Albina Music Trust presents A Brown Branch Christmas
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View Upcoming EventsCelebrate this holiday season with A Brown Branch Christmas at Portland Center Stage. Now in its fourth season, this two-night big band celebration features directors Domo Branch and Charlie Brown III guiding a heavy 15-piece lineup of regional and national musicians. Performing traditional scores with a modern twist, the Brown Branch Big Band returns once again with swinging sounds steeped in the holiday spirit.
The band's lineup includes saxophonists Max Roark, Nicole McCabe, Mieke Bruggeman, Devin Phillips, and Hailey Niswanger; trombonists Chris Shuttleworth, James Powers, and Adriana Wagner; trumpeters Noah Simpson, Abner Deltle, Farnell Newton, and Justin Copeland; bassist Finn Jones; as well as band directors Domo Branch on drums; and Charlie Brown III on piano.
Two gallery exhibits will be on display during the event: Albina Music Trust's Wall to Wall Soul is showing in the PGE gallery from November 2024-January 2025, and Jason Hill's My Favorite Things is currently on display in the Ellyn Bye Studio gallery and showing through January 2025.
A Portland native now hailing from Manhattan, Domo Branch is a drummer, composer, and educator alum from the Manhattan School of Music. He has quickly established himself as one of the world’s top up-and-coming drummers, having performed with Wynton Marsalis and the Jazz at Lincoln Center Orchestra, Sean Jones, Stefon Harris, Catherine Russell, Terance Blanchard, and Taylor Eigsti. He has performed at Carnegie Hall, Konzerthaus Berlin, Monterey Jazz Festival, Caramoor Jazz Festival, Rose Hall Jazz at Lincoln Center, Blue Note New York, Angra Jazz Festival, Ronnie Scott's, Moda Center and more. He has provided jazz workshops and instruction for students of all ages from around the world.
A Portland native, Charlie Brown III is a musical director, producer, and keyboardist whose work has gained international renown in recent years. Brown has gained wider exposure when producing for mainstream rap artist, Aminé, and has since become a fixture in the tight-knit live unit supporting Memphis-based bass guitar prodigy, MonoNeon. Pushing the boundaries of jazz and new music, Brown does so with a unique knack for both composition and improvisation in the studio. He has currently splits time producing and performing with his group Greaterkind in Portland, as well as hitting the international touring circuit with a variety of acts.
Albina Music Trust is the only full service community archive in the United States, dedicated to the restoration of a Black community's historic musical culture. Our programs amplify the legacy of Albina's musician community through archival media preservation, events and exhibitions, a record label, a radio program, oral history publications, and a sound walk. In collaboration with community members as well as civic and cultural organizations, we are the stewards of a digital repository documenting Albina’s arts and culture legacy, the Albina Community Archive. Our fiscal sponsor is the Black United Fund Of Oregon.
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