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12/01/2016

Andrew Durkin: Coffeeshop Conversations #82- Music for the present era

By TOM D'ANTONI // Breath of Fire has it's concert debut Thursday, December 15

Welcome to World Cup Coffee and Tea at NW 18^th and Glisan for another Oregon Music News Coffeeshop Conversation.

Joining me is one of those people who is hard to categorize…as if we needed categorization. That’s another topic. The topic today is Andrew Durkin, who is generally lumped into the Jazz category, but he’s much more than that.

He has a new album, his first in a long time. It’s called Breath of Fire and we’ll find out why.

We’ll also find out about humor in music, something Zappa used to talk about, and Andrew’s music has been compared to Frank’s

I have found Andrew’s new album to be a welcome respite to the awfulness of our current situation in this country. He didn’t plan it that way, but…….

His album release concert will be Thursday, December 15 at Tabor Space, 5441 SE Belmont St. $10 General $7 Students.

Portland Jazz Composers Ensemble commissioned Andrew to write a new piece of music for six wind players of the PJCE specifically composed for the atrium of Portland Center Stage. They'll perform the piece on two consecutive days in December before performances of "Hershey Felder as Irving Berlin," a solo show that tells the story of this iconic American composer and songwriter.

6:30 pm, December 20 and 21, free, with a complimentary drink and appetizers. Use the discount code "PJCE" to get $10 off any ticket for Irving Berlin performance

Let’s talk to a singular personality…Andrew Durkin. A track from the album follows at the conclusion of things.

This was not the first time Andrew and I have talked in the cupping room at World Cup. This is from April of 2015. He talks about his book and about a composition about coffee.

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