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In the introduction to this year's Best New Band issue, we mentioned how quickly Portland's music scene turns over, with bands breaking up almost as soon as the city discovers them. Well, it's happened again: Grammies, the instrumental breakbeat jazz duo that came in at No. 6 on this year's poll, is done (for a while, at least).
Don't try blaming any alleged "curses" for this one, though. According to saxophonist Noah Bernstein, his bandmate, drummer Dan Sutherland, had been on the wait list for a physician assistant program at Pacific University, and was only recently accepted. Sutherland, who is also a former member of 2013's Best New Band, Shy Girls, is only moving to Hillsboro, but will be "battening down the hatches" to focus on his education, which means no more funky drumming for the time being. The band isn't disappearing completely, though, as it's releasing both a completed studio album and a live Banana Stand session soon. "So we've got some content to drop gearing up for a summer 2015 reunion tour," Bernstein says.
Check out photos from the band's last show (for now), at Habesha Lounge on May 21, with fellow 2014 BNB finalist Like a Villain, below. Click on the embed before to get the full effect.
WWeek 2015