Chance Hayden's Desert Room All Stars ft. John Gilmore!

Thu, Apr 03

So excited to have the fantastic guitarist Chance Hayden and his Desert Room All Stars band with special guest vocalist & pianist John Gilmore! Featuring Ross Garlow on bass and Brent Follis on drums! Always on the move as one of Portland’s most trusted string-slingers, guitarist Chance Hayden has performed avidly since the mid 00s throughout the pacific northwest and beyond as both a bandleader and sideman to diverse acclaimed artists including Jarrod Lawson, Farnell Newton, Darrell Grant, Devin Phillips, Shelly Rudolph, Lloyd Jones, LaRhonda Steele, Mel Brown and many more. Hayden's latest album Baritone Gold spotlights a guitar rarity and a dozen 1960s inspired originals which yield vibrant echoes of surf, soul, blues and classic film scores in an inventive spin of the jazz organ trio. "Several pieces can almost feel like old under-the-radar 45s that somehow were never heard before, but with production that is thoroughly modern and a cooking playfulness that is always timeless" (All About Jazz). Hayden's newest project, the Desert Room All Stars, has taken shape through a monthly appearance at McMenamins Al’s Den with the intention of evoking the venue’s storied past in the 50s and 60s as the Desert Room. Formerly a high-class hang for Portland’s underworld where anything desired was obtainable, burlesque and jazz were showcased nightly with a long-term house band led by New Orleans native saxophonist Charlie Gabriel who attracted notable guests such as Duke Ellington, Cab Calloway and Sammy Davis Jr. In a similar format, Hayden has spotlighted many of the city's finest jazz and blues vocalists with a mid-century repertoire of both favored standards and uncovered gems. Hayden’s guitar stylings are rooted deeply at the intersection of these genres, yielding an "adventurous, no-holds-barred sensibility with both bluesy grit and modern-jazz finesse” (Jazz Society Of Oregon). John Gilmore is a vocalist and pianist whose musical career spans almost 50 years. Originally from Los Angeles, he comes from a musical family, his father having been a record producer and Vice President of Capitol Records and my mother, a big-band vocalist. While majoring in music at UCLA, he won First Prize in the Frank Sinatra Awards, Pop Vocal category. John worked in the Los Angeles area from 1974 through 1991 as an entertainer and band leader at such venues as The Beverly Hills Hotel, The Beverly Wilshire Hotel, The Hotel Bel-Air and many others. As a solo act, he appeared at the world-renowned Jimmy's Restaurant in Beverly Hills, a six-year engagement where he performed regularly for such notable customers as Frank Sinatra, Dean Martin, Stevie Wonder, Cher, Natalie Cole and many others. From 1991 through 1995, John starred in a television commercial for Henry Weinhard beer, playing the character “Tex Velvet.” Since moving to Portland in 1992, John has performed solo and in group settings at such venues as the Benson Hotel, Portland City Grill, Wilf's Restaurant, Arrivederci, Tony Starlight's, Allison Inn, Riverview Restaurant and at numerous social events and corporate functions throughout the pacific northwest. John’s debut album “For My Father & Frank” is a tribute to Frank Sinatra and his father, Voyle Gilmore, who was Sinatra's record producer from 1953 to 1958.