|
Event
Stumptown Swing - 2nd Saturday Community Concert
Stumptown Swing www.stumptownswing.com
Stumptown Swing takes audiences back to 1920's Paris, when gypsies with guitars, violins and upright basses made the leap from French musette to American "hot jazz" and kept Parisians dancing to this evocative new sound.
Tim Connell (mandolin) and Mike Burdette (guitar) of Rio Con Brio formed the group after nearly a decade of playing swing gigs with Portland's best acoustic musicians. They snapped up the hottest upright bass player in town, Keith Brush (Stolen Sweets, Pete Krebs Trio, Blue Cranes) and are proud to feature their long-time friend and collaborator, the absolutely pyrotechnic violinist, Ben Blechman.
Stumptown Swing performs a set of hot, cool and sultry classics, featuring swinging groove and gorgeous acoustic instruments played with intelligence and passion by four masters of their craft.
Tim Connell a graduate of the prestigious New England Conservatory of Music and a virtuoso multi-instrumentalist with over twenty years professional performing experience, Tim Connell is a rising star in the acoustic music world, performing in Mike Marshall's Ger Mandolin Orchestra, and forging a unique and sophisticated new voice for the mandolin in his recordings and tours with renowned jazz guitarist Eric Skye, Portuguese fado diva Alexandra Coutinho and the Brazilian choro group Rio Con Brio.
Tim is a veteran teacher and workshop presenter, teaching alongside of David Grisman, Mike Marshall, and Mike Compton at the annual Mandolin Symposium in Santa Cruz, CA; with Brian Oberlin, Don Stiernberg, and Radim Zenkl at the River of the West Mandolin Camp; at the annual Wintergrass Bluegrass Festival; and as an Adjunct Professor of Music at Lewis and Clark College in Portland, OR.
As a prolific session musician, Tim's mandolin (and Irish tin whistle, guitar, and bass) are featured on dozens of CDs, including the latest release in the wildly popular "Oy, Baby!" series of Jewish children's music.
Tim's in-depth study of both Brazilian and Irish music, combined with his earlier years as a professional bassist and pianist, have helped him synthesize a personal style on the mandolin which is harmonically advanced, rhythmically diverse, and brimming over with sparkling ornamentation and intensity.
Mike Burdette has been performing Brazilian choro and gypsy jazz guitar for the past seven years with many of Portland's best, including Tim Connell, Jason Okamoto, David Stassens, and Eddie Parente. His pursuit of excellence in these styles has led him to study with many of today's leading players, including Mike Marshall and Choro Famoso, Dudu Maia, Douglas Lora, and Don Stiernberg. He also builds and repairs instruments for many of Portland's finest players at Portland Fretworks, and pickers throughout the Northwest enjoy playing on frets he has installed. He lives in rural Newberg, Oregon, with his beautiful wife, Katherine, his cat Elwood, his chickens, and his honeybees.
Ben Blechman began studying violin at the age of 8 in Santa Rosa, CA, and began private instruction with Dominic Dissaro at age 11. He arrived at the University of California Santa Cruz (UCSC), and much to his surprise found himself enrolled in the Music major. He had the great privilege to study advanced classical technique and repertoire under a true master of the violin, Roy Malan. While at UCSC he also studied jazz improvisation with jazz greats Ray Brown (trumpet) and Smith Dobson (piano). He completed a BA in violin performance, and continued on for an MA in 20th Century performance practice, with an emphasis in computer music.
Ben spent some time earning a living playing and teaching classical music. He has played with the Santa Cruz Symphony, the Monterey Jazz Festival Orchestra with Roy Hargrove and Terrence Blanchard, and various other symphonies, string quartets, opera companies, etc.
Ultimately, he found the classical music world to be unfulfilling, and not particularly lucrative. First and foremost Ben's love of music stems from a feeling of being the music, that he can best achieve through improvisation. He has spent most of his musical energy during recent years intensely studying jazz violin and other fiddle styles.
Ben is also an active teacher. He specializes in taking intermediate to advanced classical violinists and continuing their classical training while also broadening their horizons into non-classical and improvisational styles.
In 2003 Ben played extensively with the Hot Club of San Francisco (filling in for Evan Price). Since that time, Ben has played with various bands including, Frizz, Hot Club Pacific, Route5, Water Bear, the Djangophiles, Clambake, Graxxus, Xavier and the Classic Band, Blue Lightning, Vagabond Opera, and the 12th Ave Hot Club. In addition to subbing extensively with bands in Portland, OR, Ben is focusing his energy on his trio, Terracoustic. He is in demand as a studio musician, and gigs regularly.
Bernardo Gomez on stand up bass
|
|
 |
LocationWinona Grange #271 (View)
8340 SW Seneca St
Tualatin, OR 97062
United States
Categories
| Kid Friendly: Yes! |
| Dog Friendly: No |
| Non-Smoking: Yes! |
| Wheelchair Accessible: No |
|
Contact
|
