Owen Broder photo courtesy of the artist
Thursday November 3, 7:30pm PDT
The Royal Room
In-person
Tickets $10-30
BY MELANIE GRIMES
Owen Broder is a saxophonist, composer, arranger, educator, and entrepreneur. He has performed with the Grammy-nominated Anat Cohen Tentet, the Manhattan Saxophone Quartet, Ryan Truesdell’s Gil Evans Project, Trio Globo, and YouTube sensation Postmodern Jukebox. His album, Heritage, held the fifth ranking in NPR’s Best Music of 2018. Joining him on stage at The Royal Room are Grammy-nominated arranger and drummer Dan Pugach, Alphonso Horne (trumpet), Carmen Staaf (piano), and Barry Stephenson (bass).
As an award-winning composer and arranger, Broder’s “Goin’ Up Home” on Heritage earned him a 2018 ASCAP Herb Alpert Young Jazz Composer Award. He has received numerous commissions including a 2020 grant from the International Society of Jazz Arrangers and Composers, as well as the U.S. Air Force Band in Europe, the Airmen of Note, the off-Broadway show About Love, the Winchester Symphonic Winds, and Nancy Harrow for her album The Song Is All.
In 2018, The Eastman/ArtistShare New Artist Program awarded him for innovative works that impacted the community. During the pandemic, Broder co-founded and performed in “Live From Our Living Rooms,” which Rolling Stone called “the first online jazz festival.” This project raised over $140,000 in support of U.S.-based musicians whose performance careers were halted due to COVID-19.
Broder teaches jazz theory and jazz arranging at Portland State University, saxophone lessons at Pacific University, and has visited collegiate music programs all around the U.S., geared in aiding students towards careers in the music industry.
Opening the evening before joining Broder and her bandmates later on stage is pianist Carmen Staaf. A consummate jazz pianist whose interest includes blending instruments and elements from many cultures promoting global citizenry, her musical influences include Mary Lou Williams, Art Tatum, Herbie Nichols, and Herbie Hancock.
