Lluvia Verde featuring Laura Rebolloso

Lineup: Hans Barklis, requinto, vocals, composition, dance; Laura Rebolloso, vocals, guitar, leona, jarana, composition, dance; Ryan Meagher, guitar, composition; Alonso Blanco, piano, composition; Marshall Peterson, bass; Michael Galen, percussion, dance.

Laura Rebolloso is an esteemed lineage holder in the folkloric Afro-Mexican tradition of Son Jarocho (from southern Veracruz). In addition to participating in and contributing to this living tradition, Laura is also an active composer and performing artist in contemporary genres, ranging from jazz to salsa. She has worked extensively with notable artists and composers in Latin America, the United States, and Europe. She is currently a PhD Candidate at the University of New Mexico, researching the robust connections between Son Jarocho and Sephardic musical traditions.

Hans Barklis‘s musical garden has been cultivated through formal education, enriched by fertilization from world-renowned classical and jazz instrumentalists, landscaped through international musical cooperation spanning from Northeast Brazil to Mexico’s Gulf Coast, and refined by experience with special needs populations and participation in centuries-old Afro-Latin dance and martial art forms. Hans’ musical toolshed boasts a host of string instruments (guitar/requinto jarocho/cavaquinho…) and Afro-Latin percussion instruments, primed to till, sow, irrigate, and harvest a variegated musical ground. Hans’ top priority is to sow the seeds that sprout lives lived in love with music.

Ryan Meagher (pronounced Marr) is a jazz guitarist and composer, perhaps best known for his compositional acumen. Also well-known for his flexibility and range, he is truly in his element when exploring his thought-provoking original material with exciting and sensitive sidemen. Still, he has also accompanied a diverse group of incredibly talented artists. He has nine albums under his own direction, and has been a sideman on many others. Meagher is an integral part of the Pacific Northwest’s improvised music scene, serving as a musician, educator, and arts administrator. He currently teaches at Mt Hood Community College, University of Portland, Portland State University, Willamette University, and directs the jazz program at Lower Columbia College. He is the Artistic Director of the Portland Jazz Composers Ensemble and manages their in-house record label.