Karen Mantler

I was conceived by Carla Bley and Michael Mantler at the Newport Jazz Festival in 1965. Born in 1966, I was immediately swept into the musician's life on the road. After having checked me at the coatroom of the Berlin Jazz Festival, to the horror of the press, my parents realized that I was going to have to learn to play an instrument in order to be useful. But since I was still just a baby and they couldn't leave me alone, they had to bring me on stage with them and keep me under the piano. This is probably why I feel most at home on the stage.