Primary Scene: Brooklyn/New York
Nick Dunston is a Brooklyn-based composer, bassist, and scholar. An “indispensable player on the New York avant-garde” (New York Times), his performances have also spanned a variety of venues and festivals across North America and Europe. He’s performed, toured, and recorded professionally with bands led by artists such as Tyshawn Sorey, Vijay Iyer, Marc Ribot, Ches Smith, Imani Uzuri, Ingrid Laubrock, Anthony Coleman, Anna Webber, Roman Filiu, Jonathan Finlayson, Amirtha Kidambi, María Grand, Amir ElSaffar Moor Mother, Dave Douglas, Matt Wilson, Tomas Fujiwara, Allison Miller, Jeff Lederer, Jeff “Tain” Watts, and Darius Jones. He’s spent extensive time studying with bassists Linda May Han Oh, Ben Street, Harish Raghavan, as well as with composer Missy Mazzoli.
As a composer, Dunston has written for a wide range of artists of multiple genres and disciplines. In 2019 he was awarded the Van Lier Fellowship by Roulette Intermedium, which supported the world premieres of The Floor is Lava! (upright bass quintet), and La Operación (double saxophone trio + soprano voice), referred to as “a work so dramatic and large that is both a response to socio-historical truth as well as a reflection on his own identity…” (I Care If You Listen). In 2019 he released his debut album, Atlantic Extraction, which “features the unusual instrumentation of double bass, drums, electric guitar, flute, [and violin]- and his compositions put that configuration to imaginative use.” (The Wire Magazine). As a writer, he’s made monthly contributions to Hot House Jazz Magazine from 2016-2019.
Dunston, Nick