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Biography
The Shanghai Woolies play "hot music," the 1920’s and 30’s jazz and pop of Chicago and New York City. The eight-piece ensemble, founded by Pink Martini trumpet player Gavin Bondy, swims in the magical sounds of the young Duke Ellington, the big band swing of Benny Goodman, and the orchestral soundscapes of Paul Whiteman.
The vocalist and songwriter, Mel (Melanie) Kubik, is the centerpiece of each
performance. Her early training (classical piano from age 3, saxophone from
age 9) and her experience in traditional jazz (Timbuktu + 5) and pop rock (Quarterflash)
combines with her Bohemian lineage and down-home Kansas upbringing to give her
versatility, personal accessibility, and musical depth and beauty that is rare.
Gavin plays trumpet, writes songs and creates arrangements for the band. Brought
up in Portland, Oregon, he studied from old-school horn players who showed him
how commercial American music was made in the first part of the twentieth century.
They had worked in live radio orchestras and in the bands of people like Glenn
Miller and Charlie Barnett. It became Gavin’s task to reconcile this early
training with the newer sounds he heard. Along the way, he discovered beauty
in elements others had discarded in the name of progress. So, he chose the earlier
sounds of the 1920’s when, in 1999, he began work in ernest on material
for the Shanghai Woolies.
In its day, this jazz was energetic, inventive, colorful, rebellious, sometimes scandalous, but always fun. The Shanghai Woolies approach it in the same spirit. From purist and postmodern viewpoints, they combine traditional and new elements in order to recall the energy of the original idea and to communicate it to every generation. These world-class musicians will break your conventions with a variety of moods, good humor, and a great chance to dance.
On April 17, 2004, the band released their debut CD, Jungle Nights, to an enthusiastic
house at the Aladdin Theater in Portland, Oregon. National Public Radio later
put the third track, Concerto for Trumpet, on their Open Mic website, where
it garnered one of the very highest public ratings.
Press Quotes
“....a
new twist on the music of the flapper era: Jitterbug music, Big band, Swing.
The raucous, slippery, foot-happy jazz you’d expect to hear at the legendary
Cotton Club. ... hard to resist ...” -Scott Lewis, The Oregonian
“Though Brian Setzer, Cherry-Poppin’ Daddies, and others have paved
this road, the fanciest, coolest machine on the highway is The Shanghai Woolies.”
-James Rodgers, Victory Review - NW Roots Music
"Gavin Bondy's precise arrangements capture the essence of the hot jazz
era, while doing more than merely imitating the sound of the day. Instead, they
have given the music renewed vigor, utilizing every trick at their disposal,
while playing the hell out of some pretty complicated music (complicated by
rock standards, anyway). Anyone who pines to hear jazz the way it once
was played in the early years: hard and hot, will love what the Shanghai Woolies
are doing. They evoke an era gone by in such a way as to make the music
current and credible by today's samples-and-drum-machine standards..."
-Two Louies Magazine
"This Union of Portland journeymen ain't your average attempt to hop on
the swing cart. Mixing and matching from the disparate closets of pop, blues
and jazz ... new take on le jazz hot. With choices ranging from W.C. Handy to
Raymond Scott, this is dyed-in-the-wool eclecticism." -Bill Smith,
Willamette Week
"Sound Advice: Don't let anyone pull the Woolies over your eyes. Get in
early on Portland's next hot band ... Hot jazz, baby." -Jonathan
Nicholas, The Oregonian
Oregon Public Broadcasting, Art Beat (TV Episode)
Contact Gavin Bondy, band leader
