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Page 4 December 2020
5 Grand Band achieves
musical excellence, talent
By Daniel J Curran
The dance floor fills up fast. True musical diversity is dicult, especially when the songs are all covers. Many cover bands bring their best effort, but few reach the desired continued excellence throughout their sets despite their collective musical expertise. 5 Grand Band has the needed top- shelf musical knowledge and tal- ent to achieve continued musical diversity and musical excellence throughout their sets. The goal of 5 Grand is for the audience to have a Grand expe- rience! That is, to be able to forget the cares and troubles of the day and get lost in the music and hav- ing a great time, in other words, HAVE FUN, says lead guitarist and band manager Eddie West. The bands music is solidly rooted in rhythm and blues. The synchronicity of the band impress- es regardless of the song at hand. Considering the bands impressive talent, they invite the audience to participate in the collective musi- cal mayhem displayed on stage and subsequently realized on the dance floor. Impressive. 5 Grand has been in existence for 4 years with a few personnel chang- es. Presently, the band consists of: Meli Steinbach on lead vocals blends seamlessly into the band. She brings a subdued presence to 5 Grand. A native Portlander, Steinbach has performed as lead singer in 5 Grand since 2016. She is a Patternmaker with Adidas in her day job. Mike Prigodich is on keyboards. When not sitting in with 5 Grand, Prigodich also leads the prestigious Melz/Prigo- dich/Erskine Group (MPEG) with master drummer Reinhardt Melz, bass virtuoso Damian Erskine and the brilliant JohnNastos on saxophone. The MPEGs musical credentials are too long to men- tion in the limited space here, but impressive nonetheless. Prigodich has been feted by such music giants as Chick Corea and Steve Lukather (Toto and Michael Jack- son), as some of the musicians who have sung and continue to sing his praises. Brian Foxworth, on drums and vocals, is the engine that drives this band. Coupled with Ben Jones on bass, they create a formidable rhythm section. Foxworth has won multiple Cascade Blues Associa- tion awards for best drummer and
Boogie Cat Productions Presents:
NORMAN SYLVESTER BAND
For Bookings & Event Planning 503-419-7093 bluboog@msn.com
Boogie Cat Hotline 503-281-5989
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SEE BANDSTAND PAGE 2 FOR MORE INFORMATION
See Episodes of Tales of Portland" on Norman's Website normansylvester.com Watch for more videos online!
inducted into the Oregon Music Hall of Fame in 2015. He has re- corded with numerous local and national artists on eight separate albums released in 2019 and con- tinues studio work with local and national artists. He has graced the stage with Pleasure, Paul Gilbert, Curtis Salgado, The Drifters, Linda Hornbuckle, Paul deLay, to name just of the few artists he has per- formed and recorded. His musical resume as a drummer/vocalist is nothing short of impressive. Ben Jones, on bass guitar and vocals, is a powerhouse bassist. He has played with the likes of The Neville Brothers, JeffLorber, Anita Baker, Patrick Lamb, Jenni- fer Batten (Michael Jackson and JeffBeck), Portland's own Es- meralda Spalding and the Oregon Symphony, along with a plethora of national artists too long to note here. On a local and national level, Foxworth has played on records with The Neville Brothers, Reggie Houston, Lloyd Jones, the late ma- triarch of the Portland blues and gospel scene Linda Hornbuckle, and Calvin Walker, to name just a few. Ben Jones is an extremely talented, knowledgeable, and ver- satile musician. He is dedicated, a much in demand bassist, who is an asset to the Portland music scene, says Dennis Lusk, a Port- land keyboard player. Eddie West, band leader and lead guitarist, is a Portland native; he studied music under the leg- endary Jim Little at Jefferson High Performing Arts Magnet, Mt. Hood Community College. West has shared the stage with Portland leg- ends Black Velvet, Chill Factor, Hot Property, Malcolm Noble and Cool Breeze. He also has cameos (as a saxophonist) with international jazz artists Freddie Hubbard, Buddy Rich and Ed Shaunessy. Impres- sive credentials, no doubt. The venue 1823 Mystery Bar, where 5 Grand graced the stage in Hillsboro, is impressive with great acoustics. The bar area itself and the music venue are separate and spacious. They have a full liquor bar along with a reasonably-priced food menu. In the music venue, there are plenty of tables spaced more than six ft apart due to the Covid-19 restrictions in place. This spacious environment has live music on Fridays, Saturdays and Sundays. Sunday and Mondays NFL football is the main event on the big screen TVs.
1823 Mystery sports Bar hours are 4-10 p.m. Monday to Friday and Sundays from 10 a.m. - 10 p.m. The music venues hours are Thursday - Saturday from 6:30 -0 p.m. Hours may change depend- ing on the events offered. Check out the 1823 Mystery Bar on their Facebook page.
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