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Dan Balmer

From coffee house gigs at fifteen to chart-topping success with the Tom Grant Band in the 90s, world tours with two-time Grammy Award winner Diane Schuur and contemporary jam-bands, Dan Balmer brings fire and heart every time he plays the guitar. His playing spans nearly one hundred CDs including twelve as a leader from which his original works have appeared internationally in television, film and radio.

An in-demand educator, Dan maintains a busy schedule of private lessons, group clinics and master classes throughout the US and abroad. He adjudicates student jazz band competitions at events such as the Monterey Next Generation Festival and Reno Jazz Festival along with being a long-term teacher at the Centrum Jazz Workshop. He is the director of jazz combos at Lewis And Clark College while also on faculty at virtually every other college in the greater Portland, Oregon area.

Dan has performed or toured with Joey DeFrancesco, Dr. Lonnie Smith, Les McCann, Javon Jackson and Karrin Allyson, Benny Golson, Jeff Hamilton, Gerald Clayton, John Clayton, Terell Stafford, Ingrid Jensen, Duduka da Fonseca, Kendrick Scott, Taylor Eigsti, Buddy De Franco, Bruce Forman and countless others.

Dan’s love of guitar and making music combined with discipline, technique and restless curiosity provide an ever- deepening experience for himself and his listeners. In every performance he finds himself in the middle of the path, amidst a continuous and compelling process of discovery.

Awards

Oregon Music Hall Of Fame Oregon Jazz Society Hall Of Fame


Tags

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Album Review

Dan Wilensky: Good Music

Read "Good Music" reviewed by Dan McClenaghan


“There are only two kinds of music. Good Music and the other kind." So said Duke Ellington, and probably a whole bunch of other people. Good Music is saxophonist Dan Wilensky's examination of music for music's sake, his unpretentious “serving the music" recording. Seven of the eleven tunes are chordless trio affairs, bringing--as a touchstone--Sonny Rollins' groundbreaking A Night At the Village Vanguard (Blue Note, 1958) to mind with its fearless flexibility and Wilensky's muscular and assured tone. ...

6
Album Review

Dan Wilensky: Made In Portland

Read "Made In Portland" reviewed by Dan Bilawsky


Relocating is never easy, but it would seem that multi-reedist Dan Wilensky has acclimated quite well to the musical climate of Portland, Oregon since arriving there in 2012. The latest release from this man-of-many-talents puts him in close quarters with a collection of that city's finest musicians, a crew that's ready and eager to tackle Wilensky's originals and put new twists on old favorites from artists like Cole Porter, Irving Berlin, Hoagy Carmichael, and, dare I say it, Neil Sedaka. ...

9
Album Review

Dan Wilensky: Made In Portland

Read "Made In Portland" reviewed by Edward Blanco


A Hollywood/TV industry musician who has performed on, or arranged for such programs as, The Today Show, David Letterman, The Tonight Show and several others, Portland-based composer and saxophonist Dan Wilensky is currently performing and teaching in Portland, from where he records his fifth album as leader on Made In Portland, offering eight fresh new originals and five covers including vocal renditions of songs from Irving Berlin, Charles Trenet and Hoagy Carmichael. As the album title indicates, the saxophonist records ...

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"The model of what a contemporary guitarist should be." -LA Times
Primary Instrument

Guitar

Location

Portland

Willing to teach

Intermediate to advanced

Credentials/Background

Dan maintains a busy schedule of private lessons, group clinics and master classes throughout the US and abroad. He has been teaching jazz guitar for over 20 years and has lead the jazz combos of Lewis and Clark College in Portland, OR for over 10 years. He immensely enjoys working with students both individually and in the ensembles. He adjudicates student jazz band competitions at events such as the Monterey Next Generation Festival and Reno Jazz Festival along with being a long-term teacher at the Centrum Jazz Workshop.

Photos

Music

Recordings: As Leader | As Sideperson

Not A, THE

Alternative Jazz
2018

buy

(Not A, THE)

Self Produced
2018

buy

Good Music

Polyglot Music
2018

buy

Made In Portland

Polyglot Music
2015

buy

Googie

From: (Not A, THE)
By Dan Balmer

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