Eugene Weekly

After a decade exploring the classic, Sonny Rollins-style sax-bass-drums ensemble (and other trio configurations including piano, guitar and even electric bass) Eugene sax master Joe Manis has ventured into another classic jazz assemblage: the organ trio, featuring recent NYC-to-Portland transplant George Colligan (who’s teaching at PSU and making quite an impression in his own Oregon gigs on piano) at the keyboard. Todd Strait will man the drum kit for this show 9:30 pm Friday, Sept. 27, at Sam Bond’s. Continue reading →

Love ‘em or hate ‘em, you have certainly heard the Cherry Poppin’ Daddies’ popular Zoot Suit Riot album enough to have an opinion about the band. But stardom — and the backlash that came with it — was never something they expected to achieve when they formed in the late ’80s. Continue reading →

Austin, Texas, folk artist Matt the Electrician sports a mighty fine full beard. A possible allegory for his style of music, his beard is inviting and warm while his voice sounds weathered and prickly. “You know, sadly, I’m just lazy,” he says. “The beard is much easier to manage than no beard because I don’t really have to do anything to it. Like once every three months I take some scissors and cut it back a little bit so it doesn’t take over any nearby villages.” Continue reading →

Don’t call The Evens a side project. “It’s a band,” insists Ian MacKaye, the musician behind some of the most iconic projects in American punk and hardcore music: Minor Threat, Fugazi and founding Dischord Records. After over three decades in the business, the reluctant legend’s passion for music hasn’t waned a bit. “Music is holy,” MacKaye says. Over the years MacKaye has championed a DIY ethos. “I’ve become a poster child,” he says, “but I just did my work.” Continue reading →

The members of Seattle’s alt-folk The Head and the Heart are growing up. According to drummer Tyler Williams, their approach to music is too. “When we first started out, music was our passion and it was a hope, a goal, that we would get to do this for a living,” he says. “And then when you start to travel around and tour it does become your job in a way, but that doesn’t necessarily make it a bad thing. We’re just more responsible people at this stage in our lives.” Continue reading →

Any discussion of Neko Case usually revolves around the voice — and a remarkable instrument it is: smoky, agile, delicate, strong, rich, expressive. Hers is a real sound that puts the fakers to shame.  Continue reading →

Over the past half decade or so, singer-songwriter Halie Loren has built an international reputation as a top-notch jazz chanteuse — an expert vocalist who is as comfortable sinking into the sultry croon of a classic like “My Funny Valentine” as she is reinterpreting a ’60s pop ditty like “Happy Together.” The Eugene native’s new album, Simply Love, released Sept. 10 in the U.S., has already pegged the top of the Billboard jazz charts in Japan and Asia. Continue reading →