featuring
Paula Byrne, vocals
Randy Porter, piano
Dave Captein, bass
Jason Palmer, drums
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 :
Jazz pianist Randy Porter has a refined understanding of improvisation and the spontaneous communication between musicians. As a Steinway Artist, Randy Porter draws from a rich palette of sonorities found within his imagination and the depths of the piano. Lynn Darroch of The Oregonian states, “Porter has built a reputation as a musician’s musician, a knowledgeable, inventive, and sophisticated player with a remarkable sense of time and gorgeous keyboard facility…”
Randy Porter has performed with many jazz greats, including Freddy Hubbard, Art Farmer, and Benny Golson. He has also performed with the Charles McPherson Quartet throughout the US and in France, Italy, Greece, and China. The Charles McPherson Quartet has re-created the music from the classic recording Charlie Parker with Strings, performing with many orchestras nationwide. Porter has also toured with Diane Schuur and Bobby Caldwell, conducting the Jazz Orchestra for their “Sing in Swing” tour.
Randy Porter has toured Europe with bassist David Friesen and has performed on several recordings with Friesen. Friesen’s 2001 Trio CD, Name of a Woman, received 4 stars from Downbeat in June of 2002 and featured Porter as pianist and composer. Porter has also recorded, performed, and toured worldwide with singer Gino Vannelli; Porter’s pianistic contributions can be heard on Vannelli’s CD’s, Yonder Tree, Slow Love and Canto.
Musical highlights include performing at Kimball’s with Art Farmer and Clifford Jordan, Lincoln Center and Kennedy Center with Diane Schuur, Seattle’s Jazz Alley with New York Voices, Yoshi’s in San Francisco with Karrin Allyson and Rebecca Kilgore, The House of Blues in Chicago and BB King’s Blues Club in NYC with Gino Vannelli, the Monterey Jazz Festival with Madeline Eastman, the Chicago and Detroit Jazz Festivals with Charles McPherson.
Porter’s compositions and arrangements can be heard on his own recordings: Thirsty Soul, with John Wiitala on bass and Reinhardt Melz and Todd Strait on drums; Brio, also featuring John Wiitala and Reinhardt Melz; Modern Reflections with Nancy King on vocals, Leroy Vinnegar on bass and Mel Brown on drums; and Eight Little Feet with Bob Magnusson on bass and Joe LaBarbera on drums. Samples of Porter’s writing and playing can be found on Apple’s iLife jingles. Porter also composed the music for the 2009 documentary, Deep Green.
Porter has been a performer and educator at the Port Townsend Jazz Festival for many years where he has coached many young jazz musicians. He has also worked several years at the Stanford Jazz Workshop and Jazz Camp West with singer Madeline Eastman. Porter teaches master classes and adjudicates student combos and bands at highschool and college jazz festivals. Currently, Porter teaches jazz piano at Lewis and Clark College in Portland, Oregon.
Dave Captein is an accomplished performer on both string bass and bass guitar, having worked as a professional musician for over 35 years in the Pacific Northwest. A Portland native, he studied with Alice Leyden (Portland Opera Orchestra), Herman Jobelmann (Principal, Oregon Symphony), Ring Warner, James Harnett (Principal, Seattle Symphony) and Chuck Deardorf (Seattle Jazz Bassist). A music graduate of Western Washington University and the University of Washington, where he was awarded a composition scholarship, Dave has performed in a broad range of situations, from symphonic performances to studio and club work, as well as many jazz concerts and festivals around the country and in Europe.
He has worked with many well known jazz artists. He freelances in the Portland area, and is a very active member of the music community there, frequently appearing in the city's many clubs and concert venues, as well as recording studios. He is a favorite choice for the region's many bandleaders and always in demand for his solid sound, time and feel, as well as his soloing abilities. He has played on numerous local artists' CD's, as well as nationally distributed releases by Tom Grant and Jessica Williams. He has also been a long time instructor, having taught at the University of Oregon for 10 years, he now teaches privately from his home in S.E. Portland and at Lewis and Clark College.
He has appeared with Mose Allison, Richie Cole, Tal Farlow, Art Lande, Red Holloway, Ernestine Anderson, Jack Sheldon, Nu Shooz, Marlena Shaw, Frankie Avalon, Jeff Clayton, Paul McCandless, Larry Coryell, Andy Narell, Jerry Hahn, Dave Frishberg, Randy Brecker, Steve Million, Ron Miles, Rick Braun, Kenny Drew Jr., Jessica Williams (appearing on 10 of her CD's), Joey De Francesco, Eric Alexander, Pete Christlieb, Gary Smulyan, Ron Eschete, Bud Shank, Ingrid Jensen, Jackie Naylor, Bobby Shew, Wynton Marsalis, Dick Hyman, Ken Peplowski, Steve Allen and Paul Smith, Bill Mays, Jeff Lorber, Benny Green and local luminaries such as Ron Steen, Mel Brown, Dan Balmer, Gary Hobbs and Rebecca Kilgore.
Drummer Jason Palmer is a percussionist and educator who is active throughout Oregon, the United States, and internationally. His performances include appearances at St. Peter's Church and the Knitting Factory in New York, the Rochester Jazz Festival, the High Sierra Music Festival, The Sitka Jazz Festival, and Jazz Festival Calgary. Regionally, he has performed at The Waterfront Blues Festival, the Cathedral Park Jazz Festival, the Portland Jazz Festival, and the Oregon Festival of American Music.
Since 1995, Jason has performed and recorded with such artists as Danilo Perez, John Clayton, Ben Monder, Ron Miles, Dave Frishberg, Bucky Pizzarelli, John Zorn, Steve Wilson, Lizz Wright, Sheryl Bailey, Chuck Redd, Dick Hyman, Ken Peplowski, Randy Porter, and George Colligan. His recordings have been reviewed in Cadence, All About Jazz, and the All Music Guide.
He attended the University of Oregon, where he received both a Bachelor's degree and a Master's degree in Music. As a student, Jason had the opportunity to perform in a variety of student ensembles as well as with guest artists such as Nancy King, Bobby Shew, John Hollenbeck, and Gary Versace. His pop and rock music experience includes work with Allen Toussaint, Mason Williams, Sonny Turner of the Coasters, Ruth Brown, and Satin Love Orchestra.
Active in education, Jason is currently the Department Chair of Music, Dance, and Theater at Portland Community College's Rock Creek Campus in Oregon. Recently, he has also taught at Western Oregon University, Umpqua Community College, and Lane Community College.
