About 20 minutes after the opening notes of Everyone Orchestra’s Saturday, February 17th performance at Portland, Oregon’s Alberta Rose Theater, conductor Matt Butler took a moment to address the crowd. He said that backstage before the show, he told the assembled group of musicians that the first set of the night would be a mellow, easy-going affair. Turns out, that’s not how it went. The show quickly turned into a full-blown funk/soul explosion and pretty much stayed that way until the end of the night.
It’s good to know that even after 20 years of leading improvisational musical forays into the unknown with a rotating cast of musicians, Butler still can’t predict what is going to happen, even as he guides and helps shape the development of each song in real-time. It’s got to be as much a wild ride for him as it is for anyone else on stage or in the audience. Using a small dry-erase board, hand motions, body movements, and facial expressions, Butler conducts the group, calling out solos, making tempo changes, and getting the audience involved. Butler brings musicians into the fold that he can trust, and who are open and talented enough to be able to improvise and even be called upon to start a jam.
Keyboardist Asher Fulero was the first to be called upon to make a cold start and launched into an exploratory space quest that, like most of the evening’s numbers, slowly built into an auditory celebration. Butler made sure to give each of the participating musicians a chance to shine. It was a lineup overflowing with talent. In addition to Fulero on keys, we had Andy Coe on electric guitar, Micah Kassel on the drum kit, and Brett McConnell on bass. Sarah Clarke and Aniana provided powerful vocals, with Jans Ingber adding to the harmonies while also playing percussion. Steve Berlin and Chelsea Luker comprised the horn section, and Rudy Slizewski added the unique sounds of the steelpan to the mix. Tony Furtado, who got the call to kick off the second set, switched between banjo and acoustic slide guitar.
With Everyone Orchestra, Matt Butler explores the spirit of improvisation with the help of talented musicians and audiences who are eager for musical adventure. And, if Saturday night was any indication, everyone comes out feeling a little more alive at the end of the journey.
