UNDERGROUND MICROPHONE

Justin Padró, Host
Justin Padró is a musician, writer, educator, sound engineer, DJ, and producer from Brooklyn, NY who has performed throughout Europe, Africa, China, Canada, and the U.S. He is the first-ever recipient of the Louis Armstrong Foundation Jazz Scholars Award, Center for Jazz Studies, Columbia University, New York, the founder of the Latin Jazz Hour radio show at 89.9 WKCR fm NY, has written about music, art and culture, contributing to books such as ‘The House That Trane Built: The Story of Impulse Records’ by Ashley Kahn, and was part of the Maybe Mars/D-22 Crew that founded the underground punk movement in Beijing, China.

Padró started his professional career playing timbales at weddings and clubs in Salsa bands at 13 years old in New York City under the tutelage of legendary timbalero Ralph Irizarry (Ray Barretto, Ruben Blades, Israel ‘Cachao’ Lopez, David Byrne, Harry Belafonte, Celia Cruz, Paul Simon, Wynton Marsalis, Paquito D’Rivera). Padró has played with a vast array of legendary artists in various genres including Carlos ‘Patato’ Valdez, Ray Vega, avant garde guitarist Elliot Sharp, 8-string bassist/guitarist Charlie Hunter, David Sanchez, and Coati Mundi of Kid Creole and the Coconuts.

He performed and toured with the award-winning, Smithsonian-recognized & recorded traditional Afro-Puerto Rican Bomba y Plena group Viento de Agua, the HIMALAYAS (led by Kenny Wollesen, drummer for Tom Waits and Bill Frisell), and many others. For a time, Padró was a founding member of the Original Stumblebum Brass Band, which fused New Orleans 2nd line Jazz with New York City Punk playing throughout the Subways and streets of NY in the format of sousaphone, trumpet and snare before leaving for Beijing, China to help run a punk rock venue, D-22, that would spark the foundation of the underground music scene in China (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qXVLwNkw84Q). Upon returning to New York, Padró was a fixture in the NYC/Brooklyn DIY music and art scene, performing in, booking, organizing and running sound & lighting for various grass roots events at both underground and established venues.

Here in Scranton Padró has co-founded the monthly dance party ‘Electric City Boogie’, co-curates the visual and audio art for the First Friday event ‘Sound & Vision’, lends his hand as sound engineer, lighting tech, stagehand & rigger at various concerts and events at the Scranton Cultural Center, Montage Mountain/Live Nation stages, and Fringe Festival and plays in a handful of music groups spanning punk, jazz, country, rock and latin genres.

The Justin Padró Jazz TRIO features Justin Padró (drums), Ian O’Hara (double bass) and Nick Driscoll (tenor saxophone):

Ian O’Hara is a multi-instrumentalist, composer and arranger who has performed in groups such as Lewis & Clarke, Coal Town Rounders, The National Reserve, and Bog Swing Group. He studied Classical and Jazz double bass and Jazz harmony with Marywood University faculty member Joe Cole.

Nick Driscoll is a multi-reedist and multi-instrumentalist and director of the WIlkes University Jazz Orchestra and Great Valley Chamber Music Society. Driscoll performs with The Indigo Moon Brass Band, The Doug Smith Ensemble, various traveling Broadway Musical ensembles, NEA grant recipient John Bromberg, Tony Costa and Lorne Clarke among others. He has appeared on WVIA Public Radio and Television in classical, reggae, folk and jazz ensembles. He has also performed with Peter Schickele (PDQ Bach) at Alice Tully Hall in New York City and with the NEPA Philharmonic. Nick graduated with a B.S. in Music Education from Wilkes College and a B.A. from the Manhattan School of Music.

LittleStarRun
LittleStarRun is the musical alias of Pennsylvania born musician and singer-songwriter Rachel Lucille Woodworth. She found her musical voice living abroad and working as an actress and studying international theater at the Theater of Change (Theatro Ton Allagon) in Athens Greece.

She formed the project LittleStarRun in 2010 inspired by the diverse music scene in Athens, a mix of indie rock, electronica, jazz, world music, and traditional greek artists. She attended Musical Praxis Conservatory in Athens and studied guitar and music theory under jazz guitarist and Berklee Alumnus Yiorgos Argyropoulos. In 2016 she returned to the US and released her single “Wilting” which earned her songwriting comparisons to Jenny Lewis, Feist and Beach House with its lush guitars, ethereal vocal layers and candid lyrics. Her music can be classified as indie dream pop rock with psychedelic, shoegaze and folk influences. The live project LittleStarRun has featured a rotating cast of musicians with the current lineup as a duo featuring Woodworth on guitar/vocals and Justin Padro (Justin Padro Jazz Trio) on drums.

LittleStarRun has been called “A modern Joan Baez” (Umano.gr) and recently contributed a track to Brazilian shoegaze indie electronic artist cellardoor’s 2018 collaborative album Seashores and Riversides. She was a member of the band Brian TV and appears on the albums Brian TV Quits and Animal Worship. She is a regular contributor to radio art program Troubadours and Raconteurs on WFTE and Radio Free Brooklyn. She has composed music and performed in theater works in The Scranton Fringe Festival and continues her involvement in theater locally as a composer, writer and performer. She works as a freelance songwriter/vocalist and collaborates with various artists in the US and abroad. She is currently working with Mexican psychedelic rock folk artist Galar on a theatrical piece/music album for release in 2019. Her debut album “The Heist” is due out in 2019.

https://littlestarrun.bandcamp.com/releases
https://itunes.apple.com/us/artist/littlestarrun/1098334909
https://open.spotify.com/artist/4u7swE85DslAZDTYdEkY5Q

Contact: littlestarrun@gmail.com.

ABOUT UGM:
Underground Microphone is NEPA’s premier LIVE performance series which features our region’s finest talent. Each week we bring you an exclusive up close and personal lineup of poetry, comedy, music and more!  Voted 2017’s Best New Event by readers of Electric City, Underground Microphone offers the unique experience that honors the Weekday Warrior!  Reward yourself with an evening out downtown or a quick drink and entertainment after work.

Located in the Lower Level, the Raymond Hood Room is transformed into a listening room café where artists and their work are respected and supported. This very special space is named after the architect who designed the Scranton Cultural Center in the 1920s. Hood is widely known for his Art Deco and Neo Gothic design style which is evident throughout the entire building. Nationally recognized works include 30 Rockefeller Plaza, American Radiator Building, Daily News, The Emporis, Tribune Tower and The Ocean Forest Hotel in Myrtle Beach among others.

Doors open at 6:00 PM and entertainment starts at 7:00 PM!
No Cover – Cash Bar for 21+ – Valid ID required
Exceptional Entertainment — Classic Atmosphere

Artists: For anyone interested in performing: there are no rules. We encourage free form prose, poetry, stand up, improv and original music. It’s the perfect space to test out new material or projects.  For information on how you can become involved, contact Maria at marias@sccmt.org or (570) 346-7369 x102.

Guests: Please be reminded that since this is a performance space, we do ask that you keep the conversation to a whisper.  We recognize that this is a social setting, and there is ample lobby space for interacting and networking.

Sponsored by United Gilsonite Laboratories and LT Verrastro. Supported by Lackawanna County and the PA Council on the Arts.