Haley Horsfall (and Mike!)

Patti and I went for dessert at Touche's on Friday night to hear the Father/Daughter Horsfall musical duo.  What a treat!  I had heard that Haley was a singer - an understatement.  We were fortunate to sit right behind them as they performed and got to watch the communication between pianist and singer.  Haley performed a number of jazz tunes including the difficult "O Patu".  She also did a very nice interpretation of Bobby Hebb's "Sunny"- one of my favorite pop tunes.  Mike delivered high energy accompaniment; does he ever back off a tune?  Nah!  We'll hear them again!!!!!

Touche's is a nice place to hear music.  It reminded me of clubs in New York, small, intimate, and alive. Lots of young people there.  The staff is very friendly and accommodating.

2012 Battle of the Bands

Jimmy Maks was the site of the Jazz Society of Oregon's 2012 Battle of the Bands; 4 high school combos representing Battle Ground, Lincoln and West Linn High Schools.  West Linn won the inaugural competition last year and brought a strong team back to defend.  Lincoln brought 2 teams, Glen and his Men and the JJ Nils Sextet.
Battle Ground competed for the first time and is taking the hardware north of the Columbia with a narrow win for the Jeff Cumpston Trophy.

Each band performed 3 tunes;  one tune of their choosing, one that was given to them 2 weeks prior to the competition - all bands performed that same tune, "I Could Write a Book".  The third tune was a randomly drawn set of charts given each band that evening.  Each band had to perform a tune that they had not seen prior to the evening of the competition.  As Art Abrams said, "this is what jazz is all about, you get a gig and often do not see the music until you arrive at the club....".  Art was joined on the judging panel with Mike Horsfall and Devin Phillips.  Yeah!

From my perspective as a non musician, my attention was drawn to two things:
First, I realize (again!) how much I enjoy watching young people perform with such skill and enthusiasm.  These students are good musicians having fun performing in one of the nation's top jazz venues.  Second, I was intrigued by the feedback given the musicians by our judges.  The criticisms were direct but always in a positive light.

The scoring was very close; each band gave interesting interpretations on the sight reading pieces; one incorporated vocals into their performance; I loved it!  See you next year.

Next up; Mike Horsfall this Friday at Touche's and the Karla Harris Farewell party at Wilf's on March 14th.

Lincoln HS Glen's Men (sorry about the photo quality; operator error)

Battle Ground

West Linn defending the trophy

Lincoln HS JJ Nils Sextet

Art, Mike and Devin watching and listening

Battle Ground Music Director Greg McElvey accepting the trophy!

Fat Tuesday at the Mission Theater

This was only one of two of the Portland Jazz Festival shows I was able to attend.  I wasn't going to miss this one no matter what.  Imagine, Devin Phillips with the Bridgetown Sextet and Da Pipes herself, Miss Marilyn Keller!  Patti had a long day at work and as we were leaving to go to the show, she warned me that she was only staying for the first set.  During the third tune, she looked over at me and said, "Don't worry about me, I'm not going anywhere - this is too good to miss!"  True dat!
I enjoy the traditional New Orleans jazz sound but prefer other styles - usually.  These guys played several Sidney Bechet, Duke Ellington, Count Basie and my favorite tune of the evening, "Mr. Jellycord", a smooth and sultry Jellyroll Morton tune.  The stage was packed with some of Portland's finest musical talent topped off with several vocals by Miss Marilyn Keller, a favorite of mine for years.
Many thanks to PDX Jazz Festival for putting this one on.

Bridgetown Sextet

Andrew, Devin, and David

 Marilyn Keller - can I get an Amen?

Tom Wakeling and friends at Ivories

Tom Wakeling, Steve Christofferson, David Evans, and Todd Straight performed at Ivories on February 18th.  Yeah, Senor Music Man got a little behind in his work.  Back to blogging... it was a great show.
This was the first time I heard Tom for an extended set.  Man, we have so many talented bassists in this city!  Jolie, am I right?

Listening to several of the tunes, I was struck by two things; one, Steve seems to be always improvising within a tune and, second, the last few shows that I have particularly enjoyed have one common denominator - David Evans.  He can play!

Simply put, this was 4 excellent musicians making some great music.  What a fast set!  I was particularly moved by a Billy Strayhorn tune, "A Flower is a Lovesome Thing"; kind of metaphysical but absolutely spellbinding.   Really!

Hey, if you haven't been to Ivories, you are missing a great evening of jazz in a very comfortable setting.

Steve

Tom and David (Todd is hidden behind David)

Portland Jazz Trio at SMART

We attended the SMART fund raiser on February 16th at the Portland Art Museum and were pleasantly surprised to see that the Portland Jazz Trio was providing the music during the cocktail hour. Comprised of Dan Presley, David Averre and George Mitchell, this trio provided a perfect musical backdrop to the pre dinner gathering.

Thanks, guys!

A Signature Farewell to Karla Harris

Signatures performed a very special show last Friday night at Tony Starlight's Supperclub and Lounge.  Karla Harris is leaving the group to join her family in Atlanta.  Ouch!  Karla is an original member of the group and has contributed so much of her energy and soul to my favorite "girl group".  Like I have said before, try to sit still when she rips the lead in "Heartache Tonight";  the opening number of the show.  She will not only be missed as a member of Signatures but a number of local venues will miss her solo shows.

Karla, you are a special lady and I hope our paths cross again!

Barb Ayars, Signatures founder, introduced Tara Williamson as the newest member to fill Karla's spot with the group - an excellent choice!   I have heard her sing at Tony's; she will fit in well with Barb, Kat, and Suzette.  I really look forward to their next gig.

This was Karla's night; she selected most of the tunes presented.  The music was energetic and emotional, especially Kat's lead on "Songbird".  There were more than a few moist eyes in the crowd.

My favorite tunes were Kat and Karla's duet on "Dog and Butterfly", Barb and Karla's "Since I Fell for You", and the group's interpretation of "Space Captain", one of my very favorite songs (I am sure this was done to shut me up - I have been pestering Barb for some time to do the tune).

As in all Signatures shows, the house was full and a good time had by all.  Do yourself a favor and get on their email list to catch a future show.  Tell 'em Senor Music Man sent you!

"Groovin'"

Ok, Tony, one number!

Dog and Butterfly - beautiful!!!!!!

Space Captain - thanks, ladies!!!!

A thorn surrounded by roses.  Eat your hearts out, boys!

Dover Gailey Project @ Ivories - January 19th

Our monthly JSO members night was at Ivories last Thursday.  Hey, guys and gals, you are missing some good gigs!  The feature band of the evening was the Dover Gailey Project led by John Dover on trumpet and featuring Matthew Gailey on vocals.  The DG Project presented a tribute to Chet Baker's music.  They did it well.  John plays a very solid trumpet and I was impressed with Matthew's vocal efforts.  It is very satisfying to see a vocalist truly feel the song.  His emotional effort on "The Thrill is Gone" was my favorite tune of the evening.  I am sorry I did not get the names of the bass and guitar players; they provided excellent support for the leads by John and Matthew.

The service is good at Ivories; I particularly enjoyed my bread pudding dessert!!!

The opening set was an energetic piano solo by Kerry Politzer.  Would love to hear her as part of an ensemble.