Nicolas Letman-Burtinovic

Nicolas Letman-Burtinovic is a New York-based acoustic bass player and composer who skillfully brings his background in the fine and performance arts to his projects. He is actually Archie Shepp bassist for the USA and  one of the primary forces behind Bomb X, Haleoscene, the 4 Runners, the Vienna Suite, Vox Syndrome and Unattended Parking.

When seeing those bands perform, the audience is treated to a life-changing experience. As one of the most creative and talented musician/composers in the new music scene, he has challenged both musicians and listeners to face the music within themselves and the world around them. He has inspired his colleagues to chart new territory within their own playing and writing while exposing the audiences to some of the most talented and exciting performers from all over the world.

Originally from Normandy, France, Nicolas has been living in Brooklyn since 1998 and performing in New York, Massachusetts, Philadelphia, Montreal and Canada,Germany, Poland, Austria and France. He is mostly self-taught.

Nicolas has played and/or recorded with numerous people including(in no particulary order): Archie Shepp, The Gnawa of Tanger, Guillermo Gregorio, Odean Pope, Russ Lossing, Billy Mintz, Avery Sharpe, Steve Pott, Michael Attias, Tony Malaby, Brandon Seabrook, Wolfgang Schiftner, Tyshaw Sorey, Ari Hoenig, Nate Smith, Butch Morris, John O Gallagher, Loren Stillman, Matt Wilson, David Bryant, Jacob Sacks, Karl Berger, Gerald Cleaver, Samuel Blais, Robin Verheyen, Take Toriyama, Warren Smith, Ziv Ravitz, Art Hirahara, Bobby Avey, Christoph Auer, Travis Reuter, Jeremy Viner, Matt Applebaum, Kris Davis, Jeff Davis, Georg Vogel, Daniel Carter, Nick Anderson, Akira Ishiguro, Ras Moshe, Jeff Shurdut, Alex Ritz, Salim Washington, ...

The unique style of his music draws from a diverse background of influences. Some of the compositions recall the impressionistic textures of Ravel. Like Debussy, he uses mathematical models to structures his compositions. His use of an odd meter system comes from Philadelphia acoustic bass player, Jymie Merritt. Not one to shy away from unconventional and diverse influences. The style defies the limitations of labels. One can hear the melodic influence of classical, contemporary, folkloric, traditional, punk.