October has flown by. It’s been fun preparing for our upcoming show at the Blue Monk (details). The horn parts sounded really nice in rehearsal. And adding Fender Rhodes to the mix has highlighted some of the harmonic intricacies that aren’t always apparent in our trio performances. It is tempting to take the emboldened sound of the sextet and consider making the change in instrumentation permanent. However, the trio is a crucial medium for my musical development as an improvising musician and composer. I see the challenges of the trio as opportunities in disguise, which is part of the reason that it’s in the band’s name.
That said….
Boy, do we have a great show lined up for you next Sunday! Allow me to introduce our special guests…
On keys: Andrew Oliver – the highly sought after jazz pianist, composer, bandleader, and side-man whose musical associations include: Andrew Oliver Sextet, Portland Jazz Composers’ Ensemble, Andrew Oliver Kora Band, Sound for the Organization of Society, Bridgetown Sextet, Sam Howard Band, Fractal Quintet, The Ocular Concern, James M. Gregg Quintet, and Krebsic Orkestar Gypsy Brass Band.
On trumpet: James M. Gregg – the former professor of jazz turned bandleader extraordinaire directs the 20-piece Bureau of Standards Big Band, a mainstay at Tony Starlight’s Supper Club and Lounge. Gregg also leads his own project, the James M. Gregg Quintet, whose debut release Another Bridge Born (featuring both Andrew Oliver on keys and Neil Mattson on guitar) can be found online or at your local music store. He has played with artists such as The Decemberists, Devin Phillips, Shelly Rudolph, Chris Robley, and has appeared as a guest artist and sideman on over 20 locally-produced recordings by rock, pop and jazz artists.
On tenor sax: Marc Hutchinson – one of the best tenor saxophonists in town, is a very active member of the Portland music scene and has performed with Darrell Grant, Mel Brown, Dan Faenhle, the D.K. Stewart Band, Patrick Lamb, the Ken Derouchie Band, as well as with national artists Ingrid Jensen and Don Braden. Marc can also be found performing regularly with the Rocktet, the Dave Fleschner Band, Pete Peterson’s Big Band, Shelly Rudolph, The Notables, Greg Goebel, and his own projects, Ouroborus and the Winning Team Band.
And then there were three… (Trio Flux bio).
A few words about the music. When asked to describe the kind of music Trio Flux plays, the words fusion, funky, and jazz never seem to encapsulate the essence of what our music is about. We play highly structured, originally composed, instrumental music that gathers elements from many musical genres and forms, with lots of room for improvisation. Trio Flux is a little jazz, country, pop, rock, funk, free, etc….all mixed together. For the Blue Monk show on November 6th we will play music from our debut release and new music slated for the next record with varying instrumentation, everything from trio to sextet, including 6 or 7 different combinations of musicians. Included in the set are some very choice Herbie Hancock arrangements, and a totally new reworking Miles Davis‘s Nardis (sounds like a good place for a trumpet feature!!). Also a very special surprise inclusion: the never before heard chords to Adam’s tune, Snow Crash!!
If all this weren’t cool enough, the Blue Monk show will be filmed by local filmmaker, Janaka Jayawardena. All the more reason to come down and be a part of a special evening of great music.
Hope to see you there!
Note: Special thanks to Tina Granzo of City Beautiful Design for another beautiful poster design!
album is the first fruit of those labors. 
