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Northwest
Notables As 2004 drizzles to a damp close — a dreary end to a generally dispiriting year — Eugeneans can look for solace to a local music scene that has grown richer and more diverse than ever. Most of the action happened in clubs and concert halls, but a number of engaging CDs serve as attractive artifacts of the year, particularly for piano fans. Rather than succumbing to corporate sounds, why not treat yourself or friends or family to a gift of worthwhile music by our some of our own neighbors?
Any composer who issues a compendium of 48 keyboard works faces the intimidating legacy of predecessors from J.S. Bach's Well Tempered Clavier through subsequent magnum operas by such pantheonic figures as Shostakovich, Chopin, Debussy, Bartok, and more. I'm not ready to place Eugene's Gary Noland in those stratospheric heights, but his two-disk collection of postludes and interludes from Portland's North Pacific Music is a fully realized tour de force and a major artistic statement. Any fan of classical and contemporary piano music is likely to find something delightful or intriguing in this ambitious collection, but it should find special favor among aficionados of late 19th and early 20th century composers as varied as Strauss, Schoenberg and Satie. From brittle waltzes to restless pantonal excursions to cheeky pastiches, this well-crafted survey showcases Noland's deep appreciation for — and occasional ironic takeoffs from — the work of the masters, not to mention some thrilling piano playing by the composer himself. Another NPM disk, by California composer/pianist Varsha Saxena, will appeal to fans of so-called New Age pianists such as George Winston. Sometimes drawing on her parents' East Indian heritage, Saxena knows how to conjure memorable melodies and atmospheres. Devotees of easy-on-the-ears solo pianism will also appreciate Mark Vigil's striking new collection of fantasies, preludes and sonatas, splendidly performed by pianist Sandy Holder. The Eugene composer's third release reveals growing depth and sophistication as he sprinkles occasional welcome dissonances into his hitherto relentlessly tonal recipe — and, like salt on watermelon, it makes the flavor all the richer. Like Noland's, this disk is recommended for fans of modern piano music.
The big news in Northwest music was, of course, the much-anticipated release of Pink Martini's Hang on Little Tomato. The three-year interregnum since the Portland nonet's delectable debut raised fears of the stereotypical sophomore slump; as Elvis Costello noted, you get 22 years to make your first record, and six months to make the second. But far from being overripe, this Tomato confirms pianist/composer Thomas Lauderdale and singer/composer Chynna Forbes as far more than retro-lounge ironophiles. They really believe in the virtues of pre-rock, Latin-flavored pop and dance music, and that confidence in their distinctive voice permeates this irresistible new album. Though this surprisingly low-key studio recording can't quite capture the band's exuberant live spirit, it displays the strong musicianship familiar to local fans from the band's frequent appearances here. Like Pink Martini, Eugene's Scrambled Ape draws on diverse retro influences — in their case, cartoons, New Orleans brass bands, jazz, gypsy, cabaret music, and more — and a good-humored, slightly off-centered take on those influences. Its loopy debut CD, Comprehensive Atlas Of 21st Century A.M. Radio Classics, mixes classics from 20th century masters such as Raymond Scott, Henry Mancini and Duke Ellington with traditionals such as "Basin Street Blues" and dizzy originals by bandleader and cornetist Michael Roderick. The greatest Northwest composer, Portland-born Lou Harrison, died in 2003 at age 85, but new collections of his prodigious output keep emerging. Fans of the UO's Oregon Percussion Ensemble, longtime champions of Harrison's work, will appreciate Drums Along the Pacific (New Albion), featuring percussionist William Winant leading a survey of some of Harrison's trailblazing works from the early 1940s through melodious and dramatic pieces like 1978's ravishingly melancholy Threnody for Carlos Chavez for gamelan. Another percussion masterpiece, Mass to St. Anthony (which I'd love to hear at the Bach Festival), highlights a diverse disk of the grand old maverick's works on the Mode label, which also contains his whimsical 1949 score for Jean Cocteau's Marriage at the Eiffel Tower and other handsome chamber music. Two of Harrison's major works were commissioned by the Louisville Orchestra in the 1950s, and those performances of his four Strict Songs, celebrating his return to nature and the West Coast in 1954, and his Suite for Strings have at last been reissued on CD. A new recording of the latter appears on a just-released CD by the London-based New Professionals Orchestra that also features Harrison's somber second suite for strings and 1997's ebulliently exotic Concerto for Pipa with String Orchestra, in which he seamlessly integrates Western strings and Chinese lute. Finally, two recent disks of guitar music contain some of Harrison's most warmly reflective music, including his final composition, "Scenes from Nek Chand." Guitarists David Tanenbaum (on New Albion's Serenade) and John Schneider (on Just Guitars) were friends of the composer, and both play this gorgeous music immaculately, with Schneider performing Harrison's works in the composer's specified tunings. I like to focus on local artists in these annual roundups, but I can't let the year go by without pointing Eugene music fans to two of my favorite international record labels. World music fans, especially anyone who enjoyed last month's Putumayo Latinas concert, should check out that disk and other recent issues in its popular groove and lounge series, which do a good job of building a bridge to traditional global music via contemporary yet authentic electronic and rock hybrids. And the always fascinating ECM Records had a particularly strong year, with great disks by the Hilliard Ensemble (motets by Guillaume de Machaut) and Trio Mediaeval (new music for old instruments by leading composers such as Gavin Bryars) leading the pack.
Reeble
Jar With due respect to the existing hippie jam bands already in town, the last thing Eugene needs is another hippie jam band. So as the name Reeble Jar slowly seeps into our collective vocabulary of hip local bands, dispel whatever images your Eugene brain may concoct of micro-brews in mason jars or something to put your pot in, and listen with an open mind.
Think of the bright '70s jazz compositions of Bob James; the musicianship and frenetic funk of musicians such as Herbie Hancock, Wayne Shorter or Jaco Pastorius. You will begin to hear a little Reeble Jar. Seven talented 20-somethings make up the band: Sean Ponder (guitar), Joey Hepner (bass), Adam Bushey (drums), James Green (saxophone), Josh Coffey (keyboards), Justus Williams on harmonica, and Tyler Spencer on didgeridoo. So how does a jazz/funk band incorporate a didgeridoo and a harmonica and not sound like a hippie jam band? Simple. Williams wails on his harp like a young Stevie Wonder, not an old Neil Young. And Tyler Spencer can actually play the didgeridoo, showcasing a wide range of sounds and also enhancing the band's rhythm section. Forget the loud, misplaced didg yelps and farts you too often hear in local drum circles. The didg is a real instrument, with the potential to add a refreshing and unusual rhythmic depth to jazz and funk. "The didg and harmonica sound a little more raw and organic over the jazz groove," says Williams. Reeble Jar has an "organic" Medeski Martin and Wood sound but that comparison is too simple. This is a band that can get the WOW Hall crowd on their feet dancing, or your Jo Federigo's crowd bobbing their heads and snapping their fingers. First off, listening to a group that performs solely instrumentals can be a much more cerebral experience than listening to a band with a vocalist. You can internalize and ponder Reeble Jar's brand of funk just as easily as you can feel it; your brain can separate and hear the intricacies of each instrument's part. Syncopated drum, bass guitar, didgeridoo and keyboard rhythms throb and crescendo as Ponder's tight guitar licks and Green's dominant sax bursts add addicting melodies to this incredible wall of sound. They build entire songs around a simple groove, sometimes improvising entire sections while creating a new song. They're so precise, you can almost visualize the mathematics behind their rhythms and melodies. "A lot of our best stuff has been improv stuff," Bushey explains. In true jazz style, each Reeble Jar member has the opportunity to showcase his own instrument with solos. Through songs like "Mad Chicken," Coffey's fingers hammer at his keyboard like a drunken carpenter as he cycles through different junkyard-funk organ sounds. Williams summons so much soul and joy as he blasts on his harmonica, it sounds as if you're at a Southern church revival. And Bushey pummels his drums with such precision and flare, it's as if he has an atomic clock controlling each arm. They're bad … baaad meaning good. Reeble Jar lands a ton of shows for a band with no formally recorded material and they're in such high demand, they've been booked for shows they didn't even agree to play. "We can't help it when people fraudulently book us," Williams says. Tuesday, Dec. 28 they'll perform with Garaj Mahal at the WOW Hall. Garaj Mahal is a hot item on the jam band circuit, having shared the stage with Bela Fleck, Karl Denson's Tiny Universe and String Cheese Incident. Their most recent album, Mondo Garaj, is also their first major studio record and showcases the band's ability to meld world rhythms with extended jazz-fusion jams and even a couple of DJs.
BLACK FOREST CAFE PARADISO CLUB TSUNAMI COZMIC PIZZA@THE STRAND All
Ages COUNTRY SIDE RESTAURANT DA HOUZE DIABLO'S DOWNTOWN LOUNGE EMBERS SUPPER CLUB GOOD TIMES JO FEDERIGO'S
JOE'S BAR & GRILLE JOGGER'S BAR & GRILL JOHN HENRY'S THE KEG LAVELLE'S WINE BAR & BISTRO
LUCKEY'S CLUB CIGAR MAC'S AT THE VET'S MONROE STREET CAFE MORNING GLORY CAFE THE O BAR OVERTIME TAVERN PEABODY'S PERUGINO PRIME TIME SPORTS BAR QUACKER'S SAM BOND'S GARAGE
SAMURAI DUCK SU: Tales From the Crate--10; Hip-Hop STACY'S COVERED BRIDGE SWEETWATER'S TAP 'N' KEG TAYLOR'S BAR AND GRILL WOW HALL All Ages
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