Piedmont Piano Company is pleased to present
Oregonia
with special guest Paul McCandless
Oregonia is a project involved with playing the compositions of Paul McCandless, Ralph Towner and friends who forged a unique, modern Jazz language. Art Lande (piano) got to know Oregon, the group formed in 1970 as an offshoot of the Paul Winter Consort, and has performed and loved this music since 1974. Although John Gunther (woodwinds) and Tim Wendel (electric guitar) are fairly new to much of this music, the whole band brings it forward with a different sound and sensibility, focusing on improvisation, encouraged by beautiful compositions and intriguing forms.
$25 General Admission
Grammy-nominated Art Lande is an internationally known pianist, composer, improviser, drummer and educator who has performed with a long list of the Who's Who in jazz, including Joe Henderson, Woody Shaw, Bobby Hutcherson, Steve Swallow, Charlie Haden, Kenny Wheeler, Sheila Jordan, Mark Isham, Paul McCandless, Jan Garbarek and many others.
His band, Rubisa Patrol, was formed in the mid 70's and worked through 1983, traveling to Europe often and recording with ECM Records. After teaching for three years in Switzerland, Lande moved to Boulder, Colorado, where he played a weekly performance for 15 years! Each week had different music and drew from a large list of different bands, members and seasonal special guests from nearly everywhere. Live performances are not to be missed, an occasion full of musical adventure and inspiration, spontaneity, warmth and soul.
Art is also well known for his innovative approaches to teaching piano, improvisation and ear training. He currently has many regular bands and students in Boulder and often travels internationally for workshops, camps and performances. artlande.com
John Gunther is a composer and multi-instrumentalist playing saxophones, clarinet, and flute. With a restless musical spirit, he enjoys exploring all forms of jazz from traditional to avant-garde as well as classical music, world music and experimental electronic music. He has performed or recorded with many notable jazz artists including Dave Douglas, Ron Miles, Christian McBride, Bobby Watson, Wallace Roney, Larry Goldings,Tom Harrel, Dewey Redman, Joe Williams, The Woody Herman Orchestra, the Vanguard Jazz Orchestra and The Maria Schneider Orchestra.
As part of New York city's "downtown" music scene for many years, he produced five recordings for "Creative Improvised Music Projects (CIMP)" and is co-founder of the contemporary jazz ensembles, "Spooky Actions" and "Convergence." John is an Associate Professor in Jazz Studies at the University of Colorado at Boulder where he directs the Thompson Jazz Studies Program. He received his Ph.D. from New York University where his research examined incorporating techniques of serial music with improvisation. In 2007 he received an "Innovative Seed Grant" to create the Boulder Laptop Orchestra and to further explore the intersection of music, performance, art, and technology. His work with BLOrk has led to further collaboration with the STEM program at CU exploring informal science education through the arts. His most recent recording, "Safari Trio" with Brad Shepik and John Hadfield, can be found on the Dazzle Jazz Record Label and his website, johngunthermusic.com
Tim Wendel is a versatile guitarist, composer and educator. After immersing himself in the Philadelphia jazz scene for ten years, he moved to Boulder, CO, where, in 2014, he received his M.A. in Jazz Performance and Pedagogy from the University of Colorado. Tim has performed at Carnegie Hall, toured the east coast and Rocky Mountain region with original rock, funk, jazz and classical projects and has traveled the entire United States as a member of the Broadway National Tour of The Color Purple. He has performed with such notable jazz artists as Dave Liebman, Dave Douglas, Ralph Alessi, Art Lande, Terell Stafford, Jaleel Shaw and Jef Lee Johnson, among many others.
PAUL McCANDLESS
During a distinguished career spanning over four decades, Paul McCandless has brought the soaring lyricism in his playing and composing to the ensemble sound of two seminal iconic bands of jazz: the original Paul Winter Consort and the relentlessly innovative quartet, Oregon.
As a collaborator and solo artist, he has performed on more than 200 albums and appeared with such renowned all-star musicians as Pat Metheny, Jaco Pastorius, Wynton Marsalis, Lyle Mays, Mark Isham, Steve Reich, Al Jarreau, Bruce Hornsby, Art Lande, Carla Bley, Tony Furtado, the String Cheese Incident, Nguyen Le, Proteus 7, Fred Simon, and many more.
He has three Grammy awards: Best Pop Instrumental as a guest artist with Béla Fleck and the Flecktones, and two with the Paul Winter Consort for Best New Age Album; plus nominations for Best Jazz Instrumental Solo on the Oregon CD "1000 kilometers", plus Best Instrumental Composition and Best Instrumental Arrangement, for his composition "Round Robin" on the CD "Oregon in Moscow."
Paul was a featured soloist alongside Pat Metheny and Gary Burton in “The Great Jubilee Concert”, a huge tribute event in Theaterhaus Stuttgart, in 2015, by the SWR Big Band celebrating the music and the career of the legendary German bassist Eberhard Weber. The event was encapsulated on the CD “Hommage a Eberhard Weber” (2015, ECM Records). paulmccandless.com