Petite Feet + MIDIpetite at The Lilypad

Petite Feet is Shane Simpson, Jonathan Starks, and Travis Bliss. Describing themselves as “just your neighborhood ragtime band,” Petite Feet draws heavily from genres diverse as dance music, glitch art, minimalism, free improvisation, and memes. Their debut album Nude Piano: Iconic Rags of Scott Joplinwas released on July 4th, 2019.  Nude Piano features selected ragtime classics by Scott Joplin as well as one original composition by the drummer, Jon Starks. The album combines traditional employment of acoustic instrumentation with contemporary electronic post-production. In his liner notes, Ted Reichman calls the record “a blast of musical hope,” and describes Nude Piano as ”a confirmation that the current generation of young musicians is poised to make confident musical statements that embrace the beauty of the past and the possibilities of the present and future.” Ethan Iverson compared hearing the record to listening to John Zorn’s Naked City for the first time, “a moment when so many impossibilities became possible.” Petite Feet is the ensemble-in-residence at New England Conservatory’s summer program Jazz Lab.
Shane Simpson – Piano
Jonathan Starks – Drums
Travis Bliss – Saxophone