HEY THERE!

If you got to my website by accident, you need to work on your browsing skills. I'm not going to write this in third person like so many people do - because that seems very bizarre to me. You know...

“Michael is a beautifully efficient vacuumer with the poise and intelligence of a Buddhist leper and the skill of a butternut squash.”

So where you are is here - home page for michael kurman - musician, songwriter, exotic dancer, UFC champion, rhodes scholar, shepherd and duke of the eastern seaboard.

As a bassist, I'm a bit of a jack of all trades: solid grooves in many a musical genre (rock, folk, funk, blues, r&b, reggae, fusion...). I am a quick learn. I do my homework. I work in the studio, clubs, coffee houses, arenas, warehouses or on the road. I will not work with lemurs or in plaid leotard (as far as you know).

SOME KEY THINGS YOU SHOULD KNOW ABOUT ME …
• I AM SELF-EFFACING
• I TRY TO ALWAYS HAVE FUN
• I TRY TO ALWAYS WEAR NO SHOES
• I TRY NOT TO SLEEP THAT MUCH

There are plenty of guys with faster chops and eleventeen string basses and collections of the same bass in 39 forms. Some of those people are assholes. I am not. People tell me they like my playing and I am easy to work with (I just ended a sentence with a preposition>. I keep getting work - so I guess that counts for more than the talk does. I have a few basses that produce different sounds and make for some diversity. I have some cool pedals that make sounds too. I particularly like the bass wah pedal - but i really haven't found an effective outlet for that quite yet.

I have worked with a ton of people - many of whom were superlative musicians. Some people you may know, some you may not. But that doesn't make them any more or less great musicians. There are tons of talented people pushing brooms somewhere. I'm not much of a name dropper or jock sniffer...I just want to make excellent music.

I am a bit of a free agent on bass and like playing a lot of different types of music. Currently, I am playing bass with some people more steadily than others:

LILI ANEL Lili is, according to Jazz Times , "...music's best kept secret - until now..." She just finished her finest work to date - "Every Second In Between" - and it is getting unbelieveable reviews! LOOK OUT!

DAN MAY’S myspace profile says he's Americana / Acoustic / Southern Rock. While I know what those words mean on their own, they don't tell the whole story. Dan crafts a great song and is a better person. I like playing with him a lot and we have tons of fun. Dan particularly enjoys chocolate covered marshmallows.

I've been playing with THE BARLEY BOYS . We play high energy original Celtic Rock on festival circuits in the summer. I’M AS IRISH AS CHERNOBYL.

I did a co-bill with TALISMAN THE BAND in early 2009 and when they reorganized their band, I happened to be playing with them a lot more. Crystal really likes to rock out and her songwriting and harmonies keep me coming back. Jim Nichols' guitar work is a perfect compliment.

Althought she moved to Portland, OR, I have enjoyed my time with CHRISTINE HAVRILLA . I'm hoping to play more with her when she comes back into town in 2010.

Occasionally, I do original songs with KURMELEON . I will play bass or guitar, depending on who I can find for the gigs.

RIGHT ON!