Search - Michelle Medler :: Balance

Urban Jazz. FUNKY, Organic, Improvisational, Passionate, Modern-Edge JAZZ played by SOULful, re-active musicians. Instrumental. Michelle Medler is a multi-instrumentalist and music educator from the Pacific Northwest, USA. She grew up in the Jazz and Blues Communities of Portland, OR and Seattle, WA. Michelle graduated from Portland State University with a Bachelors of Music, Jazz Emphasis. Michelle formed her quartet in 2005, We had never played as a band, actually, we had never met the drummer. At a house party, we played together for the first time & had the most amazing chemistry. All of us are well versed in R'n'B and Jazz styles; we played tunes from both genres. Everything felt great. Good people, good music; It had to be recorded. So it was. In addition to the Quartet, Michelle has performed with: Lily Wilde and her Jumpin Jubilee Orchestra, The Medler Quintet & Sextet, Alex s Body and Soul, Metro, Big Bamboo, Eclectifunk, Norman Layden, Porkpie, Bill Hagen, and others. She has shared the stage with The Rebirth Brass Band from New Orleans, and performed with Ingrid Jensen, Don Braden, Leroy Vinnegar, Mel Brown, and Terell Stafford with Portland State s Jazz Ensemble. Michelle s influences are diverse. She listens music of many styles and cultures; new and old. The great Jazz saxophonists and Jazz composers have been her biggest influence. Jazz workshops in the pacific NW have also had a great influence. She attended Bud Shank s Workshop in Port Townsend, WA for nine years and the Mel Brown/Mt. Hood Festival of Jazz Workshop for seven years. While attending college, she co- taught band at Portland s Wilson High as an artist in residence. In 2001, after graduating from PSU, school funds ran low and could not afford the luxury of artists in residence. So Michelle and husband, Ben Medler, started an extra-curricular Jazz band program called The Portland Youth Jazz Orchestra (PYJO). PYJO gives Portland area middle and high school music students a place to grow and study Jazz. Since 2001, the program has grown from one band to four bands. Students are 5th or 6th grade-college. They have performed at the Portland Jazz Festival, Jazz Society of Oregon s First Jazz, Cathedral Park Jazz Festival, The Bones & Brew Festival, many of Portland s hotels, various McMenamins, and have opened for John Medeski at the Crystal Ballroom.