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About The Observer. (La Grande, Or.) 1968-current | View Entire Issue (Feb. 27, 2020)
2 Thursday, February 27, 2020 GO! magazine — A&E in Northeast Oregon FROM THE COVER an inside look at northeast oregon’s arts and entertainment scene ROB SCHEPS & FRIENDS PRESENT The music of Pharoah Sanders ■ ■ The jazz musician will be joined by Matt Cooper, Andres Moreno and Laurent Nickel in March 7 concert By Lisa Britton For EO Media Group BAKER CITY — Oregon native Rob Scheps returns to his home state next month for an evening of jazz. Scheps — a performer, com- poser and educator — was born in Eugene. “I’m a proud native Oregonian,” he said. However, he credits growing up in New York as helping launch him into the jazz scene. “I had access to the best concerts and the best teachers,” he said. “People to listen to and people to study with.” Scheps will perform live March 7 at Churchill Dancehall, 3451 Broadway Ave., Baker City. En- trance is through the 16th Street parking lot. Doors open at 6 p.m. and the show starts at 6:30 p.m. Advance tickets are $8 and available at Sweet Wife Baking, MC Taco Bus www.churchillbaker.com/events. Tickets at the door will be $10. Food and beverages will be available for purchase during the concert from MC Taco Bus, Copper Belt Winery and Barley Brown’s. The concert will feature music by American jazz saxophonist Pharoah Sanders. Scheps will be joined by Matt Cooper, Andres Moreno and Lau- rent Nickel. Scheps’ music making goes back to childhood when he started playing the recorder at age 7. He switched to the tenor sax and joined a concert band in fifth grade. “I started listening to jazz when I was 11,” he said. ‘It’s important to bring good music and good culture to small towns. It might be the only concert like that they’ve ever heard.’ — Rob Scheps After his school Scheps studied at the New England Conservatory. Jazz, he said, takes practice. “You need to be near an urban center to do it on a regular basis,” he said. Jazz became his full-time job. “I play around the world,” he said, with regular stops in Port- land, Denver, Seattle, Kansas City, New York City and Honolulu. Scheps recently spent a one- month residency in Hawaii to give concerts, lessons and camps. He likes to recruit local musi- cians to play alongside him. “It’s really about working with the best musicians in any area I’m in,” he said. This is his second concert at Churchill Dancehall. “That first show in Baker I was really happy about,” he said. That concert featured music by John Coltrane. WEEKEND OUTLOOK Submitted photo Jazz musician Rob Scheps was born in Oregon but grew up in New York surrounded by jazz. He will play at Churchill Dancehall in Baker City on March 7 with local musicians. “I can focus on one person and dig deep,” he said. This time he’s sharing the sounds of Pharoah Sanders, a mu- sician from Little Rock, Arkansas, who played with John Coltrane. Scheps said the concert will feature some swing, mystical and spiritual numbers. He describes it as “secular jazz praise music.” Scheps has two new CDs, and his performance schedule is booked through the end of September. He likes bringing jazz to small towns. “Baker City is not a step down — in fact, I believe it’s more impor- tant,” he said. “It’s important to bring good music and good culture to small towns. It might be the only concert like that they’ve ever heard. Portland or Seattle will have jazz without me.” To learn more, visit his website, www.robschepsmusic.com. FRIDAY SATURDAY SUNDAY High 53 Low 35 High 47 Low 28 High 42 Low 26 Partly sunny Showers possible Rain
