Owen Broder Quintet plays at the Jack London
- Owen Broder - saxophones
- Noah Simpson - trumpet
- Carmen Staaf - piano
- Emiliano Lasansky - bass
- Bryan Carter - drums
The Owen Broder Quintet features saxophonist Owen Broder and a program of compositions associated with Johnny Hodges, the alto saxophone icon. While Hodges is discussed almost wholly in relation to Duke Ellington, Broder and his quintet of collaborators on the world stage shift focus to the Rabbit (the nickname that Hodges earned early in his career) as a bandleader in his own right. Broder presents Hodges: Front and Center as “a heartfelt tribute without ever aping the object of his affection or straying too far from the path. In short, he finds a perfect balance,” (The New York Jazz Record). The repertoire culls from the Ellington canon as well as from the saxophonist’s often overlooked catalogue of small group albums.
Beyond Hodges: Front and Center, Broder is a member of the GRAMMY® nominated Anat Cohen Tentet and the Manhattan Saxophone Quartet and has performed with internationally respected artists such as Ryan Truesdell’s Gil Evans Project, Miho Hazama, the Ulysses Owens, Jr. Big Band, and YouTube sensation Postmodern Jukebox. An award-winning composer and arranger, Broder has received commissioned projects from the U.S. Air Force Band in Europe, the Airmen of Note, two off-Broadway shows, and the Winchester Symphonic Winds. “Fans of large-ensemble music might notice the sturdy artistic thread that connects bandleaders Maria Schneider, Ryan Truesdell and Owen Broder,” (Bobby Reed, DownBeat). A resident of Portland since 2021, Broder teaches core jazz courses at Portland State University and saxophone lessons at Pacific University, and serves on the Board of Directors for the Portland Jazz Composers Ensemble.
