2022/2023 Season

Kenny Endo Contemporary Taiko | Thursday, April 20, 2023 | $19-$49

Kenny Endo stands at the vanguard of the taiko genre. For over 45 years, he has led the way in the U.S. for this Japanese style of drumming. As a jazz percussionist and award-winning innovator in Japanese taiko, Kenny Endo embodies the history of taiko in the U.S. and his adventurous spirit continues to stretch the genre, incorporating such influences as funk, jazz, Afro-Cuban & Hawaiian, with roots firmly grounded in tradition. His performances are nuanced, brilliant, exciting!

Sponsored by Barclay Shelton Dance Centre and Mike & Leslie Foley

Additional Funding Support from the Western States Arts Federation & the National Endowment for the Arts.

Magos Herrera & Brooklyn Rider, Dreamers | Thursday, May 4, 2023 | $19-$54

In society, poets and songwriters play the essential role of dreamers, opening up avenues of hope for others. Despite the oppressive regimes which prevailed throughout much of Latin America and Spain in the twentieth century, what persevered from the dreamers was an unending love for beauty and humanity. Mexican-born songstress Magos Herrera and the omnivorous string quartet Brooklyn Rider join forces for an unforgettable musical journey, reinterpreting classics of the era from Mexico, Cuba, Peru, Chile, Brazil, Argentina, and Spain, and celebrating such luminaries as Octavio Paz, Federico García Lorca, and Rubén Darío.

Sponsored by Suzy & Steve Maloney, Joe McIalwain & Jamie Herlich McIalwain, andbDavid Schaefer & Pat Moriarty

Community Transportation Equity Program support provided by Community Transit

The Small Glories | Sunday, May 7, 2023 | $19-$39

Roots powerhouse duo The Small Glories are a musical tour-de-force partnership planted on the Canadian Prairies. With a stage banter striking a unique balance between slapstick and sermon, veteran singer-songwriters, Cara Luft, an original member of the Wailin’ Jennys, and JD Edwards, have a way of making time disappear. Masters of folk-pop melody and instrumentation, their songs of love and loss are delivered with soaring, interwoven vocals on various combinations of stomping clawhammer banjo, guitar, and harmonica. 

Sponsored by Christian Anderson & Marina Ponomareva, Norm & Kim Brown, Ray Liaw & Joseph Gregory, and Heidi, Royce, and Stella Napolitino

Duplessy & Violins of the World | Wednesday, May 17, 2023 | $19-$44

The brainchild of French guitarist and composer Mathias Duplessy, Violins of the World brings together the rhythms and melodies of many different cultures in an incredible new style of exotic and unique arrangements. 

Asian always, spirit of the blues often, and Celtic rhythms and melodies of the Mongolian steppe offer an astonishing cross-cultural encounter. The group consists of Guo Gan from China with his fiddle Erhu, horsehead fiddler and throat singer Enkhjargal (Epi) Dandarvaanchig from Mongolia, and Tunisian violinist Zied Zouari, backed by Duplessy’s propulsive acoustic guitar.

**There will be a pre-show talk with the artists before the performance from 6:30PM to 7:00PM. 

Sponsored by Jean & Dave Barber, Rick & Charlotte Canning, and Will Chen

This performance was previously scheduled for November 4, 2022 and will now take place on May 17, 2023.

D’DAT | Friday, May 19, 2023 | $19-$44

Named by NPR as one of the top 10 bands in the U.S. – D'DAT combines hip hop, jazz, funk and soul to their original southwestern feel and genre.

D'DAT Trio is a multi-cultural band fusing Indigenous traditions with Native Southwest rhythms, Jazz and Groove.  Diné(Navajo) trumpet artist Delbert Anderson connects traditional Diné spinning melodies with improvisational Jazz language. LatinX funk percussion of drumset artist Nicholas Lucero integrates his Peruvian and Spanish culture into a modern funky style, while groove bassist Mike McCluhan connects and flows. Together, they create a cross cultural collaboration that forms the experience of Hózhó(beauty and balance). By integrating different identities and cultural backgrounds and traditions, they come together in musical harmony.

**There will be a pre-show talk with the artists before the performance from 6:30PM to 7:00PM. 

Sponsored by Laura Ellis and Susan Raunig & Greg Roeben

Elvin Bishop & Charlie Musselwhite | Thursday, May 25, 2023 | $39-$74

Rock & Roll Hall of Fame inductee Elvin Bishop has been performing his rollicking brand of front porch blues for over 50 years. Grammy Winner and Blues Music Hall of Fame inductee Charlie Musselwhite is one of music’s most important active blues musicians. Together, they’ll share the stage for a stripped-down set of American roots music – a journey through rock, blues, and folk from two of music’s most engaging band leaders.

Sponsored by Mike & Leslie Foley

ECA Special Engagement: Colin Hay | Saturday, April 22, 2023 | $17-$72

Colin Hay has a prolific career both as the lead singer and principal songwriter of Grammy Award winning band Men at Work and a solo career that spans 25 years and 15 albums. This show will feature songs from his entire catalog and latest releases “Now and the Evermore” and “I Just Don’t Know What to do With Myself,” engaging stories he is known for, and special rare accompaniment of his acoustic band.

With special guests Lazlo Bane. 

Sponsored by Leslie & Mike Foley

ECA Special Engagement: Polyrhythmics | Friday, May 5, 2023 | $19-$35

Polyrhythmics' sound originated in Seattle’s underground deep funk scene combining impossibly tight grooves with bold brass and hypnotic percussion that showcased elements of R&B, progressive jazz, and Afrobeat which defined the instrumental group’s early era sound. Now on their thirteenth year as a recording project and touring ensemble, the band’s sound continues to evolve following six full length albums, several EPs and live releases.

The virtuosic musicianship and musical conversation built on a relentless touring schedule of the previous decade has led them to a brand of psych-funk that fills a room with an impending mood where anything could happen - sometimes evoking their brighter and cinematic Fela-influences, but also a more sinister and darker turn toward a more progressive sonic palette.

Polyrhythmics are: Ben Bloom: Guitars, Grant Schroff: Drums, Nathan Spicer: Keyboards, Jason Gray: Bass, Scott Morning: Trumpet, Elijah Clark: Trombone, Art Brown: Sax and Flute