Grammy-Award winning keyboardist George Whitty (Brecker Brothers, Herbie Hancock, Chaka Khan, Santana) is doing his first concert in Portland in 20 years, Sat., Sept. 16 with Mike Prigodich. George will play Brecker Brothers and Michael Brecker tunes, music from his live trio CD with Third Rail, and a duo piece with Mike. Limited seating (venue holds 100).
Featuring: George Whitty (keyboards), Mike Prigodich (piano), Damian Erskine (bass), Mark Griffith (drums), Joe Manis (sax)
ABOUT GEORGE WHITTY
Grammy-award winning keyboardist George Whitty has spent 20 years playing on the road with the Brecker Brothers, David Sanborn, Richard Bona, Chaka Khan, Sadao Watanabe, and a dozen others, and his resume as a session musician includes some of the best-selling records of all time: Santana’s “Supernatural” (with Dave Matthews), Celine Dion’s “Falling Into You” and “These are Special Times”, and more than 100 other CDs. In 2017, George has been busy arranging and programming on Herbie Hancock’s new CD (produced by Kendrick Lamar’s producer Terrace Martin), Gino Vannelli’s forthcoming double CD and a disc by rising star Jamie Alimorad.
As a producer/keyboardist, his Grammy-winning streak began with Chaka Khan’s “The Woman I Am” in 1992 and extends through 3 award-winning releases with the Brecker Brothers, most recently Randy Brecker’s “34th and Lex”, 2004’s Grammy-winner for Contemporary Jazz Record of the Year, which he also mixed. In April 2010, he completed work on several tracks for Herbie Hancock’s CD “The Imagine Project”, programming Herbie’s live rig for the tour as well. In 2012, Herbie and Wayne Shorter asked George to orchestrate and arrange several duet pieces they had composed for full orchestra. The first of these, “Sonrisa”, premiered with the Calgary Philharmonic featuring Herbie Hancock, and continued on to the Oregon Symphony and the Seattle Symphony.
In August, 2014, George joined Herbie, Wayne Shorter, Carlos Santana, and Marcus Miller onstage at the Hollywood Bowl for the “Concert for Peace”. As a composer, he’s written for hundreds of episodes of television and several award-winning films, composing for a dozen shows from “The Road to Stardom with Missy Elliot” to “As the World Turns”, for whose music he was nominated for a 2006 Emmy award. He was awarded a 2014 Emmy for his work on “All My Children”. George recently finished the score to the feature film, “The Getdown”, now in the rotation on Showtime, and has been touring the world as keyboardist with David Sanborn, Chris Minh Doky & the Nomads and his own trio Third Rail, working on several CD projects, conducting clinics and master classes and teaching private lessons around the world, and enjoying life in the mountains just outside Los Angeles with his two boys.
ABOUT MIKE PRIGODICH
Keyboardist Mike Prigodich’s jazz fusion compositions attract attention from many upper-echelon national artists. His original compositions combine jazz with influences from many other genres and regions of the world. Mike leads the Melz/Prigodich/Erskine Group (MPEG) with master drummer Reinhardt Melz, bass virtuoso Damian Erskine, and the brilliant John Nastos on saxophone. Together, they create some of the best jazz fusion being played anywhere in the world!
Becoming a cancer patient in 2008 was the big wake-up call that propelled the need to pursue his dream of becoming a professional jazz musician, compose lots of new material, form a band, and start booking gigs. Just to prove what motivation can do, Mike raised over $10,000 on kickstarter.com in 2010 to fund his first studio album “A Stitch In Time” featuring Damian Erskine, Reinhardt Melz, John Nastos, Brandon Woody, Rafael Trujillo, Patrick Lamb, Tim Jensen, and Paul Mazzio,all produced by Emmy award-winning David Mathew. This studio album and band was featured on the Oregon Public Broadcasting (OPB) Oregon Art Beat television show. Mike currently resides in Portland, Oregon and enjoys playing with some of the finest musicians, up to the task of performing the extremely challenging yet accessible compositions.
“Wonderful. Beautiful. Really great. Wow, Mike. Great writing, man.”
— Chick Corea
“I knew this guy was up to something; what a great disc! Beautifully written and played with passion and intensity by an excellent band. This is one of those CDs that you want to hear again as soon as it’s finished. Bravo Mike!”
— George Whitty (Brecker Brothers)
“Watch out for this guy! Mike is terribly brave, adventurous, playful, and adept. As his compositions and playing demonstrate, Mr. Prigodich is a rising talent following his creative muse fearlessly to wherever it takes him.”
— David Goldblatt (Tribal Tech)
“Way cool! Great band too! You play great man.”
— Steve Lukather (Toto, Michael Jackson)
“Very cool Mike!! Love the bridge and the keyboard solo. You can definitely play!!”
— Steve Porcaro (Toto, Michael Jackson)
“Fantastic work by all! Great writing and playing. Well done! Great sounds too.”
— Todd Sucherman (Styx)
“Sounds killing, man! I love your music.”
— Mike Pope (Chick Corea, Al Di Meola)
“This is band is top shelf; they were super tight and super exciting.”
— George Colligan (Jack DeJohnette, Lenny White)
“Prigodich speaks a musical language all his own, one born of a voice that elevates his instrument far beyond its realm into one where mystery and magic meet.”
— All About Jazz
“The album’s intriguing melodies, odd time signatures, and ear-bending harmonies make it a stand-out album in the world of fusion.”
— No Treble
“A tour de force that would certainly get the respect of Prigodich’s muse Chick Corea. In the tradition of The Yellowjackets, The Brecker Brothers, Hiromi and others, the 11 tracks on A STITCH IN TIME cover a vast fusion landscape of complex proportions that’ll have you wondering how an artist like Mike Prigodich could ever consider sitting on the sidelines. The entire project is an incredibly satisfying ride.”
— Inside MusiCast
“Mike offers melodic breadth with very defined piano craft. He is an astonishing musician and a brilliant composer. His original works are studies in precision. They are demanding and they require the very best of musicians to perform them. He has gathered the best of the best and the results are scintillating.”
— JazzTimes
“Prigodich is an excellent keyboardist, but it’s his writing that really stands out. There is a liveliness and emotional connection to much of this music that makes it immediately endearing. His band is tight and funky, with an ability to groove that puts many better-known fusion outfits to shame.”
— All About Jazz
