Hi Everyone,

The Mario Sandoval Trio Living Room Theatre

The JC Ivories Poster

First up, I will be performing as part of a Jazz ambassadors band from Portland State University at South Salem Highschool this coming Saturday the 4th at noon. The band features Grant Sayler -guitar, Nicole Glover – Tenor Sax, Marc Hutchinson -Soprano and Alto Sax, Jon Lakey -Bass, and me Mario Sandoval -Drums. It should be very inspiring, as all these players are top-notch.

On Monday February 6th The Hutchinsons, the psu combo led by Marc Hutchinson, will be performing as the opener for Dan Balmer at Jimmy Maks at 6:00PM, come check out this free set and enjoy Dan Balmer and his special guest George Colligan.

On Friday February 17th The Living Room Theatre will be having The Mario Sandoval Trio back for a second time this year. This is a great place and last time we had the staff and the patrons enjoying music till close. This is a great place to showcase my trio format. It can get latin as always since its me but both my band mates are some of the top players in their tier and i am sure this night will be killin no matter what.  We start at 8PM and go till midnight three sets.

And Finally, on Wednesday February 29th to close up this great month The Journey Collective will be debuting at the newest Jazz club in Portland, Ivories Jazz Lounge in NW PDX, in the pearl. This is one of the most exiting shows that we have had so far. Recently this club has showcased great acts like Christian McBride, George Colligan, Farnell Newton and Chuck Israels. Jim Templeton and Art Trafton have crafted a fine venue, it is on the jazz enthusiasts must see list of venues. We will be playing at 8PM and by then we hope to be playing all the new original tunes so come check it out.

All posters will be up top, and don’t forget to check out recordings by the band when posted on the site or Facebook.

I hope that this year is being good to you like it is being with me. January was a busy month for my groups and me. The Journey Collective is getting more gigs and we are getting more comfortable with the music and yet staying on our toes. All members of the collective are in full swing with regards to writing new music for the group. I would say that within the next month we will out at least three to four new songs. Also we are featuring arrangements by Jesse Feinstein were we try seamless sets. Keep an eye out for this as it makes it exiting to see how we can navigate through the different styles and tempos.

I would like to take this time to thank everyone who has come out and supported our group, without these people i would say that we would not have as good of a time. I keep getting patrons and sometimes total strangers come up to me and say they like the band and that they are glad that young guys like us are out there trying to make inroads for our music. Even non-jazz folks come out and really enjoy the music. They want us back everywhere we go. So without further ado, here are the new shows coming up for February.

Thanks for your support and hope to see you out at a gig soon,

Mario Sandoval.