About

Hardcoretet is a Seattle-based instrumental quartet that performs original material drawing from jazz, rock, soul and improvised music, among other styles. The band presents music written by each of its members and is reminiscent of fusion groups like Return to Forever and Herbie Hancock’s Headhunters, as well as more current modern jazz groups like Chris Potter’s Underground and Kneebody. On stage, the band seeks to combine well-written and thought-provoking music with energetic, exciting, and moving performances.

Hardcoretet released their funk-influenced debut album Experiments in Vibe in 2009, after a week-long West coast tour to Los Angeles and back. The trip culminated in a performance at the Earshot Jazz Festival, one of the premier festivals in the U.S., and soon after Experiments in Vibe was nominated for “mixed-genre album of the year” at the Lucid I/O Awards in Seattle.

The quartet’s second offering, Do it Live, was recorded in December of 2010, and advances the concepts put forth in Experiments. The release showcases a more mature compositional sense, tighter group interplay, and a band even more committed to energetic instrumental music. With Do it Live, Hardcoretet is poised to step up as one of today’s most exciting instrumental bands.

The members of Hardcoretet have performed both nationally and around the globe with projects and artists cencompassing a wide array of genres including Allen Stone, McTuff, Polyrhythmics, Reptet, Speak, Jovino Santos Neto, Pocket Change, Theoretics and many others. They have shared the stage with, and opened for, world-renowned artists Skerik, Cuong Vu, Mike Stern, Charlie Hunter, Marco Benevento, Bobby Previte and Bill Frisell.

Press

“Hardcoretet serve up trenchant, funk-filled improvisations that update the wide-ranging sound of Return to Forever without getting abstruse or bloated. After spending a day with their self-released disc Experiments in Vibe, I look forward to hearing them live.” – Chris DeLaurenti, The Stranger

“They play funky, driving tunes that are intensely precise and warm with electricity. The band’s voices weave in and out of each other in a swirling mix that is balanced without sounding controlled.“ – Nathan Bluford, Earshot Jazz

“An approach to 70′s-style fusion, blending in some minimalism a la Steve Reich and a nod to M-Base too.” – Fred Kellog, KAOS 89.3 FM Olympia