TOUR DATES:
Tuesday, September 14: National Release Date for Observatories: BLUE CRANES instore performance @ Music Millenium (3158 E. Burnside, Portland). 6pm.
Friday, September 24: BLUE CRANES @ Jimmy Mak's (221 NW 10th Ave, Portland) w/ Andrew Oliver's Kora Band. 8pm. All ages until 10pm. $10.
Friday, October 15: BLUE CRANES @ Taborspace (5441 SE Belmont, Portland) w/ Wayne Horvitz's Sweeter Than The Day. All ages. $12.
Wednesday, October 27: BLUE CRANES @ Goodfoot (2845 SE Stark, Portland) w/ Scott Amendola Trio. 21+. 9pm. $10.
Wednesday, November 3: BLUE CRANES + Ballrog (Norweigan avant garde duo) in Portland. details TBA.
Stay tuned... enter your email address in the form to the right to find out about upcoming shows.
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for high resolution press photos, click here
"Wily, lyrical, evocative and bright " - JOSEF WOODARD
(Santa Barbara Independent)
"Blue Cranes provide a new amplification of jazz, allowing listeners to hear a stream of water pass through a storm drain thick with sediment." - JOSH FERNANDEZ (Sacramento News and Review)
"Great melodies and a strong
focus on ensemble playing over individual virtuosity."
- DAVID KING (The Bad Plus)
"Like some David Lynch-style basement jazz hallucination,
the Blue Cranes' music is the type of experimental, sometimes insane,
but always invigorating experience that's hard to shake. The Portland
quintet understands jazz is alive and well—but also that it was
never something to be defined in the first place. The Cranes treat music
as the broad, blank canvas it is, splattering it with color, bizarre time
splits, soothing melodies and frightening bursts of brass while forging
an original soundscape that would make a by-the-books beatnik jazzhead's
beret spin."
- AP KRYZA (Willamette Week)
“Frame-shattering tonal and textural reconstructions... For such spontaneous music making, these pieces sure feel lived in. ” - MITCH RITTER (Dirty Linen)
HELP SUPPORT OUR TOUR BY TRAIN CAMPAIGN:
ABOUT BLUE CRANES
Hailing from the fertile scene of Portland, Oregon, the Blue Cranes create music that is as invigorating as it is disarming. Working a thin line between improvisation and catchiness, Blue Cranes arrive at a unique place. They have found a way to make exploration seem like the most enjoyable process around.
"Consider the band a brainier kinfolk to the indie rock scene, and with influences from rock and other areas, but with a solid foundation in the vocabulary of jazz." - JOSEF WOODARD (Santa Barbara News-Press)
The group, composed of Reed Wallsmith (alto saxophone), Sly Pig (tenor saxophone), Rebecca Sanborn (keyboards), Keith Brush (acoustic bass), and Ji Tanzer (drums), began working together as a quintet in 2007 (originally recording as a quartet in 2006). Since then, the band has begun to reap the rewards of collective articulation: a truly individual sound that depends on the contributions of each member.
Blue Cranes have performed at jazz, rock and punk festivals down the West Coast. They have shared the stage with John Hollenbeck’s Claudia Quintet, Wayne Horvitz’s Sweeter Than The Day, Michael White, The Youngs, Thruster!, Cuong Vu, Portland Cello Project, The Tiptons, Mi Ami, Priestbird and Horse Feathers. Clubs regularly showcase the Blue Cranes on tour, and the band has played in-studio sessions at the region’s top radio stations for creative music, including Seattle’s KEXP and Portland’s KOPB, KMHD and KBOO.
Blue Cranes' newest album, Observatories, will be released nationally on September 14, 2010, with a California sneak preview tour August 18-26, and a Portland album release show on August 28. It features seven original compositions and a cover of Wayne Horvitz's 'Love, Love, Love.' The band is joined on this album by the dynamic Los Angeles-based guitarist Timothy Young (Wayne Horvitz, Thruster), Kyleen King on viola, Anna Fritz on cello (Portland Cello Project), Marilee Hord on violin and the Paxselin horns (Mary Sue Tobin - alto sax, Chad Hensel - bass clarinet). Stay tuned! [view album press release]
THE BAND
Reed Wallsmith, alto sax
Sly Pig, tenor sax
Rebecca Sanborn, keyboards
Keith Brush, bass
Ji Tanzer, drums
CONTACT / BOOKING
Reed Wallsmith: reedwallsmith (-at-) gmail (-dot-) com
PUBLICITY
Matt Merewitz - Fully Altered Media
PHYSICAL DISTRIBUTION
NEWS:
(for more up to the minute news, see Blue Cranes on Twitter and Facebook)
| >>07/09/10: Press Release for Observatories: Portland, OR’s Blue Cranes Release 3rd Album of Indie-Tinged Chamber Music, “Observatories,” September 14, 2010 It takes a minute for a band to hurdle growth spurts and become the eloquent ensemble it hopes to be. But striving for a truly individual sound, one that depends on the contributions of each member is a noble goal. After three years as a quintet with two saxophones up front, Blue Cranes have achieved such a victory. They prove it with Observatories. On its third album, everything gels for the acclaimed instrumental outfit from Portland, Oregon. Working that thin line between prog-jazz improvisation and indie rock catchiness, the band arrives at a unique spot. Like forebears such as The Ordinaires and The President, and contemporaries like Todd Sickafoose’s Tiny Resistors and John Hollenbeck’s Claudia Quintet, Blue Cranes have found ways to make exploration seem like the most enjoyable process around. The songs and performances on Observatories are all about rewards of collective articulation..... [read more] >>6/27/10: National Street Date: Tuesday, September 14 >>4/22/10: >>3/20/10: >>2/21/10: tour! (with kickoff 2/27 at pdx
jazz festival) >>2/10/10: Blue Cranes: as featured in Dell's
press release for the Mini 3: >>1/27/10: Coming up in February at The Know with good
friends from Davis, California (Elders): >>1/14/10: Donate to Haiti relief: Oxfam, Mercy Corps, Partners in Health. >>1/7/10: Thanks to everyone who came out to the Mission Theater two nights ago. Our next show is an intimate two set night at Blackbird Wine (details to the left). I'm looking forward to expanding the quiet end of our dynamic range in this room with no p.a.
>>10/21/09: We are finished tracking our new album. Thank you to Timothy Young (guitar), Anna Fritz (cello), Kyleen King (viola), Marilee Hord (violin), and everyone in the adhoc percussion and vocal sections who joined us for the recording. Immense thanks to Jason Powers at Type Foundry for engineering. Now to mix! >>10/06/09: We are performing with NYC's Claudia Quintet this Halloween (see details on the left):
The Claudia Quintet is made up of: John Hollenbeck (drums), Drew Gress (bass), Chris Speed (clarinet & tenor sax), Matt Moran (vibes), Ted Reichman (accordion). This will be an early show (6:30 doors, 7pm show). Blue Cranes will play first. >>7/24/09: California here we come.
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