NICHOLAS PAYTON & NEW WORLD ORDER

As a leading voice in American popular music, the 2x Grammy Award-winning and 5x Grammy nominee, Nicholas Payton is a multi-instrumentalist, vocalist, composer, producer, arranger, essayist, and social activist who defies musical and artistic categories.
All the while, he honors the tradition of what he terms “postmodern New Orleans music,” as well as the spirit of Black American Music, of which he states, “There are no fields, per se. There are lineages.”

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JAZZ DIALOGUE OPEN JAM

Grant Stewart (ts)

Tardo Hammer (p)

Ilya Lushtak (g)

David Wong (b)

Phil Stewart (d)

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THE BAD PLUS

The Bad Plus

Reid Anderson bass
David King drums
Chris Speed tenor saxophone
Ben Monder guitar

As part of their fall 2023 international tour, The Bad Plus are performing at The Jazz Station on Broadway in downtown Eugene. A breakout worldwide phenomenon when they appeared in the early 2000’s, the group has been together for over 20 years and played every major jazz venue and festival in the world multiple times.

The Bad Plus has won critical acclaim and a legion of fans worldwide with their unique sound and flair for live performance. They seek musical inspiration from all musical genres, having  recorded versions of songs by Nirvana, Blondie, Pink Floyd, Ornette Coleman, The Pixies, Rush, Tears For Fears, Neil Young, David Bowie, Yes, Interpol, Johnny Cash, The Bee Gees, Burt Bacharach, Cyndi Lauper and Black Sabbath, to name a few.

As founding member drummer Dave King puts it, “If it comes down to it and you had to put us in a category, we are most certainly part of the jazz canon. The new band—all of us come from an improvisational background. We have all played different types of jazz. But the influences—they push out the corners of what people think of as jazz.” These influences form the basis for King and bassist Reid Anderson’s original compositions, which are the backbone of TBP’s repertoire.

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MADELEINE PEYROUX

Every great musical project starts with a feeling that it’s time.

So it was, in 2004, for Madeleine Peyroux: “when I got around to making Careless Love it had been a good eight years since my first album.” Eight years—forever in the music world. Not long After Dreamland dropped in ’96, she had disappeared from the touring scene as well. Where had she been? What had she been doing, and why?

I was traveling a lot across America, rediscovering the country and re-identifying as an American. I was born here in the States but moved with my mother to live in Paris when I was young. I met family I never met before. I caught up on what was happening with the music here. It was all a culture shock for me. When I came back to New York to make that first album I was like a deer in the headlights. It was my first time in a studio, my first time back in America. Then 9/11 happened. Then George W. got re-elected. It was like the world was going crazy. After Dreamland I had signed with Sony and I was trying to make my second record. I was broke and I didn’t know what I was going to do next.

Self-reflection and spiritual sensitivity are assets to any musician in the process of starting a career, of establishing one’s musical identity and direction. They don’t, however, necessarily lock into the typical velocity of career-building. There were other things Peyroux had to handle. She underwent surgery on her vocal cords. She healed and worked with a vocal coach. As the ‘90s gave way to the first years of a new century, she continued to question the how and, significantly, the why of what she was doing. (Her choice of the Dylan Thomas quote below, from his 1946 poem “In my Craft and Sullen Art,” helps explain her creative motivation.)

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CHRISTIAN MCBRIDE’S NEW JAWN

Christian McBride is an eight-time GRAMMY Award winning bassist, composer, and bandleader. McBride is the Artistic Director of the historic Newport Jazz Festival, New Jersey Performing Arts center (NJPAC) and the TD James Moody Jazz Festival, and the National Jazz Museum in Harlem. Christian is also a respected educator and advocate as the Artistic Director of Jazz House KiDS, and the Jazz Aspen Snowmass Summer Sessions. In addition to consistent touring, McBride hosts NPR’s “Jazz Night in America” and “The Lowdown: Conversations With Christian” on SiriusXM. Whether behind the bass or away from it, Christian McBride is always of the music. From jazz, to R&B, pop/rock, hip-hop/neo-soul, to classical, he is a luminary with one hand ever reaching for new heights, and the other extended in fellowship—and perhaps the hint of a challenge—inviting us to join him.

Doors ~ 6:30pm

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