Music Thursday evening marked the debut of The Clear Blue Pearl, a 10-song musical epic about the hunt for an aquifer amidst a punishing drought. The highly imaginative piece was scored last winter by Portland jazzsmith Ben Darwish during his Caldera residency just outside Sisters, Ore.For a guy familiar with collaboration, the concept still felt like a stretch. How could Ben Darwish’s jazzy, cerebral ...   More

Music In the current edition of Willamette Week, Jonathan Frochtzwajg spoke to local instrumental virtuoso Ben Darwish about his "fantasy folk-step" collaboration with folk trio the Shook Twins, The Clear Blue Pearl. Frankly, the whole concept made me a bit nervous. All those words fill me with a bit of dread. I mean, generally speaking, I'm cool with folk music, and I don't have the vehement, kneejerk dislike ...   More

Music Stories  [FOLK-STEP] It’s an unseasonably bright January day; sunlight pours through the windows of Caffe Vita and backlights Ben Darwish’s ’fro. The local keyboardist-composer, 27, has a cerebral...   More