Sue Lewis is famous for her imaginative and powerful, virtuosic jazz violin style. She is a seasoned musician and teacher, earning a music degree from PSU in 2006. Sue has earned Destinction and Merit awards from the Associated Board of the Royal Schools of Music in London England.
Her expansive experience includes playing violin, viola, and cello in a variety of ensembles—musical theater orchestras, Satin Strings Quartet, Cedro Willie folk band, Laura Mims country band, the Vancouver Symphony and Mango Nights jazz band.
Sue makes her home in Portland Oregon where she maintains a studio teaching violin, viola, cello and piano. SueLewisMusic.com
Bo Ayars has literally “arranged and conducted” himself around the world, appearing in concert halls with noted symphony orchestras and entertainers in England, Germany, the Netherlands, Scandinavia and Australia, the Los Angeles Music Center, the Kennedy Center in Washington, D. C., the Metropolitan Opera House and Carnegie Hall in New York City. Bo has also been Music Director and arranger for a variety of television productions featuring the London Philharmonic Orchestra, Radio City Music Hall’s Christmas Special, “Sunday at the Opera House” in Sydney, Australia, “The Tonight Show” with Johnny Carson, “Good Morning, America”, Larry King, and the original Ed Sullivan show.
Mr. Ayars is also a man who regularly wears many musical hats. At various times he has been Music Director, Conductor, Arranger, Pianist and Music Producer for numerous superstars including Elvis Presley, Barbra Streisand, Bill Cosby and Bob Hope. Bo is quite proud of his 13 years as Music Director for legendary showman, Liberace, contributing his conducting and arranging talents to both Lee’s worldwide live performances and several TV specials. In his role as music director for the political satire group, the Capitol Steps, he was invited to performed at the White House and was honored to have accompanied such political figures as President and Mrs. Bill Clinton, Vice President and Mrs. Al Gore, former presidents George Bush, Ronald Reagan and Gerald Ford, Surgeon General C. Everett Koop, Secretary of Defense and former Vice President Richard Cheney, Senators Patrick Leahey, Ted Kennedy and Paul Simon, and former Secretary of State George Shultz.
Bo is a native of Glendale, California and began his career as a serious student of music. His formal classical training began at the Oberlin Conservatory of Music, where he majored in Music Theory and Composition. While there, he expanded his interests to include arranging for jazz and pop music. In his junior year, he attended the Mozarteum in Salzburg, Austria, and, on graduating from Oberlin, was awarded a teaching assistantship in Salzburg with the noted composer, Caesar Breskin.
Returning to the US, Bo found himself in demand in Las Vegas as conductor pianist-arranger for Debbie Reynolds, Jim Nabors, Robert Goulet, Diahann Carroll, Lola Falana, John Raitt, Sandy Duncan, Red Skelton, Bill Cosby, George Gobel, Raquel Welch, Bobby Vinton, Shani Wallis, and others.
Judith Abrahm has provided instrumentals on a multitude of records and documentaries over the years under various names. Extremely versatile, she has worked in a wide variety of Folk, Irish, American Roots, Klezmer, Country, Independent, Classical and World Music groups and duets. Her instrumental specialty is Bluegrass and Mountain style harmonica, and inventive uses of recorders for nearly every genre of music. She is considered to be one of the finest female harmonica players on the West Coast. Her singing style originates from her childhood Klezmer influences, combined with her study of American roots and Celtic vocal techniques.
Judith is a supreme vocalist in addition to being a multi-instrumentalist. She sings jazz classics from Billy Holiday to Soul, MoTown, pop/jazz and klezmer/jazz fusions. She engages audiences who thrill to her unique and soulful interpretations of music. She radiates pure joy that is contagious to all who hear her.
Judith lives in Portland Oregon and is currently working exclusively with Mango Nights as one of their vocalist and instrumentalists. Her hobbies include hiking, kayaking and travel.
"Judith is a founding member of Mango Nights and helped come up with the name. She plays congas, finger snaps, harmonica, recorder, sings, and shared in the producing of this album. Truly one of the most talented and versatile musicians I've ever had the privilege to work with. Her arranging skills can to heard on Estate, If You Were Mine, Sailboat in the Moonlight and Miserlou."- Sue Lewis
Belinda Underwood is a life-long musician and dancer who brings elements of the world's folk art traditions together with her own Western training and luscious soul-creation. An artist and traveler, she has enjoyed visiting other lands in order to study the roots and living masters of those traditions.
Childhood dance lessons included ballet, jazz, tap and modern dance. Since then, Belinda has explored salsa and other Latin dances, ballroom, burlesque, tango, American and Egyptian cabaret, tribal belly dance, Turkish oriental, ritual sacred dance and more. She considers dance to be one of the most natural expressions of music and the body to be the instrument for that expression.
Belinda got her earliest musical training from herjazz-pianist mother, followed by years of childhood lessons in classical violin. She taught herself baritone ukulele starting at age ten, then benefitted from high school and college jazz education programs as she studied upright bass, voice, theory and composition.
In adulthood, she has continued musical/dance studies around the world, particularly in Cuba, Mexico, Egypt, Turkey, Japan, and on the West Coast of the USA. She has picked up other instruments such as the Arabic oud, baritone uke, banjo, keyboard bass pedals, arabic drums, finger cymbals and more. She is adept at artfully blending the elements of hertraining along with folk and world music influences to create art that is uniquely her own.
The last several years she has developed a body of work as a solo artist, playing the bari uke and keyboard bass pedals while singing original songs. She has also worked (a lot!) as a sideman in other bands, mostly playing upright bass and/or singing.
A believer in music without the borders created by genres or cultures, Belinda composes and writes equally passionately about love and human evolution as she does trees and animals, using a clever wit to reveal the interconnectedness of all things.
"Belinda brings all this experience and more to her sultry jazz vocalizations and instrumental prowess on bass and ukulele for Mango Night's new release "Reason to Live" - Sue Lewis
Marin Zarzar performed and contributed to musical arrangements on six albums with the acclaimed group Pink Martini for whom he assumed the role of drummer/percussionist. Occasionally he played guitar and other sting instruments during his ten years with Pink Martini. Zarzar's composition, 'Mar Desconocido' was performed by Pink Martini on their album 'Hey Eugene'.
His solo work has won him several awards and has been well received among critics, musicians, and audiences alike. Martins work is inspired by a life of travel, a multicultural upbringing, and the commitment to an open and pluralistic society with equal opportunity for all.
Martin Zarzar was born in Lima Peru, where he studied Peruvian percussion, solfege, piano, guitar, and drumset with several teachers. As a child, his family resided in several countries in Europe finally settling in the United States of America. There, he continued to play and study music, and soon won a scholarship to further his studies at the world-renowned prestigious Berklee College of Music, in Boston, MA.
Marin Zarzar performed and contributed to musical arrangements on six albums with the acclaimed group Pink Martini for whom he assumed the role of drummer/percussionist. Occasionally he played guitar and other sting instruments during his ten years with Pink Martini. Zarzar's composition, 'Mar Desconocido' was performed by Pink Martini on their album 'Hey Eugene'.
His solo work has won him several awards and has been well received among critics, musicians, and audiences alike. Martins work is inspired by a life of travel, a multicultural upbringing, and the commitment to an open and pluralistic society with equal opportunity for all.
Martin Zarzar began performing professionally when he was fifteen. Subsequently, his colorful style and the soothing tone that he lends to his vocals, led him to collaborate with many prominent groups and musicians.
International accomplishments include: 13th Annual World Beat Nominee, 12th Annual Children's Music Song Winner, 12th Annual Children's Music Song Vox Pop Winner, 12th Annual Story Song Winner, and 12th Annual Story Song Vox Winner.
Zarzar, ever creative, is always up to something new. Nothing is more evident that on his latest single ‘Lately’ – he stretches his vocal limit yet again – and succeeds!
Listen to Martin Zarzar perform 'Moliendo Café' off of his debut album 'Two Dollars to Ride the Train'.
His brand new single, 'Lately' is available NOW at CD Baby.
Martin's music is also available from Amazon.com and iTunes.
"Martin Zarzar adds his percussion magic to the following tracks: 'I'm Old Fashioned', 'El Duende' and 'If You Were Mine'. It's pure genius." - Sue Lewis
"Owen's powerful, passionate and imaginative improv style is on full display on 'I'm Old Fashioned' 'Miserlou' and 'Black Orpheus'. Listen to Owen's rich, powerful vocals on 'Por Una Cabeza' which he orchestrated exclusively for Mango Nights. He also plays cello on the track. These tracks were recorded live at Charbonneau Country Club June 2016 and " - Sue Lewis
Dylan Rieck is a cellist, composer and music teacher currently residing in Portland, OR. He has played nearly 1,000 concerts all over the U.S. and in 15 countries around the world. He has appeared as both performer and arranger on over 40 albums spanning a wide range of musical styles. He has contributed original music to TV, film and video games.
Dylan started cello lessons as a child. He began improvising with a youth choir under the direction of folk musician Richard Scholtz. Since then he has played in several bands, most recently the Americana rock group the Crying Shame (www.thecryingshame.com) and the contemporary jazz group Threat of Beauty (www.threatofbeauty.com). Dylan has arranged for and played on dozens of recordings. He earned a B.A. in music and a B.M. in cello performance from the University of Washington and has recently earned a Master’s degree from the University of Texas. Dylan was the principal cellist for the U.W. symphony and a concerto competition winner. He has worked for Western Washington University accompanying modern dance and have collaborated with dancers from Cornish College of the Arts, and Seattle's Can-Can Cabaret. Dylan is devoted to his art and is thrilled to incorporate the cello into new styles and genres.
"Dylan contributed amazing, virtuosic cello tracks on the following tracks: 'L.O.V.E.', 'Estate', 'El Duende', 'There Will Never Be Another You', 'If You Were Mine', 'Teach Me Tonight', 'Sailboat in the Moonlight' and 'Dark Eyes'." - Sue Lewis
Hal Logan is a composer, sound designer, studio owner, and a professor of Music Technology at the University of Portland. He has been involved in the Portland theater scene for about 11 years, and has worked with most of the professional theaters in town. He lives in Portland with his wife, actor and University of Portland professor, Mindi Logan.
Hal Logan has provided professional set drumming and percussion work in bands and performance groups across a wide variety of genres. He has performed and arranged professional vocal solo and ensemble works, and he has created a vast repertoire of original compositions, songs and advertising music.
His compositions were recently featured in Us vs, Them for Dark Luna Productions in New York; God’s Ear at Theatre Vertigo; Richard III for the Northwest Classical Theatre; Lost Wavelengths in the JAW West Festival; Much Ado About Nothing and Treatment at the Quintessence Theater, and Fuente Ovejuna, Rosalba y los Llaveros, and Te llevo en la sangre at Miracle Theatre; A Midsummer Night’s Dream at Tygres Heart Theatre, Lysistrata, The Musical at the University of Portland, Dialogues at the University of Idaho. In film he has provided sound compositions for The Gift for the Adidas Short Film Contest; and Show Me A Sign from A Doll’s Story, a short film by Jim Seaton.Hal Logan also designed the video for the Lewis and Clark College production of PLUMFIELD, IRAQ.
Hal Logan received a Bachelor’s of Music in vocal education, and a Master’s of Music in Composition from the Lionel Hampton School of Music, University of Idaho, Moscow, Idaho.
For further information: Hal@HalLoganMusic.com
"Hal Logan is one of the best drummers in the country. Hear his virtuosic performance on Dark Eyes among many!" - Sue Lewis
Jacob Ignacio, started his music career at the age of 16 by winning the 1st place cash prize at battle of the bands with a rock & roll group. For years to follow, he would continue to perform professionally at concert venues, festivals, parties, bars and nightclubs, drumming for an inde-rock band known as, the Lesser Three. Starving to increase his musical abilities, Jacob, completed the course of study for “Professional Music” at Portland Community College. At P.C.C. Jacob, fought three other drummers to be first chair in an exclusive student/staff jazz ensemble called, the Suspects, and played with them for 3 years.
The diligent drummer, is consistently employed to work on a variety of different projects. Jobs have involved studio recording, co-directing a college top-40 band, sight-reading percussion in several, Musical Theater International, productions and being a leading member for marching band, Last Regiment of Syncopated Drummers. Alongside being a live performer, Mr. Ignacio, can also be found teaching a drumming after school program for, Society for Syncopated Drumming, as well as private piano, guitar, drum-set, percussion and ukulele lessons for Musicality Network. Jacob has provided percussive sounds of all shapes & colors with some of the finest musicians his hometown has to offer including, Karaoke From Hell, Torchsong Entertainment, the Casimir Effect & Mango Nights.
"Jacob records live on the following Mango Nights new release "Reason to Live" album: Black Orpheus, Por Una Cabeza and Miserlou - Sue Lewis"
"Chad recorded live on piano for I'm Old Fashioned, Miserlou, Por Una Cabeaz and Black Orpheus at Charbonneau Country Club June 2016. A truly inspired performance." - Sue Lewis