MFNW: Friday (Mayer Hawthorne & The County)

From the honey-sweet vocals of M64 to the brooding and elaborate piano jazz of the Ben Darwish Trio to the super sarcastic comic stage persona of DJ James Pants, Saturday night at Jimmy Mak’s was—needless to say—a wildly eclectic evening, but not entirely wild, given how the evening shifted from lukewarm and unenthused to dancing on the ceiling bravado (and attendees would’ve gone there if it weren’t for gravity). There is no doubting—among all the evening had to offer—Mayer Hawthorne & The County stole the show with good vibrations and unstoppable magnetism. What began as a mild-mannered dinner party atmosphere transformed, within literal seconds of Hawthorne & The County taking the stage, into a love-soaked dance fest that filled every inch of available space between tables with hip-shakes and handclaps and dreamy grins. While the first three acts did a commendable job of pleasing the room, only Hawthorne & The County could ignite the once burnt-out, straight-faced crowd—which had previously appeared more interested in clinking their forks against plates than anything clinking onstage—into a frenzy of music-lovers whose only interest in the room was centered dead-on the red velvet curtain-adorned stage before them. It was something between heartwarming and surprising to witness the spirit in the room skyrocket from such blandness to such heights, as though only Hawthorne’s hugely charismatic presence and the band’s incredibly infectious classic ‘60s soul could make it so. The rich sultry rhythms and crooning, upbeat melodies and cosmic, danceable keyboard affects came together to act like a giant gesture of unconditional love, seducing the crowd to move both closer together and closer to the stellar musicians onstage. Between songs, Hawthorne was insistent on reminding audience members of the greatest feeling of all: “Are you feeling the love?” “We do a lot of crazy ass shit for love, don’t we?” Love is all right, right?” When it’s coming from such a charming, dapper and downright thrilling collective of loveable soul musicians? You bet it is. true

2009-10-03T13:36:47-07:00

2009-09-19T13:36:47-07:00

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2009-09-19T13:36:47-07:00

Mayer Hawthorne & The County transformed the dinner party vibe at Jimmy Mak's Friday night into a frenzied dance party built on love.

MFNW: Friday (Mayer Hawthorne & The County)

2009-09-19T14:02:20-07:00

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Ever since I convinced my mom to buy me a copy of Miles Davis's album Kind of Blue and listened to it intently on my cheap Walkman-knockoff for about a week straight, I've been fascinated, confounded and absolutely in love with jazz. Luckily for me I live in a cit<img width="199" height="300" align="left" src="/uploads/Image/BenDarwishTrio.jpg" alt="" />y that seems as jazz crazy as I am. Portland is wonderful in that it reveres hometown heroes like <a href="http://www.tonypacini.com/mbqinfopage.htm">Mel Brown</a> and <a href="http://www.darrellgrant.com">Darrell Grant</a> while paying heed to the young bucks that are breaking into this sometimes-insular world. One such player is pianist <a href="http://myspace.com/bendarwish">Ben Darwish</a>. This native Portlander has been making quite a name for himself of late through his work with hip-hop and funk groups like <a href="http://myspace.com/ohmegawatts">Ohmega Watts</a> and his own group, <a href="http://myspace.com/commotionband">Commotion</a>. But where his abilities on a keyboard really shine is when he fronts his own trio. And it is with this group that Darwish is putting out a new CD entitled, Ode To Consumerism (out on February 20th). Recorded live at <a href="http://www.jimmymaks.com">Jimmy Mak's</a>, the trio works up a very rowdy crowd with a heady concoction of originals and some interesting covers. In the former category, Darwish and his cohorts (bassist Eric Gruber and drummer Jason Palmer) work in a post-bop milieu. The multi-part title track takes them from the rollicking drive of the opening section to a more plaintive middle that allows Darwish to extemporize in a state of controlled chaos. And it all builds up to a gloriously cacophonic conclusion. As for the cover songs, there aren't going to be too many jazz trios willing to put their stamp to a Green Day hit, but they do, pulling "Longview" apart and stretching its familiar melodies like taffy. And they have the gumption to close this album with a lovely workout of the well-worn ground that is "Killing Me Softly". That they manage to find unexpected nuance in this modern standard is a testament to this group's estimable skills in arrangement. <img width="200" height="300" align="right" src="/uploads/Image/071_pardew_medium.jpg" alt="" /> Another interesting young player in Portland jazz is guitarist <a href="http://www.mikepardew.com">Mike Pardew</a>. He's not new to the scene, having shared the stage with Brown, Mary Kadderly and Dan Balmer, amongst others. But he is releasing his second album as the leader of a trio - Azul (out this spring on Afan Music). It's a lean, muscular album that shows Pardew and his band - including bassist Damian Erskine and drummer Micah Kassel - as a force to be reckoned with. Some tracks on Azul carry a fusion flair, mixing in elements of psychedelia on "Road Worn" and "Velonis", with Pardew tearing into his guitar with a very Carlos Santana-like tone and attack. Others take on a more subdued flavor, like the swinging "Transgression" and a quite lovely track that takes its name and inspiration from the small Italian town of Ferrazzano. It's a strong collection from an equally strong group of players.   true

2009-02-02T22:50:08-08:00

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These incredible musicians are adding a great deal of flavor to already spicy jazz community here in Portland. They have CDs coming out in the months ahead, on which they each lead a trio that gives them the chance to show off their chops at both performing and arranging.

Ben Darwish & Mike Pardew - Two Rising Talents in Portland's Jazz Scene

2009-01-19T22:50:08-08:00

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