8216 N Denver Ave, Portland, OR 97217
LORIN BENEDICT
Lorin Benedict is an improvising vocalist (scat singer, essentially) who works in the areas of jazz and related music. He co-leads several small groups dedicated to playing highly structured music in a manifestly loose and playful way. This includes the duo Bleeding Vector, the trio The Holly Martins, and duo projects with drummers Sam Ospovat and Anthony Fung, vocalist Ron Heglin, and bass player Logan Kane. He has also, over the past two decades, appeared as a side-man in groups led by musicians such as Howard Wiley and Sheldon Brown, among many others. He is soon to release a duo album with alto saxophonist/composer Caroline Davis.
MACHADO MIJIGA
Classically-trained, jazz-weathered, and eclectically inclined, multi-instrumentalist Mijiga left the proverbial creative “box” at a very early age, with access to many instruments and a diverse musical background brought about by an intercultural heritage.
A Portland native, Mijiga is a musical polymath; composer, producer, bandleader, educator, gear fanatic, and audio engineer, to name a few.
Mijiga studied classical and jazz saxophones at University of Puget Sound from 2012-13 and Washington State University from 2013-2017, with elective studies in Percussion at UPS in 2012, and ensemble experience at Whitman College from 2008-2012.
Mijiga has shared the stage and/or collaborated with the likes of Ghost Note, The Black Pumas, “Weird Al” Yancovic, Esperanza Spalding, Benny Golson, Terence Blanchard, Brian McKnight, Charlie Hunter, Mark Giuliana, Bill Watrous, Tamir Hendelman, John Clayton, Eddie Palmieri, Fareed Haque, Darrell Grant, George Colligan, Damian Erskine, Todd Sickafoose, Thomas Marriott, Joe Kye
Ora Cogan, PDX All Stars, and many more.
Festival highlights include (but not limited to): Pickathon, PDX Jazz Festival, Vanport Jazz Festival, Lionel Hampton Jazz Festival, San Jose Jazz Festival, PaseoFest, Montavilla Jazz Festival, Taco Tapes Festival, Ghost Carrot Festival
Mijiga has toured with GRAMMY winning band Portugal.The Man playing saxophone, drums, keyboards, and electronics, and has played world-famous festivals and venues, such as Red Rocks, Radio City Music Hall, Hollywood Bowl, Lollapalooza, Bonnaroo, Wonderbus, Edgefield, Triple Door, Metro, The Atlantis, Whalebone, Sherblues, and Racket NYC, as well as done virtual performances for KEXP and Taco Bell.
Mijiga has served as Artist-in-Residence at (Portland’s) Roosevelt High School and Beaumont Middle School, along with being a guest lecturer and workshop collaborator for Portland State University.
As a composer, Mijiga won the Portland Jazz “Composers Cook-Off” in 2020 and became one of Third Coast Percussion’s “Creative Currents” Partners in 2021.
Mijiga is currently the President of the Creative Music Guild, serves on the executive board for the Jazz Society of Oregon, and has served as a community panelist for the Regional Arts and Culture Council, and has worked as both a collaborator and consultant for Montavilla Jazz and Portland Jazz Composers Ensemble, and several other arts non-profits within the Pacific Northwest.
As a producer and audio engineer, Mijiga currently has 47 records, 22 EPs, and 18 singles released under his name, with all but two of these releases self-produced.
Mijiga curates a custom catalog with the music licensing agency Marmoset Music, offering everything from pre-existing work to organizations like Meow Wolf, to producing custom work for the likes of Travel Oregon and Google Chrome.
Mijiga has also served as a freelance producer and engineer for artists such as Rob Araujo, Darrell Grant, and more.
Authenticity and uniquity assume the locus of Mijiga’s artistic identity — self-expression is the prime directive, and the medium of choice changes like the weather.
