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| Better Homes & Gardens |
We're elated to announce that we'll be starting off the new year with an incredible show! I've been trying to get the immensely talented
Reed Wallsmith to play at the Christmas Horse for a long, and FINALLY, he's going to perform here with his project
Better Homes & Gardens. This project also involves an insane all-star group consisting of
Joe Cunningham (Blue Cranes),
Jon Shaw, and
Tim DuRoche. Wallsmith & Co. navigate through their jazz compositions with such a strong artistic integrity, often exploring more the landscapes the music is presenting, rather than notes and technical composition. There's a wealth to say about all of the players in this group, and it's very hard to specify all that they do. Reed has definitely made me into a believer in the saxophone, which was honestly a huge feat. In both of his projects, Reed pays
homage to the jazz tradition and is a very accomplished player (receiving various grants and accolades) and approaches his music with a
collaborative and experimental guise. I would highly recommend looking up the projects that Reed's been involved with, very inspiring.
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| Greylag |
Another group that I've been very excited to bring is
Greylag, a newly-transplanted band to Portland. Fronted by
Andrew Stonestreet, Greylag presents very layered and guitar textured folk-pop songs backed by interesting percussive surges. There are beautiful harmonies within each of the pieces that I've listened to, a song that really stands out to me is
Black Crow, the song moves and sweeps with
dense instrumentation without getting too busy and keeps a simplicity that a hard feat to keep in check. Greylag is a group of extremely talented musicians that I believe will perform an amazing set and I'm very much looking forward to seeing how they play their songs live,
there is a ton of energy to each piece.
It's an understatement that this is going to an amazing show. Let's kick the year off right and spend the evening with good music and people!
