Date/Time
Date(s) - 09/16/2015
7:00 pm - 9:00 pm
Location
The Old Church
1422 SW 11TH Ave. --Portland
“The Old Church presents Max Hatt / Edda Glass and Adlai Alexander: One Quiet Night of Brazilian Vocals and Jazz Guitar. “Bossa is so minimal and unaffected,” says vocalist Edda Glass. “It was originally sung for a few friends in tiny Rio de Janeiro apartments. It’s complex and tricky, but it sounds as easy and natural as humans whispering to one another. There’s no schmaltz— it’s fresh, timeless.” Max Hatt / Edda Glass will trade sets with Portland’s Adlai Alexander who Jazz Now Magazine calls “a skilled writer, vibrant singer, and hotshot guitarist.” His exquisitely intimate vocal and guitar work make him a natural fit for the show’s Brazilian theme of One Quiet Night, a nod to “Quiet Nights of Quiet Stars” by Antonio Carlos Jobim. “We live in a hyped up world” says guitarist Max Hatt. “We’re over stimulated, measured out in sound bites and ringtones. It’s the information age and we’re swallowed up by this stuff. But is there any real communication going on, is there any intimacy? That’s kind of what we’re about.”
Max Hatt / Edda Glass come to Portland as part of their coast-to-coast album-release tour, which includes performances at NYC’s Lincoln Center, NPR Mountain Stage, and an opening set for world-renowned Brazilian guitarist, Romero Lubambo. The album, produced by Wilco’s Pat Sansone, features the duo’s award-winning and genre-defying original material, described as “mesmerizing cinematic folk jazz” by Playback magazine. “The common thread,”” says Glass, “”is that it’s all intimate, conversational— yet sophisticated— music. And it’s music that evokes a world, whether it’s the beaches of 1960s Rio, or the Great Plains rolling out for miles.””
ABOUT MAX HATT / EDDA GLASS
After playing Bossa Nova in Montana for 10 years, Max Hatt / Edda Glass emerged onto the national stage with their original music for a surprise grand-prize win at the 2014 NewSong Competition, held at Lincoln Center, NYC. “Max Hatt/Edda Glass often defied categorization,” said Gar Ragland, the contest’s director, calling them, “arguably the most distinctive finalist act – let alone winner – we’ve ever had.” The duo’s original music features Hatt’s deceptively complex melodies and Glass’s evocative, thought-provoking lyrics that draw from western imagery and sense of place.
ABOUT ADLAI ALEXANDER
Noted for the sweetness and wide range of his voice, Adlai Alexander sings and accompanies himself with intricate guitar in a way that’s rare in both the acoustic and jazz worlds.
Adlai enjoys the challenge of arranging band or orchestral music for solo guitar, drawing from his formal training in classical theory and composition. At times, his arrangements of jazz, Brazilian, ‘60s pop, and other music demand that he play simultaneous melody and bass lines—a technique he learned from world-class guitarist Tuck Andress, of the duo Tuck & Patti.
Sources for Adlai’s unexpected repertoire include Broadway and the Amazon rain forest, and he is known to sing in Portuguese, Hindi, or Japanese in any given set. Along with original music, he’s written lyrics for his own renditions of instrumental songs by the likes of Wayne Shorter, Dave Brubeck, and Ralph Towner. He’s also created lyrics based on quotes from Shakespeare, or titles of Duke Ellington songs.
Adlai has shared the stage with artists such as Randy Newman, Leo Kottke, Tuck & Patti, Kenny Rankin, and Brazilian star Marisa Monte. He’s appeared at the Monterey Jazz festival and venues such as the Kuumbwa Jazz Center in Santa Cruz, CA, and Aladdin Theater in Portland, OR.
As music director of the variety show “Fog City Radio” on KQED-FM San Francisco, Adlai performed live weekly with host Ben Fong-Torres. In addition to his own first album, Adlai Alexander (Stella Records), he is featured on the soundtrack of the TV series “Santa Barbara.” He’s also written music for theater, dance, and classical chamber groups, and collaborated with Todd Rundgren, composing the multimedia musical “20/20 Blake” for innovative theater company George Coates Performance Works.
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