Seeking band member for Bass.

Bassist criteria: 

• You are available on Tuesday evenings from 7-9pm for rehearsals. 
• You own and can bring an electric bass, bass amp, music stand. Note: upright bass is also acceptable (great for the swing tunes), although we play some funkier, more contemporary tunes where you might prefer electric. 
• You can read music, (i.e. bass clef, chord symbols), can improvise some, walk some, and have a decent sense of tempo.
• You don’t already know everything there is to know about music. You enjoy being a lifelong learner, who is open to new experiences and meeting new people. 
• You enjoy big band music (aka, jazz orchestra) and enjoy working with a large ensemble of instruments, and have a good sense of humor. 
• You have reliable transportation to and from rehearsals / gigs. We rehearse at a church in St Johns, just off Columbia Blvd. Most performances tend to be within the Portland / Vancouver area.
• You just wanna play music, and are not seeking a band to make money and go on tour with. We’re not that serious. But sometimes we sound so good, you would think we were that serious. 

Meet the band:

We will be holding auditions throughout the summer, and welcome you to come sit in with us at rehearsal. Just let us know you are interested, and which Tuesday(s) you can audition. 

Us:

We are the NoPo Big Band, a jazz big band made up of 17 instruments and a director, who are all members of the band and commit to a weekly rehearsal in N. Portland. We all enjoy playing traditional big band music (Basie, Ellington, Nestico, etc.), no matter what other musical things we have going on. It’s a chance to be part of something jazzy beyond playing out the real books. Most members belong because they enjoy this style of music and want to be part of the big sound. 

This is not a “pay-to-play” band, we make enough scratch to keep basic operations going and cover our gas. We don’t have any recordings, merchandise or tour dates. We are a semi-pro group, but moreover, there’s a sense of comradery and support, no egos or competitive jousting. Most of the progress and learning happens at rehearsals, and the performances become much like a reward for the work we put in. 

We have played some fun gigs in the past, like weddings, markets, Jack London Revue, Cathedral Park Jazz Festival and Mississippi Street Fair. We try to keep our gig schedule comfortable for such a large group, all with families, jobs and other things going on. Our performance schedule tends to be more busy in the summer months than during the rainy season. Although after the pandemic we’re not sure what the gig landscape will be like.