About

Mikey Coltun is a Bass Player, Producer, Composer, and Engineer living in New York City. He currently plays bass with Mdou Moctar, Oumou Sangare, DINS, Steve Gunn, Sessa, Cheick Hamala Diabate, Noura Mint Seymali, Les Rhinoceros, and Yonatan Gat's Dvorak Quartet.
As a part of Mdou Moctar, Coltun played bass on, produced, and recorded the monumental 2019 release ILANA THE CREATOR, and 2021 release AFRIQUE VICTIME, a critically acclaimed album that was voted 2021 Best Album of the year by the New York Times (#5), Pitchfork (#8), Esquire (#1) and The Guardian (#10) as well as featured on NPR's Tiny Desk Concert and on the cover of the February 2022 edition of The Wire. 2023 saw the release of FUNERAL FOR JUSTICE which In Ben Sisario of The New York Times called "a cri de coeur of screaming guitars and lyrics decrying the legacy of colonialism in Niger and throughout Africa" that "amps up the urgency" of 2021's Afrique Victime. In addition to producing, recording, co-writing and playing bass with Mdou Moctar, Coltun acts as the musical and creative director.
Coltun's music ranges from noise, experimental, rock, improvised, tuareg, bambara, bubu, and soukous. He has created music for Film, TV, and Advertisements including HBO, New York Times, Havas, TEDEd and McCormick Spices among others.
At age 16 Coltun's band, Les Rhinoceros, debuted their self-titled album as part of "The Spotlight Series" on John Zorn's Tzadik label. "The Spotlight Series" was created by Zorn, the father of the Downtown Music Scene, specifically as an opportunity to spotlight Coltun and other young adventurous artists. He continued to support Coltun's music with 2 additional album releases on Tzadik as well as a residency at his music venue "The Stone'' in 2017.
Coltun plays, records, and produces a variety of different artists from the Sahel region of West Africa. Originally traveling to Mali to play bass with Cheick Hamala Diabate for FESTIVAL SUR DE NIGER in 2011, he ended up playing bass with Toumani Diabate and Djelimady Tounkra of the Rail Band. Coltun also conducts  field recordings throughout the Sahel as well as records and produces artists in remote rural locations abroad using a mobile rig.
Musicians Coltun has played with include, Janka Nabay and the Bubu Gang, Marisa Nadler, Ikue Mori, Marc Ribot, Sunwatchers, to name a few... He has done records on labels such as Matador, Secretly Canadian, Tzadik, Sacred Bones, Mexican Summer, Electric Cowbell, Sahel Sounds, amongst other indie labels.

selected work

With Mdou Moctar I play bass, produce, record, and co-write the songs. I've been apart of Mdou Moctar since early 2017.
Afrique Victime

Afrique Victime

,

2021

Matador

Niger EP Vol. 1

Niger EP Vol. 1

,

2022

Matador

Ibitilan 7”

Ibitilan 7”

,

2020

Sahel Sounds

Ilana (The Creator)

Ilana (The Creator)

,

2019

Sahel Sounds

Niger Ep Vol. 2

Niger Ep Vol. 2

,

2022

Matador

My longest running band. I started this group in 2008 as an improvised sax and bass duo which eventually formed into a drum, bass, and guitar trio. All albums (to date) released on John Zorn’s Tzadik Records.
Les Rhinoceros III

Les Rhinoceros III

,

2015

Tzadik

'Together since 2010, Les Rhinocéros has brought their manic and zany mixture of heavy metal riffs, world music, noise, math rock, klezmer, reggae, minimalism, soundtracks and sick improvisation to appreciative audiences all over the world. Their long awaited third release ups the ante once again with a wide variety of manic compositions performed tighter than ever by this virtuosic trio. Featuring guests Gal Klein, Joe Herrera, Matt Rippetoe, Kamyar Arsani, Reese Higgins and David Coltun this is a passionate young band breaking new ground in instrumental music!' - John Zorn
Les Rhinoceros II

Les Rhinoceros II

,

2013

Tzadik

'For their second CD for Tzadik, this fabulous trio takes a step toward tradition with a heavy CD of music for the classic format of guitar, bass and drums. Recorded at Bill Laswell’s Orange Studio by James Dellatacoma, the sound is as intense and powerful as the music. Les Rhinocéros II is a strong second release by this tight and razor sharp new band of musical renegades.' - John Zorn
Les Rhinoceros

Les Rhinoceros

,

2011

Tzadik

'Hailing from the Washington, DC area, the young band Les Rhinocéros delivers a crazy world in sound, blending aspects of rock, world music, noise, ambient and jazz. The trio of teenagers was formed in 2008 while the players were still in high school, and has developed since then into an intense and wildly imaginative group that takes music to its extremes. Emotional, minimalistic, intense and grooving, this is music that goes beyond imagination to the edges of sanity. The group continues their sonic experiments by adding unusual instruments into the traditional rock band setting.' - John Zorn
This is one of my favorite quartets to play with. It features Yonatan Gat (Monotonix, Medicine Singers) on guitar, Greg Saunier (Deerhoof) on drums and mixing, and Curt Sydnor (Janka Nabay) on farfisa organ. We all arrange Dvorak string quartets to be played very loud for this rock band format.
American Quartet

American Quartet

,

2022

Joyful Noise

Oumou Sangaré is a Grammy Award-winning Malian Wassoulou musician, sometimes referred to as "The Songbird of Wassoulou". Wassoulou is a historical region south of the Niger River, where the music descends from age-old traditional song, often accompanied by a calabash. I'm honored to have been able to add bass to her 2022 album, Timbuktu
Timbuktu

Timbuktu

,

2022

World Circuit

The Path of the Clouds

The Path of the Clouds

,

2021

Sacred Bones

Estrela Acesa

Estrela Acesa

,

2022

Mexican Summer

Sereia Sentimental

Sereia Sentimental

,

2020

Mexican Summer

Anka Ben Mali Denou

Anka Ben Mali Denou

,

2013

Electric Cowbell

Prudence

Prudence

,

2013

Electric Cowbell

Tagamba

Tagamba

,

2011

Electric Cowbell

Nakama

Nakama

,

2022

Matador

Bill Fay & Steve Gunn: Dust Filled Room

Bill Fay & Steve Gunn: Dust Filled Room

,

2021

Dead Oceans

The Consort

The Consort

,

2021

Passerine

Deep End Shallow

Deep End Shallow

,

2020

Out Of Your Head

Agadez

Agadez

,

2022

Sahel Sounds

film / commercial

Zelda

Director Lauren Greenhall

Perfectly Good Moment

Director Lauren Greenhall

HBO Max vs. HBO Go vs. HBO Now | Explainer Video

WORKPLAYWORK

Form & Reel

WORKPLAYWORK

Helia

WORKPLAYWORK

Havas Digital Reel 2015

WORKPLAYWORK

OK TENN - TV Commercial

WORKPLAYWORK

McCormick Gourmet

WORKPLAYWORK

The greatest mathematician that never lived - Pratik Aghor

TED-Ed

Make T Something | Erwin Wurm

NY Times

How to turn protest into powerful change - Eric Liu

TED-Ed

Irma Vep

HBO

live shows

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