Studio Notes: February 2011

Sunday, February 20, 2011

5th & B Plays Klezmer!

Original collograph by Kerry Bliss

The traditional wedding music of Eastern European Ashkenazic Jews, Klezmer came to the United States with Yiddish-speaking Jewish immigrants between 1880 and 1924. Originating in the devotional music of the synagogue, Klezmer was strongly influenced by the music of the Romas.

Members of 5th & B have been playing Klezmer at Jewish Weddings in Portland and the Willamette Valley for decades, and it has become a staple of our concerts. Join us for an afternoon of joyful, heartbreaking, passionate Klezmer music 3:00 PM, February 27th at the Odd Fellows Hall in downtown Corvallis. Adults $7.00, children and teens free.

Recent and Upcoming Performances

March 17, 2012. Ideal Nerve Tonic plays the annual "Rhapsody in the Vineyard" Wine Walk. Sibling Revelry, downtown Corvallis, 3:30 - 7:30 PM.

December 11, 2011. 5th & B at Sunnyside Cafe, Corvallis. 3:00 PM.

December 1, 2011. Tonic plays for the annual Faculty-Staff Appreciation Night, OSU Bookstore.

November 6, 2011. 5th & B at Sunnyside Cafe, Corvallis. 3:00 PM.

October 21, 2011. Sideways Portal plays at the Magic Barrel benefit for the Benton County Food Share. 7:00 PM, CHS, Corvallis.

October 13, 2011. Tonic plays at a fundraiser for the OSU Beaver Basketball Team and Coach Craig Robinson at the Multnomah Athletic Center, Portland.

October 9, 2011. 5th & B at Sunnyside Cafe, Corvallis. 3:00 PM.

September 10, 2011. Ideal Nerve Tonic plays the annual "Rhapsody in the Vineyard" Wine Walk. Sibling Revelry, downtown Corvallis, 3:30 - 7:30 PM.

About Ideal Nerve Tonic

Ideal Nerve Tonic features John Bliss on guitar, Page Hundemer on bass, and Mike "Zeppy" Zittle on drums. We play a combination of original tunes, jazz standards, and whatever else we feel like playing. Why "Ideal Nerve Tonic?" We thought "Tonic" was a great name, with multiple meanings relevant to our music. But then we found out there was already a "Tonic" from more than a decade ago out there, on a revival tour. So, clearly, the only thing to do was to become "Ideal Nerve Tonic." We're good for you.

About 5th & B

5th & B is a musical collective that explores intersections between diverse musical traditions. Over the past 40 years, the members of 5th & B have studied and performed jazz, blues, klezmer, bluegrass, classical, rock, African, Central Asian, and American folk idioms. In 5th & B they call upon these musical cultures to inform both fully composed and completely improvised music.

5th & B:
Fred Berman; clarinets, saxophones
Rob Birdwell; trumpet, flugelhorn
John Bliss; guitars, misc. strings
Mike Curtis; clarinets, soprano saxophone
Page Hundermer; bass guitar
Dave Leslie; keyboards, accordion, synthesizer
Ben Mutschler; bass clarinet, saxophones
Dave Storrs; percussion

Past Performances

August 21, 2011. Ideal Nerve Tonic plays for the Greenbelt Land Trust benefit for Bald Hill Park. La Sells Stewart Center, OSU campus, Corvallis. 5:00 - 7:00 PM.

August 20, 2011. Ideal Nerve Tonic plays for the OSU Beavers 50 Yard Line Club, Reser Stadium, Corvallis.

August 6th, 2011. Ideal Nerve Tonic adds harmony to the incredible views from the patio at Odell Lake Lodge. 6:00 PM.

July 2, 2011. 5th & B accompanies Buster Keaton and Fatty Arbuckle in "The Garage." A benefit for the Majestic Theatre, Corvallis. 8:00 PM.

June 30, 2011. Ideal Nerve Tonic plays music to eat, digest, and converse by. Cloud 9, Corvallis.

June 11, 2011. 5th & B returns to that venerable Corvallis landmark, Squirrel's, which, by the way, was, in the late 1800s, a dry goods store owned by the great grandfather of our very own Fred Berman! In keeping with the family tradition we will continue to dish out the goods!

May 7, 2011. "Ideal Nerve Tonic", featuring Page Hundemer and John Bliss of 5th & B, and Mike Zittle on percussion, plays WineStyles in Corvallis. Ideal Nerve Tonic (not to be confused with the copyright-protected pop group "Tonic" we thought was dead long ago) will be playing all original, 100% BMI and ASCAP - free tunes in the spirit of classical jazz standards.

May 6, 2011 5th & B's rythym section (call it "4th & B?" "Skittlehead?" Vote for your favorite name!) plays TaborSpace, Portland. We'll be taking a couple of trucks full of exotic instruments along, experimenting with cross-cultural musicology. $7 at the door.

April 23, 2011, House Concert, Broadway Avenue House, Eugene, Oregon. For reservations; bodinlds@efn.org

February 27, 2011, Odd Fellows Hall, Corvallis
All Klezmer concert. 3:00 PM, $7.00 adults, teens and children free.

December 4, Cloud 9, Corvallis

November 20, 2010, TaborSpace, Portland