Current Projects
Pete Krebs Solo and Pete Krebs Trio
I keep a very busy live schedule these days performing both solo and with the Pete Krebs Trio, featuring Keith Brush on bass and David Langenes on guitar. These types of shows allow me to continue my exploration of improvised music, usually in the context of early and classic jazz. Musically, the repertoire leans heavily on personal favorites such as the Nat Cole Trio, Django Reinhardt, Slim Gaillard, Charlie Christian and modern artists such as the Hot Club of Cowtown. I'm generally not one to use a lot of pedals and effects to alter the sound of my playing, but I use a loop pedal when playing solo to lay down my rhythm track, over which I improvise. It's a challenging but very fun way to perform, and has increased my musicality ten-fold. The Trio has been performing together for eight years now, and is my 'go to' band for weddings and private events. We've had the opportunity to perform at the Redwoods Jazz Festival and Portland Jazz Festival, have enjoyed residencies at the Heathman Hotel and Andina Restaurant, been featured on Oregon Public Broadcasting and have played gigs from Memphis, Tennessee to Paris, France. The Trio is temporarily on hiatus from a regular weekly booking, but I'm currently performing solo every Monday night at Andina Restaurant in the Pearl District and Wednesdays at Gold Dust Meridian in SE Portland on Hawthorne Blvd. The Trio's first CD, featuring trumpet legend Farnell Newton, has recently been reissued and is available at my
The Stolen Sweets
The Stolen Sweets were formed in 2006 to play a single concert celebrating the music of the Boswell Sisters, a female vocal Trio from New Orleans who, for a few years during the late 1920's and early 30's, recorded an astonishingly varied and musically sophisticated body of work. Their music features lush, turn-on-a-dime harmonies and arrangements, often at breakneck speed. The band, composed of Lara Michell, Jen Bernard and Erin Sutherland on vocals and David Langenes, Keith Brush and myself on strings. We had such a great time learning and performing the material that we decided to continue on, and have performed hundreds of shows over the past 8 years. Though some of the repertoire is well known, we often perform some of the more obscure Boswell material and on several occasions we've been the first artists to tackle the original arrangements since they were recorded so long ago. For me, the Sweets have been a great opportunity to observe first-hand the art of a fine arrangement and also the musical game of Tetrus that is three-part harmony. Additionally, the twin guitar/bass accompaniment is heavily influenced by Django Reinhardt and the Hot Club of France, with driving rhythms and a more acoustic sound than is usually found in contemporary jazz guitar. The band has appeared far and wide with shows all over the map, from Seattle to New Orleans, Chicago to Slovenia. In 2010 we had the honor of being the first vocal ensemble to perform at New Orleans' legendary Preservation Hall. The band has a strong regional following, thanks to many festival and television appearances. To date we've released 2 CDs and, recently, a 78rpm which we recorded live to lacquer on an antique record lathe. All are available through our website www.stolensweets.com, where you can also fins a schedule of our upcoming performances. "performances."