Carleton’s Regional Carls Program

The Greater Delaware Valley Carleton Club

Blue Cranes—Jazz Performance and Discussion

Saturday, April 16, 2011, 8 p.m.

R.U.B.A. Club
414 Green Street, Philadelphia, PA

Reed Wallsmith '00 leads a jazz quintet in Portland, Oregon called Blue Cranes.  In April, they are doing a 30-day national tour around the perimeter of the US, all by Amtrak, including a performance and workshop at Carleton.  They are promoting passenger rail transportation as well as jazz.  Reed will join us for a conversation about jazz, his journey since Carleton, and why the group cares so much about trains.

More on the Blue Cranes from their Web site: “…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 ‘00 (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.  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 Live Wire! Radio on Portland's KOPB.  Blue Cranes' newest full length album, Observatories, was released nationally on September 14, 2010.  It features seven original compositions and a cover of Wayne Horvitz's Love, Love, Love.

Check out the band: www.bluecranesmusic.com and their blog http://tinyurl.com/3phujty

The cover charge will be approximately $10 per person at the door.

Also appearing: Aerial Photograph - http://mattdavisguitar.com/aerial-photograph.php

If you have any questions and/or to RSVP, contact Mary (Klotz) Frintner '77, P'09.

Directions:  In Northern Liberties neighborhood of Philadelphia. From NJ: Ben Franklin Bridge, take 5th Street exit, follow 5th to Green and turn right.  From PA: I-676/Vine St. Expressway to 8th Street exit, go north on 7th Street, right on Green.