Mike Gamble, Noah Simpson w/ Noah Bernstein, Tim DuRouche at NO FUN

In the short time Noah Simpson has lived in Portland, he has established himself as one of the top trumpet players in the area. Receiving his grandfather’s cornet at the age of 6, his musical journey began, with major accomplishments throughout his younger years performing in his high school big band, his combo, and The Young Sounds Of Arizona.

In his collegiate years, Noah began establishing himself around the Phoenix area as both a leader and sideman. He was a long standing member of the Paradise Valley Community College Monday night big band, numerous Scottsdale Community College combos, as well as groups of his own. While attending SCC he had the privilege of studying with great local musicians such as Eric Rasmussen, Will Goble, and Fred Forney. After receiving the George Benson Honorary Scholarship, he attended Portland State University under the Brad Merserau scholarship while studying with George Colligan and Darrell Grant. As a recent college graduate, Noah is a fixture of the Portland Jazz community sharing his passion for Black American music throughout the west coast.

Noah has performed with renowned musicians such as Bernard Purdie, Lewis Nash, Alex Acuna, Jaleel Shaw, Sean Jones, and Dennis Rowland. In addition he has also toured around the country with groups such as Ron Artis II, Climbing Poetree, and Taina Asili.

Mike Gamble

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Mike Gamble is an adventurous guitarist and multi-instrumentalist whose work with electronic modes of composition are integrated endlessly into his setup. Gamble has spent the last 20 years immersed in the creative jazz, experimental rock and improvised music scene primarily in NYC, with close ties to New Orleans, Burlington, Boston, San Francisco and now the Pacific Northwest. He has had the pleasure of recording over 50 albums and has been touring the states, Canada, and Europe with his critically-acclaimed guitar trio The Inbetweens, Mike Gamble Solo,, and alongside doom-metal originators Earth. His more recent collaborators include Bobby Previte, Todd Sickafoose, Nels Cline, Wayne Horvitz, Esperanza Spalding, Matt Chamberlain and Lori Goldston.

Since relocating to Portland, Mike Gamble has dived into the jazz and experimental, Pop, Indie Rock, and electronic/modular scene and gigs 4-7 times a week. He currently holds a position as a Contemporary Music Industry instructor at Oregon State University, and a guitar teacher at both Willamette University and Reed College and is the Artistic Director of Portland’s long standing experimental music organization, The Creative Music Guild.

Quotes

“He has a brain that seems to work faster than other human brains – maybe more like a hummingbird or a spider. Music comes flying out. You just sit and listen to what he thinks of next” Todd Sickafoose

“Mike Gamble is dangerous in the best way” Nels Cline

“Mr. Gamble knows his way around a drone, but he also puts a lot of shifting harmony and texture in his one-man sketches, some of which — like “I’m on Your Side,” with its abstracted trip-hop beat — come across as thoughtfully developed compositions” Nate Chinen NY TIMES

Noah Berstein

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NOAH BERNSTEIN is a saxophonist/composer active in the boundless expanses of the Portland, OR music scene. As a freelance musician, Bernstein finds himself in a plethora of musical backdrops. Current projects include his own sextet with saxophone quartet, bass, and drums (which just released its debut album “Six”), avant-garde champions Get Smashing Love Power, contemporary jazz/groove crooners Darren Kleintet, and bebop/free-jazz fusers Free-Bop Quartet. Most recently he can be found touring the world with the Oakland- based indie rock band tUnE-yArDs.

Bernstein holds degrees in jazz saxophone performance from Oberlin Conservatory and in creative writing from Oberlin College (’06). During his tenure he had the honor of studying under such venerable jazz innovators as Gary Bartz, Robin Eubanks, Billy Hart, Donald Byrd, and the late Wendell Logan.

A respected advocate for live music, Bernstein spent a year after graduation forming a Sunday night jazz series at The Feve in downtown Oberlin. (The series continues to this day.) Upon moving to Portland in late 2007, he devoted three years to curating shows five nights a week at the Camellia Lounge in Portland’s Pearl District. His efforts transformed the venue from an obscure tea-house/bar to one of the more well-respected hosts of jazz performances in the city.

Bernstein grew up in rural Vermont. He carries with him its brooding forests and rolling hills wherever he goes.

Tim DuRoche

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Tim DuRoche is a jazz drummer, sound artist, and radio host based in the Pacific NW. Since moving to Portland in 2000, DuRoche has worked extensively with an array of US and European avant-garde jazz innovators, including Burton Greene, Roscoe Mitchell, Thollem McDonas, Ralph Carney, George Sams, Lori Goldston, Rich Halley, John Gross, Joel Futterman, Michael Vlatkovich, Dan Clucas, Eri Yamamoto, Dominic Duval, Damon Smith, Bill McHenry, Matana Roberts, Brandee Younger, Lonnie Holley, Carei Thomas, Paul Plimley-Lisle Ellis, Torsten Muller-Urs Leimgruber, Elliott Sharp, Jon Raskin, Perry Robinson, Phillip Greenlief, Marco Eneidi, Didier Petit, Alan Tomlinson, and Frank Gratkowski, among others. Local ensembles include Get Smashing Love Power, Battle Hymns and Gardens (with saxophonists Reed Wallsmith and Joe Cunningham, and bassist Jon Shaw of Blue Cranes), a trio with pianist-composer Ezra Weiss and bassist Jon Shaw, and a decade long association with the late bassist André St. James.

Along the way he’s worked often with poets, dance companies, installation and public art, and silent film. For 10 years, Tim hosted “The New Thing,” a weekly radio show for KMHD Jazz Radio 89.1 FM, spotlighting the evolution and revolutions of jazz and freedom since 1959. He’s also the author of Occasional Jazz Conjectures: Vagaries, misses, and meditations on the intersection of jazz & culture. Recent releases include the trio of Ezra Weiss/Jon Shaw/Tim DuRoche’s Amazing Life (PJCE Records), Johnny Miss Mae by Savage/St.James/DuRoche (Gold Lion Records), Live in Our Time by Thollem/André St James/Tim DuRoche (ESP-Disk), with Ryan Meagher’s Evil Twin (PJCE Records), Timeless Memories from Joel Futterman/Ike Levin/Tim DuRoche (Charles Lester Music), and the Kin Trio’s Breathe with Sunjae Lee and André St. James (PJCE Records).

Twans

Welded from the fruits of their own labors, TWANS set out to dispel current myths, question ideologies and sardonically allude to artistic nuances one would commonly dismiss. Between the three entities that are Mike Lockwood (drums), Andrew Jones (bass), and Mike Gamble (gtr) there exists an unyielding desire to connect in another dimension and utilize that interplay to heighten the worth of their songs.

https://twansmusic.bandcamp.com/