Showcase at

Positano Ristorante Italiano

4948 Fairmont Ave., Bethesda, MD 20814

www.ePositano.com

Sunday, February 14, 2016

Featuring:

The Pam Ortiz Band	Jesse Palidofsky	Rivers

The Pam Ortiz Band
Pam Ortiz is that rare songwriter who can touch people where they feel deeply, where they laugh and where they cry.  She did that for 10 years with the group Terra Nova in the ‘90s playing to packed coffee houses in the Baltimore, Washington area.  Her songs were showcased in the three albums that the vocal group recorded.  For the past 12 years she has devoted herself to raising her children, family and work.  Now, with a slew of new songs, a new album in the works, the accompaniment of a few old and new friends, she’s back with new songs, new stories…with her signature clear voice, turn of phrase and melody.  Songs that speak of who we are, what we’ve won and lost, how we love and live. The Pam Ortiz Band also includes Pam’s husband, Bob Ortiz, on percussion and guitar. Ford Schumann on guitar, Nevin Dawson on viola and violin and Philip Dutton on piano and keyboards.

Jesse Palidofsky has performed his original songs at the National Theatre, at the Washington Folk Festival and on the sloop Clearwater with Pete Seeger, and he has played blues piano at the Smithsonian National Folklife Festival and the Kennedy Center.  Jesse’s original music has received radio airplay on public radio stations around the U.S. and in Germany.  He founded Compared To What! coffeehouse in his native Detroit, which featured legendary blueswoman Sippie Wallace and songwriters Michael Smith ("The Dutchman") and Claudia Schmidt.  He is currently Artistic Director for the highly successful Carroll Cafe folk/roots concert series in Washington, D.C.

“Jesse is an inspired tunesmith who never falls back on “tried and true” gimmicks. I was thoroughly engrossed from the first cut until the end!” - Bluesman James “Sparky” Rucker

With a deep understanding of the amazing power of music for healing, for many years Jesse has employed his gifts far away from the spotlights--singing in prisons and in hospitals and offering music for hospice patients.  Jesse has shared music with thousands of people with dementia and cognitive dysfunction.  Jesse leads Music and Healing workshops at multi-cultural arts and music workshopsand at national conferences.

Rivers is an all-acoustic trio.  Whether playing in or out on the streets this group changes it up and throws it down with surprising song and sound.  Indie meet folk, folk meet pop and pop meet Rivers.”

Rivers is a smattering of genre-bending sounds—tapping into folk rock, pop, funk, blues, chamber pop, Americana, roots rock and alternative—that make up a fluid and dynamic indie folk style.  But, when you think you can put a finger on their overall sound, Rivers keeps you guessing.  That’s the beauty of their music.  After just two short years of playing together, Joe Schaefer, 25, Matt Sinkovitz, 31, and Vincent Yarnell, 25, are eagerly working to get their distinctive folk amalgamation into the eardrums of as many people as possible.  “People really love our music,” said Sinkovitz, the percussionist.  “It’s amazing to share what you’ve created with people and get such a positive response.  It makes you feel like you are doing something right.  We have kids sitting around us at farmers markets, and we play senior homes.  We can hold it down for most audiences.”  They are rapidly expanding their fan base from the Harrisburg, PA area to places like Philadelphia, Maryland and Washington, D.C.