operate with the all-for-one-and-one-for-all attitude it brought to its incendiary 2014 self-titled album.
Recently, a fan posted a question about finding a new lead singer on The Motet’s Facebook page and got this response: “Just wait for what we have in store for you.” That cat is now out of the bag with the announcement that Watts, guitarist Ryan Jalbert, bassist Garrett Sayers, keyboardist Joey Porter and trumpeter Gabriel Mervine will be joined by new lead singer Lyle Divinsky (who just released his third solo album, Uneven Floors, last November), as well as new saxophonist Drew Sayers, formerly of John Brown’s Body
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