Saturday, June 21, 7:30 Show (7 door): Damien Masterson Group, Featuring Don Latarski, Guitar; Shane Allen, Piano; Rick Carter, Bass; and Damien, Harmonica, Sax and Vocals
Tickets $20 Now on Sale; drop by the store or call 541-345-8986 to reserve, or click on this link to go to our webstore.
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About the band:
Heavily steeped in Jazz, Pop, Latin and African styles, Damien Masterson's music is an amalgamation of these different genres.
At the age of 14, inspired by Blues masters Sonny Boy Williamson, Little Walter and Sonny Terry, Damien Masterson started playing diatonic harmonica. At 16, he received as a gift an alto saxophone, and applied the theory learned through sax lessons to another recent gift, the chromatic harmonica. Around that same time he was introduced to Altaneze Taylor, the founder of Bright Moments Music Lovers Club. Through her organization, he met and studied with professional musicians and learned about Jazz history and culture. As an adult he entered Laney College and studied with Ed Kelly. He later participated in an exchange program (aka “Intercambio”) in Sao Paulo, Brazil, where he lived, studied, and played for the next two years. Upon returning from Brazil he was soon playing in the Bay Area’s top clubs with the area’s best Brazilian and Jazz musicians, resulting in the 1996 debut CD release, “Intercambio,” inspired by his overseas adventures. In 1997, after nine consecutive visits to Havana, Cuba, Damien produced “Cubacambio,” taking his passion for World Music, Jazz and Pop and melding them into one vision. “Cubacambio” is one of the first recordings featuring chromatic harmonica in an authentic Cuban setting. In following years, Damien expanded his performance and recording into many genres, mixing Jazz, Rock, Pop and World Music styles, searching for an elusive “sound” to express the music he heard growing up in the San Francisco Bay Area during the 70’s and 80’s. In 2009 Damien released “All Over the Map,” his first major release since “Cubacambio.” Considered one of his finest albums, it showcases his compositional and arranging talents, as well his trademark harmonica and saxophone chops. A collaborative effort with Bassist/Producer Jon Evans, Allison Miller (Drums), Julie Wolf (Keys) and many others, “All Over the Map” has been dubbed a “must have.” For the past 10+ years Damien has been searching for lost rhythms and atypical ways to syncopate his compositions. That exploration led him all over the world; but it was his discovery of certain styles of African music, especially Senegalese Mbalax, that captured his heart and soul. During 2009-2010 Damien traveled to Africa 4 times, studying, performing and recording in Senegal, Cote d’Ivoire and South Africa, ultimately building a studio in Dakar, which allowed lower income artists to create recordings and demos. Damien was based in Dakar for several years, touring and sharing the stage with Alioune Mbaye Nder, Cheikh Lo, Omar Pene and Youssou Ndour among others.
He is also a polyglot and can speak several languages fluently, including Portuguese, Spanish, French, Mandarin Chinese and Wolof.
Damien Masterson Endorses Hohner Harmonicas and Audix Microphone
About Don Latarski
Don has been an institution in the Northwest since the late 70’s. His first group was formed while attending the University of Oregon’s School of Music.
Latarski was head of guitar studies at the University of Oregon and an author of 20 guitar instruction books published by Alfred Publications. He’s been playing the guitar since 1963 and is known as an outstanding fingerstyle guitarist. He is also a prolific composer and has penned numerous tunes in many different genres of music, from classical to blues. His playing is gutsy while being simultaneously sophisticated, funky, and soulful. He has recorded 15 different CDs that span the range of Americana, blues, pop, and jazz.
Shane Allen has been a performing pianist and dedicated student of American music since his time at the acclaimed High School for Performing and Visual Arts in Houston, TX, where he was blessed with the opportunity to learn from modern giants and classic masters.
He continued his studies on scholarship at St. Olaf College in Minnesota, where he recorded a piano feature that won the 2011 Downbeat Magazine Award for Best Large Ensemble. Shane lived in Minnesota for 8 years, where he performed widely, accompanied the St. Paul Ballet and with the St. Olaf Dance Department, and played house shows on the avant-noise circuit.
In 2019, he moved to Eugene, where he now performs and teaches locally. He serves as the Music Coordinator for Track Town Swing (a 501c3 non-profit dedicated to Lindy Hop and vernacular jazz dance), as an accompanist in the University of Oregon Dance Department, and as pianist/organist at First Presbyterian Corvallis.
Rick Carter is a Eugene bass player and piano tuner (Carter Piano Service) who has been working and playing in local groups including the Eugene Symphony since 1989