featuring Paula Byrne, vocals
Christopher Woitach, guitar
& Dennis Caiazza, bass
www.PaulaByrneMusic.com
More about Paula:
Paula Byrne's voice is like chilled champagne on a hot summer day. She moves easily between songs that are lush and beautiful to highly rhythmic, wild rides. Her sense of humor, revival of obscure songs and new twists on old standards keeps the audience engaged and enraptured.
Paula is eclectic in her choice of musicians with whom to perform, including many of Portland's best: Randy Porter, Gordon Lee, George Mitchell, Craig Bidondo, Joe Millward, Ron Steen, Dennis Caiazza, Rich Turnoy, Glenn Holstrom, Andrea Niemiec, Kevin Dietz, Christopher Woitach and Darin Clendenin, Matt Tabor, Craig Snazelle, Dave Captein, Vince Frates, Dan Gaynor, John Gilmore, Mike Horsfall, Greg Goebel, Dan Presley, Carlton Jackson, Gordon Lee, Todd Marston.
Born to a jazz drummer (father) and figure skater (mother), she has been a lover of music and movement since birth. Paula teaches dance locally and internationally, and has been a moving force in the dance scene in Portland since 1996. She is the creator of the Wild Grace™ and DanceQuest™ movement meditations, and is Founder of SomaSpace ~ Studio of Movement Arts in NE PDX.
Paula was an Oracle software developer in the corporate high-tech field for 20 years. She left that career in 2005 to devote herself full-time to her soul-work in assisting people to remember and reconnect to the body as a source of wisdom, pleasure and joy in the present moment.
Paula's YouTube Channel : YouTube
Paula's Transformational Dance Website : www.WildGrace.us
Paula's TED Talk on Everyday Dancing :
More about Christopher:
Christopher Woitach is a jazz guitarist and composer living in Portland, Oregon. He performs a wide range of jazz styles, from Dixieland to Free jazz, Ragtime to Bebop. His compositions reflect his diverse musical tastes and abilities, and combine the intricicies of Baroque counterpoint with the freedom of modern jazz.
Christopher Woitach has played with many nationally and internationally known artists, including Bernadette Peters, Rich Little, Hank Roberts, Bob Mover, Tony Monaco, Mel Brown, and John Stowell. He regularly performs throughout the Pacific Northwest, and at jazz festivals in the U.S. and Canada.
Woitach’s recordings have been played on broadcast and internet radio stations across the globe. They have received excellent reviews from such respected jazz publications as Jazz Improv and Cadence, and internet sites including Jazzguitar.de and Jazzreview.com.
Christopher Woitach studied jazz guitar with Chad MacLoughlin and Steve Brown in Ithaca, NY, and Jim Hall in New York, NY. He studied counterpoint with David Borden and composition with Robert Keefe in Ithaca, NY.
Woitach’s current projects include writing music for a new recording with his group, the Cathexis Orchestra, recording a new duo CD with guitarist John Stowell, and working on a compositional collaboration with electronic music composer Joseph Harchanko. He is an adjunct professor of jazz guitar at Western Oregon University.
More about Dennis:
Dennis Caiazza, originally from Rochester, New York, earned a Bachelors of Music in Classical Guitar and Lute from the Crane School of Music in Potsdam, NY. He then did extensive graduate work on string bass in the Jazz Studies Program at The Eastman School. Dennis has been a full-time professional musician for over 25 years. Before moving to Atlanta in 1992, Dennis played and sang regularly with the Gap Mangione Jazz Trio and Big Band, and also performed and recorded with jazz greats Clark Terry, Eddie Daniels and Marian McPartland. In 1998 Dennis formed "Swing Factory," an eight piece swing band that played in and around the Southeast, recorded two internationally acclaimed CD's, and remained a popular force on the jazz and swing scene for over three years. Since moving to the Northwest in 2002, Dennis has had the privilege to work with some of its great musicians and world class entertainers, including Don Rickles, Ramsey Embick , Ron Steen, John Stowell, Tony Pacini, Dave Frishberg, Tom Grant, Gary Hobbs, Dan Balmer, Rob Davis, Kenny Hing, Bill Beach, Nu Shooz and The Woody Hite Big Band.
