PORT ANGELES — A Cedar Suede, a seven-piece, self-described world-funk orchestra from Seattle’s Capitol Hill neighborhood, will bring its beats to the Peninsula College PUB for a free concert at 7 p.m. tonight (Thursday).
The septet’s show will take place inside the PUB, aka the Pirate Union Building, which is in the J building adjacent to the Little Theater on campus at 1502 E. Lauridsen Blvd.
The show promises “a dash of R&B, a scoop of tango, two pinches of Afro-Cuban styles, some romantic European traditions [and] a shake of Brazilian grooves,” said Amanda Fitch, the band’s violin player.
“It’s fun, eclectic dance music . . . We play mostly originals, but we are known to throw down some funky covers,” she added.
“Covering hip-hop with our instrumentation is always a hoot. We love Outkast and Dr. Dre.
“It’s also fun to sing in other languages, so we’ll often incorporate some Buena Vista Social Club,” alongside jazz like Herbie Hancock’s “Chameleon.”
Originally the band’s name was just “Cedar Swayed,” when guitarist Harold Belskus and accordionist Jamie Maschler found inspiration in an enormous cedar tree leaning in the winter wind outside the Cornish College of the Arts, where they were practicing.
Later the name became A Cedar Suede, a play on words suggesting organic texture and spontaneity.
Maschler, who gained notice in an Atlantic magazine article titled “Accordions: So Hot Right Now,” took up the instrument at age 4.
Though she devoted years to learning the works of Tchaikovsky and Rachmaninoff, Maschler has since become a rock and pop accordionist.
Her bandmates, in addition to Belskus and Fitch, are percussionist Tommy Whiteside, drummer Joe Eck, trumpeter Steve O’Brien and bassist Martin Strand.
For information about Thursday’s concert and other free public activities on campus, see www.PenCol.edu.
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Features Editor Diane Urbani de la Paz can be reached at 360-452-2345, ext. 5062, or at diane.urbani@peninsuladailynews.com.
