Archives : 2010 : May

Dan Balmer Quartet Plays “Live at the Ranch”

If you are a Portlander you have probably heard of Dan Balmer and his masterful guitar playing.  Balmer is a regular on Monday nights at Jimmy Mak’s a popular jazz club in the Pearl District and he also plays with the Mel Brown Band at Jimmy Mak’s.  If you are a college student at Lewis & Clark College you may know him as your music professor (he’s taught there for twenty years)

Balmer was recently inducted into the Jazz Society of Oregon’s Hall of Fame as it’s youngest member and first guitarist. In his concerts and recordings Balmer presents a unique blend of contemporary and traditional jazz styles, juxtaposed with influences ranging from pops to Brazilian music.

In this video you can watch Balmer, while playing with the Mel Brown Quartet, masterfully execute Tony Pacini’s “El Cid” :  Dan Balmer plays \”El Cid\”.

Balmer plays the first “Live at the Ranch” concert in the summer series on June 25 at 6pm.  It is sure to be a treat for the whole family!

See ya around the Ranch!

Katie

Woodpecker Wonderland

There are a total of eleven  nesting woodpecker species  in the Metolius Basin (which includes Black Butte Ranch and nearby Camp Sherman).  For the last several years Steve Shunk, founder of Paradise Birding, has put on the “Woodpecker Wonderland Festival”.  Unfortunately this year he is taking a hiatus, but the woodpeckers don’t know that.  They are still here.

During the 2009 Woodpecker Wonderland Festival there were 82 sightings of the various woodpecker species. Some of the more popular ones sighted are the Northern Flicker, Hairy Woodpecker, Red-breasted Sapsucker.  The rarest sightings were the Three-toed Woodpecker and the Black-backed Woodpecker.

Birding is a wonderful  family pastime and can be enjoyed by all ages.  Walk around the Ranch and you may catch a glimpse of the Hairy Woodpecker or possibly a Flicker.  A great resource for birding information and to hear the special sounds of a particular species is the website All About Birds by the Cornell Lab of Ornithology.  Children especially love to listen to see if they can recognize the call of their favorite bird.  It’s also a fun way to get them to go for a walk through the forest or the meadow, and of course they love looking through the binoculars to see the often beautifully plumed creature.  Click here to listen to the call of the Hairy Woodpecker.

Come to the Ranch and spend a weekend, walking through the forest and listening for our lofty friends.

See Ya Around the Ranch!

Katie