Presented By Reed College

GEORGE

Anna Webber-tenor sax/flute
Sarah Rossy-voice/synth
Chiquita Magic-synths/voice
John Hollenbeck-drums/composition

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GEORGE is what happens when groove meets inquiry — when analog warmth and digital edge blur into something both unexpected and deeply human. Formed by composer/drummer John Hollenbeck during the stillness of the pandemic, the quartet quickly became a fully realized ensemble.

Featuring Anna Webber (tenor saxophone, flute), Sarah Rossy (voice, synthesizer), Chiquita Magic (synthesizers, voice), and John Hollenbeck (drums, composition), GEORGE creates music that lives in the margins — between vintage funk and futuristic electronica, jazz and art-pop, structure and improvisation. As DownBeat noted, “Magic happens in the margins and the middle.” As Pitchfork observed, when the band locks in, its energy is “as infectious as a perfect pop tune.”

But GEORGE isn’t just about sound — it’s about resonance.

The band is named in tribute to George Floyd — in remembrance of his life and the violence that ended it. The name also resonates with a wide constellation of Georges: the Greek georgos (“earthworker”), George Washington Carver, George Clinton, George Orwell, Georgia O’Keeffe, George Saunders, George Lewis, George Gervin. Saints and revolutionaries. Artists and outsiders. The name carries history, contradiction, groove, and gravity.

These themes are woven seamlessly into performances audiences describe as sublime, immersive, surprising, and deeply nourishing.

Their debut album, Letters to George (Out Of Your Head Records, 2023), was praised by AllMusic as “a remarkable debut” featuring “captivating, provocative compositions.” In 2026, GEORGE releases Looking for Consonance, also on Out Of Your Head Records,  recorded at Hansa Studios in Berlin. The album expands the band’s sonic world while deepening its emotional and political clarity. From groove-driven pieces like “bounce,” to the diasporic offering “Nassam Alayna-LHawa,” to “Norma (in support of reproductive autonomy),” the music moves fluidly between celebration and reflection, tension and release.

Live, GEORGE is immersive, dynamic, and deeply felt. Wordless vocal harmonies dissolve into microtonal synth textures. Tenor saxophone lines soar over rhythmic frameworks that are both tight and expansive. Drums shift from whisper to thunder. The band’s compact instrumentation belies a vast sonic palette — at times orchestral, at times intimate.

Each member brings a singular voice:

Anna Webber is a flutist, saxophonist, and composer whose interests and work live in the aesthetic overlap between avant-garde jazz and new classical music.   She was recently a recipient of the Herb Albert Award in the Arts and a Chamber Music America New Jazz Works commission. In 2026, she was voted top of the Downbeat “Rising Star” composer category, after receiving previous honors in the arranger, tenor saxophone, and flute categories. 
Sarah Rossy  is a vocalist, keyboardist, composer and producer based in Montreal, Canada. Sarah’s practice combines live electronic processing with jazz, folk, and Arabic music to create autobiographical, ethereal, and socially-outspoken soundscapes. Recent themes in Sarah’s work include ancestral continua, intergenerational linkage and community healing. A debut audiovisual album, a tender autobiographical soundscape imagined through a kaleidoscopic electronic jazz lens entitled ‘OF WHO WE HAVE BECOME’, is set for release in 2024.

Isis Paola Giraldo AKA Chiquita Magic is a latinx artist/producer hailing from Colombia and based in Canada. She uses microtonal synthesizers, her voice, and a drum machine to create a unique sound that can be described as futuristic electro pop with elements of EDM, hip hop, cumbia, funk, reggaeton, choirs & jazz.

Genre-crossing composer/percussionist John Hollenbeck, renowned in both the jazz and new-music worlds, has gained widespread recognition as the driving force behind the unclassifiable Claudia Quintet and the ambitious John Hollenbeck Large Ensemble, groups with roots in jazz, world music, and contemporary composition. He has earned six GRAMMY nominations and has worked with many of the world’s leading musicians in jazz including Bob Brookmeyer, Fred Hersch, Tony Malaby, and is well known in new-music circles for his long-time collaboration with Meredith Monk.

Together, they deliver music that is inventive yet deeply human — groove-centered, emotionally generous, and instantly engaging.

“…when the band nails down its unique blend of vintage funk and futuristic electronica on tracks like “Washington Carver” and “Iceman,” GEORGE’s energy is as infectious as a perfect pop tune. “ —Jude Noel, Pitchfork 

“enigmatic, punchy and compact” “Magic happens in the margins and the middle, between analog and digital textures, genre detours and a collective will which is dogmatically subject to change.” –Josef Woodard, DownBeat 

 “Letters to George is a remarkable debut for its captivating, provocative compositions, arrangements, and performances by a veritable supergroup.” —Thom Jurek, AllMusic 

 3rio Machado Mijiga Andrew Jones Mike Gamble w/ Special Guest Morgan Luker

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3rio brings together Mike Gamble (guitar/electronics), Andrew Jones (bass), and Machado Mijiga (drums), three of Portland’s most inventive improvisers. Drawing from backgrounds in jazz, experimental music, contemporary composition, and spontaneous collaboration, the trio creates dynamic performances that balance lyricism, texture, groove, and risk. Having performed together in a variety of ensembles and creative music settings throughout the Pacific Northwest, they have developed a shared musical language rooted in deep listening and collective exploration. For this special performance, they are joined by Morgan Luker, ethnomusicologist, composer, and Chair of the Music Department at Reed College, whose work bridges improvisation, contemporary music, and global musical traditions, adding another distinctive voice to the ensemble’s adventurous sound.