Results for "Portland"

Christopher Brown

Born: March 22, 1977

Christopher Brown, born March 22nd, 1977 in Portland, OR, was formally introduced to music at age five with piano lessons. By age eleven, he not only added both the saxophone and drums to his musical pallet, but also came to the conclusion that music was how he had planned to make a living in the future. Therefore, armed with a new focus, his hard work resulted in him having garnered numerous local, state, regional, and national awards before graduating from high school. In fact, the first of his three most noteworthy accomplishments during this period began with the recruitment of a bassist and a saxophonist one fall afternoon for the purposes of creating a quick recording to submit to Down Beat Magazine

Randy Porter

Jazz pianist Randy Porter has a refined understanding of improvisation and the spontaneous communication between musicians. As a Steinway Artist, Randy Porter draws from a rich palette of sonorities found within his imagination and the depths of the piano. Lynn Darroch of The Oregonian states, “Porter has built a reputation as a musician’s musician, a knowledgeable, inventive, and sophisticated player with a remarkable sense of time and gorgeous keyboard facility…” Randy Porter has performed with many jazz greats, including Freddy Hubbard, Art Farmer, and Benny Golson. He has also performed with the Charles McPherson Quartet throughout the US and in France, Italy, Greece, and China

Dan Wilensky

Born: August 4, 1961

Dan Wilensky was born in Ann Arbor, Michigan, and moved to Berkeley, California the following year. Music was in the air at the Wilensky house: every family member played at least one instrument, and family jam sessions were frequent. He began piano lessons at age 8, and saxophone at 9 after he attended a Duke Ellington Orchestra concert. Wilensky flourished in the superb Berkeley public school music program, and studied saxophone privately with BHS grad Steve Elson, and his teacher, Hal Stein, and classical piano with Julian White. As a teenager, he street played, performed with schoolmates Benny Green, Craig Handy, Paul Hanson and Steve Bernstein, gigged with local bands, won top honors in various competitions, performed at the Monterey Jazz Festival three times, and was a guest soloist with the Woody Herman Orchestra. When he was 17, Wilensky studied for a year with jazz legend Joe Henderson, and received a scholarship to the Eastman School of Music.

Todd Strait

Todd was raised in Topeka, KS, and became involved in music in elementary school playing trumpet and drums. Eventually braces pushed the trumpet out of the picture and it's been drums ever since. Todd began gigging locally while still in 7th grade, mainly with his father's group. During his last year of high school he became involved in the 1979 "Louie Bellson/Slingerland National Drum Contest" where he eventually finished in second place at the Las Vegas finals. The scholarships gained from this experience enabled Todd to pursue his dream of moving to the NYC area and studing with Ed Soph in 1980. Upon relocating to the east coast Todd free-lanced in and around NYC and the Tri-State area, then joined Marian McPartland's trio in 1982 playing in New York City clubs and traveling occasionally with her across the country

Nicole Glover

Born: July 18, 1991

Nicole Glover’s journey in music began when her father introduced her to improvised music at a young age. She began playing the clarinet at the age of ten, transitioning to tenor saxophone the following year.

Her interest and curiosity for music began to blossom in high school. She became involved in a variety of performance groups, both within her school and in the community. Nicole was one of 19 students from across the nation to be selected for the Next Generation Jazz Orchestra, who embarked on a national tour that involved performances with Bobby Watson and Julian Lage, concluding with a performance at the Monterey Jazz Festival with Wynton Marsalis.

Reggie Houston

Born: July 2, 1947

One need only witness a Reggie Houston performance to understand why his talent has been courted by legends like Fats Domino, Peter Gabriel, Dr. John and The Neville Brothers.

More than a master vocalist and saxophone player, Reggie Houston is an entertainer of the highest order. He has the charm and charisma of a modern day Louis Armstrong mingled with the pure and irresistible joy of a child. Freed up by a wireless microphone, laughing and waving his white handkerchief, he'll shimmy off the bandstand with his saxophone and get down with the audience... and sometimes even bring them back on stage with him! And when Reggie Houston lays down the funk, he lays it down on black satin sheets and makes it blush!

Born in New Orleans, Louisiana on July 2, 1947, Reggie Houston began studying saxophone at the age of 10

Steve Hall

Born: November 11, 1945

Steve Hall is a veteran keyboard player who has performed on the West Coast for decades. He has played in restaurants, hotels, and bars with a wide variety of bands including Willie Bobo’s Latin Jazz Band, the Drifters, Tom Harrell, and his own bands. He has released four CD’s, one vinyl album and is releasing a fifth CD (“Follow The Sunset”) in December, 2015. He grew up in Palo Alto, CA. Steve attended the Berklee College of Music in Boston, MA. He studied guitar with Jack Peterson and Bill Leavitt and piano with Deal Earl while at Berklee. His time at Berklee was interrupted by a stint in the US Army that included a year in Vietnam

Charlie Porter

Born: May 10, 1978

Internationally acclaimed and Grammy Award-winning trumpeter and composer Charlie Porter first cut his teeth on the New York jazz scene in the late ’90s, while simultaneously studying classical trumpet performance at The Juilliard School under the tutelage of famed trumpeter and composer Wynton Marsalis. Though he has a strong penchant for improvised music, Charlie has since delved into many projects from jazz and classical to Arabic, Indian, African, Australian Aboriginal and Korean music, seeking to find common ground among all "good music" and avoiding the pigeonholing of genre labels. Though he has recorded many albums as a side musician, Porter has two recent albums as a leader that have been garnering high praise

Teddy Presberg

Born: November 20, 1979

Music rooted in improvisation, inspired by the moment and the audience. Composer - Producer - Studio Guitarist - Eductator Teddy Presberg’s music is an experimental mash of soul, funk, and rock n’roll - a blend of sounds described as shoegaze jazz. His live shows are rooted in improvisation, inspired by the moment and the audience. Often compared to the funky, soulful jazz musicians Grant Green and Eddie Harris, you also hear artists such as Jack White and Beck influence his sound. His music is fresh, ever evolving, and lays out his immediate and unfiltered response to our society and times (check out his Apocalypse Yesterday EP). Presberg has released records stateside on Ropeadope Records (DJ Logic, Christian McBride, Charlie Hunter and Medeski, Martin, and Wood) and also internationally with Timewarp Records

Jake Pegg

I play tuba, elecric bass, and brazilian percussion. I'm not so hot on wagner, and for christ's sake don't call giant steps, but I am a real tuba/bass player, not someone who doubled down from trombone or guitar; I lay down nice, simple, solid, funky lines. I learn the tunes, show up to rehearsal and gigs on time.