The 1905's Upcoming Shows

TICKETS $25 | ALL AGES

A native of the Pacific Northwest, saxophonist Kareem Kandi is a performer, composer, and educator, in high demand for his talents both on and off the stage. Kareem is a versatile musician with strong roots in the traditions of Jazz, Blues, Classical and Funk, and has been performing throughout the U.S. and abroad for years, gaining attention from critics and audiences alike. While staying true to musical styles of the past, he also keeps an eye towards the future by composing original music as well as new arrangements of timeless songs from the great American songbook.

Since 1996, Kareem has been performing both as a bandleader and as a sideman to enthusiastic audiences around the world at concert halls, festivals, and clubs. Over the years Kareem has performed, toured and recorded with some of the finest musicians in the music industry including: Pete Christlieb, Patti Labelle, Mark Elf, Ali Jackson, D’vonne Lewis, Bill Watrous, The Seattle Symphony, Mordy Ferber, Julian Priester, The Paperboys, The Northwest Repertory Singers, Thomas Marriott, The Tacoma Symphony, Alex Duncan, Frazey Ford, DJ Hapa, The Polyrhythmics, Bill Ramsay, The Staxx Brothers, Jay Thomas, The Sabella Consort, Greta Matassa, The Temptations, Hadley Caliman, The Four Tops, The Harry James Orchestra, Wayne Bergeron, and many others. Because of his musical diversity, his group, The Kareem Kandi Band has a sound that is fresh, innovative, and appeals to a wide variety of audiences.

Growing up in the northwest with its vibrant music scene allowed Kandi the opportunity to study with, listen to, and perform with world class jazz artists residing in the area. Artists such as Tracy Knoop, Jay Thomas, Don Lanphere, Bill Ramsay, and Pete Christlieb had a large impact on Kareem early in his musical education. After finishing high school Kareem received a full scholarship to Olympic College in Bremerton WA where he earned an Associate in Arts and Sciences Degree. While completing his degree from Olympic College he received another full scholarship to attend Cornish College of the Arts in Seattle WA. Kareem attended Cornish and continued his music studies with many renowned jazz artists that served on the faculty at the time which included: Jovino Santos Neto, Julian Priester, Hadley Caliman, Dave Peck, Randy Halberstadt, Chuck Deardorf, and Jim Knapp. Kareem completed his Bachelor’s degree from Cornish in 2002 and since then has been very active as a performer, composer, and teacher.

As an educator Kareem maintains a busy schedule teaching at The Tacoma School of the Arts as an artist in residence. He also maintains a full studio of forty private students, conducts weekly jazz classes at Ted Brown Music, coaches ensembles for Seattle JazzED, and regularly conducts masterclasses and workshops at schools around the Pacific Northwest. Along with his teaching duties he is also the director of The Kareem Kandi World Orchestra, The Tacoma Jazz Association, and has served on the Tacoma Arts Commission. Kareem is a performing artist and clinician for Conn-Selmer and D’addario Woodwinds.

$30 TICKETS | ALL AGES

Ben Rosenblum - piano/accordion

Greg Feingold - bass

Ben Zweig - drums

Pianist, accordionist and composer Ben Rosenblum has traversed a truly unique musical path, one that has seen him perform alongside world-class musicians across more than twenty music genres and twenty-five countries, lead bands at prestigious venues across the world, all while maintaining a signature, melodic musical voice. Rosenblum’s journey has taken him on tours with Grammy-winning pop artist Rickie Lee Jones, Grammy-winning jazz vocalist Catherine Russell and Juno-winning contemporary Indian singer Kiran Ahluwalia. He’s played Brazilian choro with Ephrat Asherie Dance and Brazilian forró with The Late Night Show’s Nêgah Santos and famed forró band Forró in the Dark. His roots in jazz have led to an over ten-year relationship with Grammy-winning bassist Curtis Lundy, performing at festivals alongside jazz luminaries Bobby Watson, Sean Jones and Warren Wolf. He has appeared with the Baltimore Symphony Orchestra on accordion, and as a guest soloist on piano at Carnegie Hall’s Stern-Perelman Auditorium with Maestro Reona Ito’s New York Harmonic Band. Throughout it all, Rosenblum has always maintained the same priority - to tell a compelling story with his music, reaching the hearts of his audience and connecting on an emotional, intellectual and spiritual level.

Rosenblum brings this wealth and diversity of experiences to his projects as a leader, overseeing a full tour schedule as a solo artist, with his trio and most recently, with his six-piece ensemble, the Nebula Project. Since his first album as a leader, Instead (4 stars, Downbeat Magazine), he has since released three follow-up records to critical acclaim, including favorable reviews in almost every major jazz publication (Downbeat, All About Jazz, Jazziz, JazzTimes, JazzEd, NYC Jazz Record, JazzLife Japan and many more). Across multiple tours in Japan, Europe, Canada and the United States, Rosenblum has brought his bands to perform at some of the world’s most respected music venues, including Ravinia, Kuumbwa Jazz Center, the Library of Congress, AngraJazz (Terceira Island), Bird’s Eye (Basel) and Yokohama’s Himawari-No-Sato Concert Hall. At any given show, Rosenblum might draw on influences from ten or more countries, with interests going beyond jazz to include various music traditions from South America, Eastern Europe, Ireland, India, the Caribbean and the Middle East.

TICKETS $25 | ALL AGES

Greg Goebel - keys

Noah Mortola - drums

Garrett Baxter - bass

Leon Cotter - saxophone/clarinet

Saxophone/clarinet Leon Cotter has led a musical double life, spending much of the last decade touring the country with soul/blues band The California Honeydrops, while maintaining a reputation as a sought after sideman in Portland’s local jazz scene. This April, he returns to the 1905 with an all star band: Greg Goebel on keys, Garrett Baxter on bass and Noah Mortola on drums. They’ll be playing mostly original music, much of it influenced by South African, Congolese and Nigerian music, with a dose of Coltrane and New Orleans second line thrown in.

Photo: Reed Ricker