Credit: Tarina Westlund
Credit: Tarina Westlund
Credit: Tarina Westlund
Credit: Jason Quigley
Press Contact:
Douglas Jenkins
503-754-4863
pr@portlandcelloproject.com
Booking Contact:
Mary Brabec -- The Billions Corporation
312-997-9999 ext. 8235
New fax: (773)278-3721
brabec@billions.com
Click on thumbnail, or right click to download full-res version of photo. Please credit appropriate photographers whenever possible.
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Credit: Tarina Westlund |
Credit: Tarina Westlund |
Credit: Tarina Westlund |
Credit: Jason Quigley |
The one-sheet for the 7/20/2010 instrumental album release, Thousand Words, is available here: Thousand Words One-Sheet
Since the group's inception in late 2007, the Portland Cello Project (or, PCP, as their fans affectionately call them), has wowed audiences all over the country with extravagant performances, mixing genres and blurring musical lines and perceptions wherever they go.
No two shows are alike, with a repertoire now numbering over 800 pieces of music you wouldn't normally hear coming out of a cello. The Cello Project's stage setup ranges from the very simple (4-6 cellos), to the all out epic (which has included 12 cellos playing with full choirs, winds, horns, and numerous percussion players).
The Cello Project's mission is three-fold:
The first time you see the Portland Cello Project perform you might be perplexed when you hear affectionate fans shouting "We Love PCP!"
In spite of a barrage of musical and visual sensory overload, you'll figure out that you aren't in a crowd of horse-tranquilizer-snorting maniacs, and that "PCP" is the tongue-in-cheek acronym of this group of classically trained cellists.
But you'll wonder what kind of a crowd this isâ In the course of one of PCP's epic 2-3 hour shows (the format of which is always a one-time affair the group writes almost entirely new arrangements for every performance cycle) you'll see such sights as: old ladies, straight out of the symphony hall nodding their head to cello hip-hop; young children playing air cello while dancing to 16 cellos accompanying The Builders and The Butchers; hipsters too-cool-for-school mesmerized by Arvo Paert; members of the Decemberists playing late 19th century Russian compositions transcribed for Hammond Organ, a 40-piece choir, and of course: a symphony of cellos.
Since the group's inception in late 2007, they have performed with a veritable "Who's Who?" list of Portland musicians, from Laura Gibson to The Dandy Warhols, Horse Feathers, Mirah and Loch Lomond, just to name a few.
The cello is more-or-less the only constant in this amorphous collective from Portland, Oregon. Yet there is an organizer holding this anarchic display of controlled chaos together. You'll see him sitting in the back row of the cello section at all of these shows, as if to appear an anonymous member of the horde. This is Douglas Jenkins. Jenkins, who often pens15-20 new scores for each performance, has led the band through two previous CD's of original songs and covers, and has been at the heart of the band's rise to immense popularity in their hometown.
The group's newest full-length is being released on June 9th, 2009 on their new label, local independent Kill Rock Stars. This CD and indeed the relationship forged with this well-suited record label embodies the group's belief that "collaboration is the cornerstone of independence and artistic freedom." Two of the artists who have collaborated with PCP: Thao Nguyen of Thao With The Get Down Stay Down and local musician Justin Power, contribute four songs each to this CD, the Thao and Justin Power Sessions. And the other four songs on the record are strategically placed examples of cello sublimity and madness: from a Pantera cover, to a solemn religious piece by John Tavener.
Although it's no longer an anomaly for popular musicians to work with an orchestra, it tends to be on the symphony's terms, in the symphony's concert halls, and for the symphony's exclusive rates. The classically trained cellists of The Portland Cello Project are working to reverse that tradition by making their talents accessible to their guests wildest dreams, while bringing the instrument into venues where you wouldn't normally see cellos. With this in mind, the group will be touring throughout 2009, bringing their collaborative philosophy to a dirty punk club near you!
The Portland Cello Project currently has four releases.
The first was a now long out-of-print independently released EP featuring a piece by Arvo Paert, a cover of a Bon Jovi song, along with collaborations with The Builders and The Butchers and Horse Feathers.
The second was an independently produced self-titled full-length that ran the gamut from classical to jazz to collaborations with NW musicians such as Laura Gibson, Loch Lomond and many others.
The third was released on the Kill Rock Stars label and entitled The Thao and Justin Power Sessions. It features 4 collaborations with Thao (Thao with the Get Down Stay Down), 4 collaborations with Justin Power, and 4 instrumental pieces, including a cover of Pantera's Mouth for War that the group learned for a tour with Buckethead in late 2008.
The fourth is entirely instrumental, and entitled, "Thousand Words". The street date on that CD is July 20, 2010.
On February 2, 2011 The Portland Cello Project surprise released a digital-only single on the Kill Rock Stars Label called The Kanye West and Rihanna Covers after a live video of a performance of the song went viral on the Internet, getting over 90,000 hits on YouTube in one week.
For a complete download of any of these recordings, feel free to contact Douglas Jenkins directly at pr at portlandcelloproject dot com
All of the Lights -- a cover of the Kanye West Song. (Kill Rock
Stars 2011.)
Download All of the Lights
Denmark, by Gideon Freudmann. Off of Thousand words. 2010.
Download Denmark
Into the Twilight, (from The Dream, by Rachel Blumberg. Off of Thousand words. 2010.
Download Into the Twilight
Tallymarks, featuring Thao. (Off of The Thao and Justin Power
Sessions Kill Rock Stars, 2009.)
Download Tallymarks
Danza del Fuego, by Manuel de Falla. Off of the
Self-Titled Album 2008.
Download Danza del Fuego
Travel, featuring Justin Power. Off of The Thao and Justin Power
Sessions. Kill Rock Stars 2009.
Download Travel