The Bendtet with special guest Howard Wiley (Oak) - SOLD OUT!

Howard Wiley - Tenor Saxophone - Visiting Special Guest Performer (Berkeley/Oakland, CA)

“The most prodigious Bay Area saxophonist of his generation” (Berkeleyside).

Berkeley, CA born Howard Wiley displayed a unique musical talent from a very young age, while performing at his local Gospel church. Wiley says “the first time I picked up the saxophone, it became a part of me, like an additional limb, I knew I had found my purpose.”

Wiley has toured internationally, recorded and performed with artists including Miss Lauryn Hill, Sheila E, Cory Henry, Christian McBride, Chester Thompson and more.  He has performed worldwide with other artists and with his solo project at the San Francisco Jazz Festival, Playboy Jazz Festival, Monterey Jazz Festival, North Sea Jazz Fest, Blue Note Club, Madrone Art Bar, Cape Town Jazz Festival, the Grammy Museum, Yoshi’s Oakland, Malcolm X Jazz Festival, Sonoma Jazz Festival, Smalls NY and SXSW, to name a few.

He studied the saxophone in high school, was selected to be a member of the Grammy All-American Jazz Band two years in a row at 14 and 15 years old. He travelled to both New York and Los Angeles performing with the best young musicians in the country at various activities related to Grammy Week. The following year, he was selected to participate in the Thelonious Monk Institute of Jazz’s All-Star Band. A full scholarship to Berkeley College of Music in Boston followed where he graduated with honors.

While in Los Angeles, Wiley quickly fell in with some of the area’s notable rising stars, including Kamasi Washington, Tony Austin, Miles Mosley and more (the collective now known as the West Coast Get Down). To this day, Howard is still a member; recording and touring with them worldwide when not working on his solo projects.

On experiencing Wiley in a live setting, journalist Drew Foxman writes, “…he befitted a dignified presence by displaying his deep reverence for the musicians with whom he was collaborating, unmasking the persona of an unassuming leader. This is a musician who understands his sound, not only in an ensemble, but in the history of music. This humility, though, translates into downright explosiveness on the bandstand.”

THE BEND-TET

Andy Armer - Piano/Keyboard - Featured Player

Grammy award-nominated jazz pianist, Andy Armer, spent his first 35 years in the Los Angeles area, becoming a productive contributor in the Herb Alpert ensemble where his composition (co-written with Randy Badazz) ‘Rise’, which won Best Pop Instrumental Performance for Herb Alpert (and was also nominated, but did not take the Grammy, for Best Instrumental Composition.  Instead, going to John Williams for the ‘Superman Theme’ that year).  (Of note, ‘Rise’ was also sampled in Notorious B.I.G.’s 1997 hit “Hypnotize”)

Armer has worked with musicians of varying styles including such luminaries as Roberta Flack, Lenny Kravitz, and Carl Wilson of The Beach Boys.

Coming to piano at the age of 6 under the influence of classical musician parents, while attending Venice High School, he became interested in jazz and swing based music.  A Bend resident of over two decades, Andy has paid his passion for improvisatory ensemble interactions forward by leading educational ensembles for young musicians, as well as offering private instruction.

Sarah Owen - Trumpet - Featured Player

Sarah Owen is a jazz trumpet player and music educator residing in Bend, Oregon.

Owen grew up in the Seattle area and attended the University of Washington. She earned degrees in Jazz Studies and Music Education. While at the UW, Sarah studied jazz trumpet with Vern Sielert and classical trumpet with Alan Vizutti.

After her studies in Seattle, Owen relocated to Los Angeles for a time where she worked as a trumpet performer on several television shows including “American Idol,” “NBC’s The Voice,” “Glee,” “Noches con Platanito,” and performed with Gloria Estefan at the 2011 Alma Awards. Sarah also played with Mexican pop star Gloria Trevi for her 2014 tour to Monterrey, Mexico.

More recently, Sarah directs the Big Band Jazz at Central Oregon Community College and is active in the Central Oregon music education community as an adjudicator and clinician.

Seth Burrows - Electric Guitar - Featured Player

Originally from Breckenridge, Colorado, Seth has been playing guitar for 30 years, and teaching for 25 years.

Seth attended Berklee College of Music in Boston. While at Berklee, he studied with Bruce Bartlett, Tomo Fujita, Kevin Barry, and Pat Pattison. He Graduated Summa Cum Laude. After Berklee, Seth lived in Nashville for several years, playing guitar, producing demo recordings and learning about guitar building.

Since becoming a Central Oregon resident in 2013, Burrows participates in several groups including the Horn-Based Funk band, The Cutmen, and has been the guitar player for a handful of musical theater productions, including Avenue Q, Evil Dead the Musical, and RENT. A faculty member with Cascades School of Music, Burrows imparts his experience to students of all ages and ears.

Adam Carlson - Drums - Featured Player (Portland, OR)

Adam Carlson is a Bend, OR native now living in Portland, Oregon as a freelance musician. He graduated from the University of Oregon in 2014 with a bachelors degree in Jazz Studies (Cum Laude), and has performed hundreds of times around the Northwest. Adam also spent a year in New York City where he honed his playing style to include jazz, soul, latin, funk, rock, and pop.

Carlson’s interest in jazz grew exponentially (and eventually became an addiction as he puts it) as inspired by local Bend jazz educators, such as Andy Armer and Jody Henderson.

Under the direction of Steve Owen while at U of O, Adam traveled to Europe to perform with the Oregon Jazz Ensemble at four renowned, international Jazz festivals: The Montreux Jazz Festival, the Umbria Jazz Festival, Jazz á Vienne, and Festival Internazionale del Jazz della Spezia.

Andrew Lion - Bass - Featured Player, Founder

An Oakland, CA native, Andrew Lion, a freelance Acoustic and Electric bass player, relocated to Bend, OR in 2021 as his base of operations to wherever performing and recording in experimental, jazz, pop, rock, and Brazilian traditions takes him.

Occasionally a touring sideman with travels across West Coast and East Coast venues, as well as experience performing throughout the Southwest for several Austin, TX, SXSW performances, Andrew Lion is a member of Jeff Campbell's band (Jeff Campbell, Static and Surrender, Wisher), with a featured performance on the nationally televised late night talk show, ABC's Jimmy Kimmel Live!

Along with Ruthie Dineen, much of Andrew’s artistic energy is occupied co-leading the jazz adjacent electro-acoustic nonet, Oakland, CA established group, Negative Press Project- a Downbeat four star review recipient for its Ridgeway Records recording, ‘Eternal Life’.

He has had the privilege of being mentored under the guidance of Glenn Richman (Bobby Hutcherson Quintet), Ted Moore at UC Jazz, Berkeley, CA, and Jeff Denson (Lee Konitz, Minsarah, San Francisco String Trio, Jeff Denson Quartet).  With an emphasis in Jazz Studies and Performance, Lion is a graduate of Berkeley's California Jazz Conservatory with a Bachelor of Arts.