Lan Su Garden & PDX Jazz Present the Bobby Torres Ensemble: Remembering Woodstock, With a Little Help From My Friends. To celebrate the 50th Anniversary of Woodstock, Bobby Torres presents a look back at Woodstock and some of the iconic music played that weekend with this PDX Jazz series ending showcase. Musicians include: vocalists Julana Torres and Sean Holmes; Dan Gaynor, piano; Al Criado, bass; Dick Titterington, trumpet; James Travers, drums and, of course, Bobby Torres, congas. Bobby performed with Joe Cocker and The Grease Band at Woodstock — the first and largest three-day outdoor live music festival to date, in the summer of 1969 at Max Yasgur’s Farm in Woodstock NY with more than 500,000 attendees. No festival since has maintained a gathering of one-half million people for an outdoor live music concert without violence. It really was three days of music, peace and love.
Some details Bobby remembers of Woodstock…
“The only day of rain was Saturday — it started with thunder occurring right after we performed ‘With a Little Help From My Friends’… it felt like God was applauding. It rained heavily for about an hour and a half. We all had to clear the stage. People had to clear the speaker stands and light stands they had climbed on out in the field. The mix of the rain and the electricity on stage was frightening. I took cover back stage under hastily strung tarps. The stage hands scrambled to cover the amps, keyboards and drums… all the electrical equipment. When the storm was over, we took the helicopter back to the hotel.
“Looking back at this event, after all these years, I understand more now the importance of this event much more than I did at the time. I find myself very fortunate to have been involved, as a musician, for this world changing event.” — Bobby Torres
Bobby Torres on stage (afro, purple pants) with Joe Cocker’s band, Woodstock (3 Days of Peace & Music), Bethel, NY, 1969. Photo By ©Elliott Landy, LandyVision Inc. Photo courtesy of Elliott Landy http://elliottlandy.com/
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