Mocean Worker


Mocean Worker is the recording alias of jazz musician and producer Adam Dorn.

Biography

Philadelphia native Adam Dorn is the son of renowned jazz and R'n'B producer Joel Dorn. He grew up around the jazz and R&B discs his father produced for Atlantic Records in the '60s and '70s. As a 15-year-old, he sent a fan letter to bassist Marcus Miller. When Miller responded, inviting Dorn to come by the studio, one visit turned into three years hanging around artists David Sanborn, Luther Vandross and Miles Davis. Dorn is a bass player and vocalist. He studied at Berklee College of Music in Boston, Massachusetts.
Dorn adopted the Mocean Worker moniker as a DJ of drum 'n' bass music. The project came about almost by accident, the results of a series of half-serious recording sessions. Since the release of his first album, Home Movies from the Brain Forest, the style has varied from a drum 'n' bass sound to a jazz-oriented dance sound that some call Electro-Swing, incorporating elements of funk, big-band and swing.
Dorn currently resides in Los Angeles after living in New York City for the better part of 25 years.
In 2008, Dorn led an eight piece band, which featured some of New York City's most revered soul and funk players. Assembled by Dorn to bring to life the "breakbeat jazz" stylings of the Mocean Worker studio albums, the group gave a series of high-profile performances, including Bumbershoot, Burlington Discover Jazz Festival and a residency at NYC venue Nublu.
Dorn's music has been used extensively in TV, advertising and film, including "Tres Tres Chic" in The Devil Wears Prada and The Pink Panther, "Chick a Boom Boom Boom" in Inside Deep Throat, "Reykjavak" in The Namesake, and "Right Now" in Client 9: The Rise and Fall of Elliot Spitzer. He also scored the Showtime/BBC film documentary about the life of comedian/actor Richard Pryor entitled Richard Pryor: Omit the Logic. Additionally, his song "Intothinair" from the album Aural and Hearty was featured in the film The Bourne Supremacy.
In early 2014 Dorn and partner Charlie Hunter launched the podcast Compared To What featuring conversations with a wide variety of people. There has also been a sudden interest in the Japanese market for Mocean Worker's sound. In February 2014 Dorn released an album featuring some new and unreleased material entitled It's Pronounced Motion... in Japan through the Voil label.

Discography

Albums