The Andre St. James & Larry Natwick Quartet will be appearing at Michelle’s Piano (600 Southeast Stark Street, Portland)
on Friday, September 11th from 8:00-10:00pm
$12 donation/$6 for students w/ID
This quartet is a high energy, inventive ensemble made up of musicians from Portland, OR and Dallas, TX. Their repertoire consists of originals and jazz classics rooted in the hard bop tradition. The quartet is a joint project by Andre St. James and Larry Natwick who fronted trios and quartets together throughout Oregon and the San Francisco Bay Area for over twenty years. The quartet performed at several venues in Oregon a year ago and have regrouped for a series of engagements in Portland, Salem and Eugene this September. They are now planning a similar tour in March for cities in Texas. The concert at Michelle’s promises to be a wonderful showcase for this eclectic group of musicians.
About the Quartet’s Members
Andre St. James: Co-Leader and Bassist, Andre has long been a mainstay of the burgeoning Portland jazz community. A former, longtime member of the Mel Brown Septet, Andre has performed and recorded with many of the fine local musicians, including Thera Memory and Rich Halley. He has also performed with many national artists such as Dewey Redman and Andrew Hill. Andre also has contributed much to the Portland community through his teaching and mentoring at Reed College and the Bravo Young People’s Music Camps.
Larry Natwick: Co-Leader and Pianist, Larry was a resident of Oregon for twenty years, relocating from the Bay Area. He led his own trio for many of those years and performed with many of Portland’s fine musicians, including Sonny King and Akbar DePriest. Larry moved to Dallas, TX sixteen years ago, where he led his own trio and performed with several of Dallas’ great musicians, including Marchel Ivery and Shelley Carrol. That same trio traveled to New York in 2001 and participated in the finals for the Kennedy Center Jazz Ambassadors.
Dave Monsch: Tenor and Soprano Saxophonist, Dave is a vital member of the Dallas jazz community. He performs and records with many of the fine local musicians there, including Red Young, Pete Galio and Suzi Stern. Dave also is co-leader of one of Dallas’ premiere ensembles, Flip Side. This trio of outstanding musicians, including Oregon native Paul Unger, was recently named the best jazz group in the Dallas-Fort Worth area. He also performs in a quartet and duo with Larry Natwick; they have recorded two cds in the last few years. The quartet will be performing some of their original compositions from those cds.
Stu Cook: Drummer, Stu is a longtime and popular musician and leader in the Portland jazz scene. Originally from California, Stu performed with many great musicians in Sacramento and San Francisco, including the wonderful pianist, Jessica Williams. Stu led many trios with some of Portland’s finest players, including Leroy Vinegar, Brian Ward and Julie Homi. He was a member of the Andre St. James Quartet in the mid 90’s with Larry Natwick and Michael York.
