Montavilla Jazz Festival 2018 Headliner

Randy Porter Trio with Nancy King

Sunday, August 19, doors open: 1:00 p.m., event begins: 8:10 p.m.
Tickets: https://www.tickettomato.com/event/5577
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/events/2149004055380697

Portland jazz master Randy Porter performs music from his Grammy-nominated album Porter Plays Porter, featuring Nancy King, and new music created for this MJF 2018 set.

Jazz pianist Randy Porter has a refined understanding of improvisation and the spontaneous communication among musicians. Lynn Darroch of the Oregonian has stated, “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.”

Nominated for the 60th Grammy Awards, Porter’s recent release Porter Plays Porter with Nancy King is a mix of swing, harmony, and lyrical adventure. In the spirit of Cannonball Adderley and Nancy Wilson, King’s vocal stylings are interspersed with instrumental tracks featuring the Randy Porter Trio. John Wiitala on bass and Todd Strait on drums bring their wonderful swing skill set and intuition.

Porter currently performs with Charles McPherson, Madeline Eastman, the New York Voices, Rebecca Kilgore, and Nancy King. Bassist David 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’s performance highlights include performing at Lincoln Center and Kennedy Center with Diane Schuur, Seattle’s Jazz Alley with New York Voices, and the House of Blues in Chicago and BB King’s Blues Club in NYC with Gino Vannelli.

Porter has been a performer and educator at the Jazz Camp West, the Port Townsend Jazz Festival, and the Stanford Jazz Workshop, where he has coached many young jazz musicians. He teaches master classes and adjudicates student combos and bands at high school and college jazz festivals. Porter teaches jazz piano at Lewis & Clark College.

Nancy King has been called everything from a “cult figure” and an “uncompromising artist” (Earshot Jazz) to “the greatest living jazz singer” (Herb Ellis). As one of the few improvisers in vocal jazz to master the vocabulary, King has “indefatigable scat chops and a remarkably elastic range” (the Oregonian).

Lineup: Randy Porter, piano; Nancy King, vocals; John Wiitala, bass; Alan Jones, drums

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