As a jazz bassist, he has performed on stage with a wide variety of major artists in modern jazz, including Fred Anderson, Jim Baker, Robert Barry, David Boykin, Anthony Davis, Ernest Dawkins, Jimmy Ellis, Henry Grimes, Fred Hopkins, Peter Kowald, George Lewis, Bobby McFerrin, Nicole Mitchell, Roscoe Mitchell, Jeff Parker, and Avreeayl Ra. He leads the Seigfried Trio, the Galaxy String Quartet, the New Quartet, Somebody's Trio, and Dawkins, Seigfried, & Spencer. He also leads Soul Power Trio (featuring Aaron Getsug & Chris Avgerin), in which he plays contrabass, electric bass, and electric guitar.
As a classical bassist, Karl plays Principal Bass for the Peoria Symphony Orchestra, where he has led the bass section behind Emmanuel Ax, Evelyn Glennie, Hilary Hahn, Sharon Isbin, Yo-Yo Ma, and Itzhak Perlman. Recently, he won the Rockford Symphony bass audition and performed with Chicago Sinfonietta for their collaboration with Poi Dog Pondering. He also is a member of FAQtet, the chamber group of the Chicago Sinfonietta.
As a lead guitarist, Karl fronts the band Donar and is half of the noise duo Calerna. He is currently laying down orchestras of screaming lead guitars and bowed basses for a new recording with Alan Davey of the legendary British space rock band Hawkwind. Also in the pipeline is a recording of electronica with Mezzcode featuring Boo Cook, who drew Karl's cameo in an upcoming issue of JUDGE DREDD (see pic at left).
Recent recordings on Imaginary Chicago Records include the trio album, BOYKIN, SEIGFRIED, & REED, and the album of unaccompanied solo bass music, CRIMINAL MASTERMIND. Projects currently under construction include recordings of original jazz with the Seigfried Trio and all-bass music with bass innovator Bertram Turetzky.
Karl holds a doctorate in Double Bass Performance, and his treatise on Wilbur Ware remains the only scholarly work on the Chicago bassist. Karl is a photographer , writes on boxing for East Side Boxing , and trains as a bodybuilder.
=NEW CD REVIEWS=
All Music Guide
All About Jazz Magazine
Dusty Groove
The Improvisor
JazzReview