News and Opinion from Sisters, Oregon

Benefit concert series ends with a flourish

A packed house at Sisters Middle/High School auditorium was treated to a musical palette ranging from country-rock to folk-pop to cool jazz vocals in the final night of the Sisters Starry Nights benefit concert series Saturday, April 19.

The concert, third in a series benefiting the Sisters School Foundation, was kicked off by a rousing set by local musician Phillipe "Frenchy" Mallen and Twang, which had the crowd clapping along and dancing in their seats.

Nicolette Larson followed with an acoustic set that featured selections from her early career as well as a duet with her young daughter on "Oh Bear" from Larson's recent children's CD.

Larson's set started off truly "unplugged." When the singer couldn't identify her guitar cord amongst the tangle on the stage, she headed out into the audience with her guitar playing "Walkin' After Midnight" until the lost cord was found.

Larson was full of praise for Sisters, noting that her daughter Elsie Mae wanted to go to school at Sisters Elementary.

"It'd just be such a long drive from L.A.," Larson lamented.

Larson closed the set with a J.D. Souther-Glenn Frey song, "Last in Love," accompanied by Sisters student Anne Noel on piano and duet vocals.

Kenny Rankin dazzled the crowd with an astonishing vocal range -- and raised chuckles with his dry humor.

Rankin played with a pick-up band on drums, keyboards and bass. Sisters music director Jody Henderson noted that it was an enlightening experience for his students to see how musicians who had not played together could mesh so well.

Rankin performed "Blackbird" with Sisters freshman Matt Poynor and Mick Patterson, who provided nearly flawless finger-picked guitar accompaniment.

The fine performances by students, a feature of each concert, underscored the importance of the kind of programs the Sisters School Foundation can help fund, programs such as music and drama and art.

And more than one audience member noted that the experience of seeing and performing with top notch artists was itself a rich educational experience

 

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