Shanghai Stories, Featuring Maine Musician Ryan Baird
Tuesday, August 24, 2010 8:00 PM
($12, 8pm)
“Shanghai Stories is my attempt to bring a piece of my life abroad back for those in Portland to experience in a dynamic way,” says Baird.
Combining live performances of his original compositions with video, photography, and storytelling, Shanghai Stories is a delightful mosaic of experiences, observations, and lessons—all told from the perspective of a foreigner immersed in the juxtaposition of a modern city in one of the world’s most ancient cultures.
“When I starting planning my trip home, I knew I wanted to share my music, but I also wanted to find ways of enhancing the performance so that the audience could really see, hear, and feel how different life is in Shanghai.” So Baird teamed up with Portland-based design company Apogee Creative Studios (www.apogeecs.com) to create this unique event. The audience can expect to see scenes of daily life in Shanghai, hear the views of locals, and even learn how to speak a few phrases of Chinese. Baird will discuss cultural differences between East and West, the intricacies of the Chinese language, and his experience as a foreigner. At the same time, the audience will hear Baird’s process of translating his experiences into music. One piece, “Gu Zheng Song” is inspired by an old traditional Chinese stringed instrument. The melody of another piece takes its shape from the four tones of Mandarin Chinese.
Baird grew up in Maine and has been creating music since age 10. He began studying jazz theory and composition at the University of Maine in Augusta while only a junior in high school. Already performing professionally by age 18, Baird continued his studies at the University Southern Maine and the City College of New York. Baird has shared the stage with many talented musicians such as Adam Chilenski, Sam Caldwell, RJ Miller, James Tweedie, Devin Gray, and Adam Frederick at such events as the Maine Jazz Festival, the Deer Isle Jazz Festival, and Portland Maine’s “Dimensions in Jazz” series. In 2008, Baird’s interest in Chinese culture brought him to Shanghai, China, where he currently resides. Baird performs regularly with multiple groups in Shanghai, and is a teacher at the well-known JZ School.
The Portland Jazz Orchestra
Thursday, August 26, 2010 8:00 PM
($5 students, seniors, and advance. $9 door)
Dr. Chris Oberholtzer and his 18 piece ensemble perform an evening of big band swing!
Price: $5.00
Jay Ungar and Molly Mason Family Band feat: Mike & Ruthy
Friday, August 27, 2010 8:00 PM Video!
($20 adv/$25 door, 8pm)
Jay Ungar & Molly Mason are extraordinary musicians. If you didn’t know it before, you sure did after Ken Burns’ The Civil War hit the airwaves. Their performance of Jay’s haunting composition Ashokan Farewell — the musical hallmark of the PBS series — earned the couple international acclaim. The soundtrack won a Grammy and Ashokan Farewell — originally inspired by Jay & Molly’s annual fiddle and dance camps — was nominated for an Emmy. Of course Ashokan Farewell is only part of the story. Since joining forces in the late 1970s, Jay and Molly have become one of the most celebrated duos on the American acoustic music scene. With their comfortable sense of fun and their love of music, they make each concert a musical journey — sometimes spanning two continents and two centuries. Their incomparable warmth and wit — coupled with consummate musicianship — have delighted audiences worldwide. Listen to the timeless renditions of hard-driving Appalachian, Cajun and Celtic fiddle tunes, stirring Civil War classics, sassy songs from the golden age of swing and country, stunning waltzes, and deeply moving original compositions. It’s immediately apparent why Jay and Molly concerts warm the heart, feed the soul, and appeal to all ages. No wonder they continue to receive widespread critical praise.
They’ve garnered legions of fans through their appearances on Great Performances, A Prairie Home Companion, their own public radio specials, and work on film soundtracks such as Brother’s Keeper, Legends of the Fall, and a host of Ken Burns documentaries. And what of the event that inspired their signature tune? Jay and Molly’s Ashokan Fiddle & Dance Camps — in New York’s Catskill Mountains — remain a favorite learning vacation destination for music and dance enthusiasts all across the country. If you love American acoustic music, a Jay Ungar & Molly Mason concert is a must.
Mike & Ruthy met in NYC, just out of college. Daughter to Hudson Valley fiddling legend Jay Ungar and folk-singer Lyn Hardy, Ruthy’s was a past steeped in the folk tradition. Mike had his musical roots planted in the ska-punk and rock scene blasting from the college radio station in his hometown of Durham, NH. The two fell in love and went on to form the folk-rock behemoth The Mammals, which toured the world many times over. Now married and settled just outside Woodstock, NY, they tour with a full band or as a duo and sometimes share the stage with their fiddling two-year-old son, Will. Previous albums by Mike + Ruthy include the critically acclaimed debut The Honeymoon Agenda and its follow-up, Waltz of the Chickadee.
www.jayandmolly.com
www.mikeandruthy.com
David Maxwell and Maximum Blues
Saturday, August 28, 2010 8:00 PM
Video! ($15 adv/$18 door, 8pm)
David Maxwell has amassed an enormous resume beginning in the late 60′s playing piano with some of the greatest and well known musicians in the blues including John Lee Hooker, Freddie King, Bonnie Raitt, James Cotton, Buddy Guy, Otis Rush, Jimmy Rodgers and Hubert Sumlin. David plays many styles of blues, jazz and improvised music, but he is best known for his soulful virtuosity and unmatched ability to reach the heart of post-war Chicago Blues. David received the 2010 Blues Music Award for Acoustic Album of the Year, “You Got To Move” (with Louisiana Red), the 2010 and 2009 Boston Music Award for Best Blues Act, a Grammy for participating in James Cotton’s “Deep in the Blues” (1997), seven Blues Music Award nominations for Piano Player of the Year and many more nominations (Grammy and Blues Music ) for albums in which he participated as a sideman. To quote John Lee Hooker ” I don’t think anybody could be tighter playing the blues on the piano than David Maxwell. He plays the blues like it should be played. he plays the low-down, dirty funky blues. he’s got ot all together.”
David’s music was used in the movie “Fried Green Tomatoes” and in the TV series “Touched By An Angel”. He has performed on “Late Night With Conan O’ Brien” and is on several videos playing with Freddie King in the early 70′s. (Rounder). David’s first CD as a leader “Maximum Blues Piano”(1997, Tonecool) received high critical acclaim. His new album, “Max Attack” (2005 95North Records), features guests James Cotton, Kim Wilson, Ronnie Earl, Duke Robillard, Hubert Sumlin and Pinetop Perkins.
With: Mike Williams, guitar, Marty Ballou, bass, and Per Hanson, drums, vocals
David has performed in major festivals, theaters and clubs in North America, Europe, Scandinavia, Morocco, Israel, and Japan, and keeps busy today playing, recording, and teaching (and nurturing his interests in jazz, ethnic and improvised music.). David participated in a Blues All Star Summit at Lincoln Center this past June with James Cotton, Taj Mahal, Shemekia Copeland, Hubert Sumlin and Pinetop Perkins.
“David Maxwell is known as one of the best blues pianists on the planet….” —-Boston Phoenix, 2007
“Any list of the most important blues pianists of the lastb half century would have to include david Maxwell David Maxwell” —-Patriot Ledger, 2007
The Neil Pearlman Band
Tuesday, August 31, 2010 8:00 PM
($8 adv/$10 door, 8pm)
Multi-instrumentalist and dancer Neil Pearlman is emerging as one of the traditional music scene’s most innovative young artists. Legendary Cape Breton fiddler Jerry Holland said that “watching Neil’s hands on the piano is like watching two spiders on crack!” His piano style seamlessly blends Cape Breton traditions with jazz harmony and funk/rock grooves. The result is a exciting new sound that remains true to its traditional roots. An accomplished Cape Breton step dancer and mandolinist as well, Neil grew up in the family band Highland Soles and has performed with many of the best musicians on the traditional music scene today, including Natalie MacMaster, Alasdair Fraser, Seamus Connolly, Kimberley Fraser, Abby Newton, Frank Ferrel, Maeve Gilchrist, Mike Vass and Ed Pearlman. In 2008, Neil and Ed released the album “On the Edge” to acclaim from musicians, producers and others across the traditional music scene. Some highlights of Neil’s career so far have been performances at Carnegie Hall and the Iron Horse, and teaching at Alasdair Fraser’s Sierra Fiddle Camp. Neil currently performs with a number of projects ranging from traditional Scottish fiddle music to contemporary jazz, spending the rest of his time working on a degree in English Literature from Columbia University.
Neil’s current solo project is an exciting combination of Scottish and Cape Breton (and even some Irish!) musical traditions with latin, funk and jazz influences. Their debut performance, to a packed audience at Caffe Vivaldi in New York, NY, was very enthusiastically recieved, boding well for the future.
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04101
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