Join us for the annual return of this unique band led by composer/bassist Todd Sickafoose. The left-field instrumentation is ideal to explore the thrum of acoustic instruments – the percussive to the sustained and everything in between. Featuring some truly original music-makers gathered from across Oregon and Northern California.
Jenny Scheinman violin
Jonny Rodgers glass orchestra
Mike Gamble guitar
Simon Chrisman hammered dulcimer
Todd Sickafoose bass
The musicians in this band have collaborated with Bill Frisell, Son Lux, Jason Moran, Jeremy Kittel, Lucinda Williams, Andrew Bird, Nels Cline, and many others.
Todd Sickafoose is a Tony and Grammy award-winning composer, producer, arranger, orchestrator, bandleader and double bassist. He makes richly moving, imaginative music which has been called "thoroughly original, endlessly creative” by Jazz Times and "stunningly brilliant” by Bassplayer. Known as a musical cross-breeder who stretches across genres, Sickafoose has been described by the San Francisco Chronicle as “a captivating improviser, imaginative composer, and master of collaboration”. In 2004, Sickafoose began performing and recording in a duo format with folk poet, activist and cultural icon Ani DiFranco. Their relationship has developed for two decades – together they have made 10 albums, two concert DVDs, and performed thousands of shows. In 2007, Sickafoose began working on Anaïs Mitchell's folk opera, Hadestown, wearing many hats including arranger/orchestrator and music producer. After years of development and regional productions, the show opened at the Walter Kerr Theater on Broadway in 2019 and won 8 Tony Awards, including Best Musical and Best Orchestrations for Sickafoose and collaborator Michael Chorney. Sickafoose produced the Hadestown Original Broadway Cast Recording which won a 2020 Grammy Award for Best Musical Theater Recording. Hadestown recently celebrated 7 years on Broadway while also continuing to perform as a North American Tour and an open-ended run at the Lyric Theatre in London’s West End. Straddling the worlds of folk, indie rock, jazz and chamber music, Sickafoose’s own band Tiny Resistors has performed at the North Sea Jazz Festival, Stern Grove Festival, Angel City Jazz Festival and been featured on many “Best-Of” lists including the Village Voice, DownBeat, and JazzTimes. Writing for Tiny Resistors, he recently composed and released BEAR PROOF, a long-form chamber jazz hybrid commissioned by the Doris Duke Foundation.
Jenny Scheinman is a celebrated fixture of the jazz and creative-music world, having toured and recorded with songwriting giants like Lucinda Williams, Lou Reed, and Joni Mitchell, alongside deep work in improvised music with Jason Moran and Brian Blade. Simon Chrisman is redefining what the hammered dulcimer can do — an instrument long seen as limited — bringing inventive technique and rhythmic sophistication that's earned him spots touring with the Jeremy Kittel Band and the Bee Eaters. Jonny Rodgers, recording as Cindertalk, is known for coaxing eerie, electronically-manipulated beauty out of tuned glass, crafting work so distinctive that one concertgoer reportedly asked what planet he was from. Mike Gamble spent 15 years steeped in New York's creative jazz and improvised scenes before landing in Portland, where he now teaches audio production while continuing to tour internationally and score films.
Together, these five musicians — each accomplished well beyond this one project — come together for a night of genre-defying acoustic music you won't want to miss.