Skyline Serenade
Sunday, October 25, 2026
3:00 pm
Hosted by Jonathan Ater & Christiana Carr
25 Guests • $100
Head up to this art-filled home on Council Crest where panoramic 30-mile views of the Tualatin Valley set the stage for an unforgettable musical escape. Portland jazz favorite Anandi joins pianist Paul K. Ward and bassist Tim Gilson for a tribute to beloved jazz legends Nancy King and Rebecca Kilgore, along with selections from their newly released CD. Who needs a rooftop bar when you’ve got world-class jazz, a front-row seat to the valley, tasty bites, and festive sips!
- More About Anandi
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With a name that means ‘bliss’ in Sanskrit one could easily infer that Anandi’s music would conjure up sounds and images of sleepy mellowness. But this isn’t “New Age” music. Anandi performs with a strong sense of wakefulness, always swinging, with a penchant for poignant lyricism and melodic sophistication that makes her an instant hit with audiences.Born in Los Angeles to a singer/songwriter and a jazz drummer, Portland native Anandi ended up in Nova Scotia where she studied vocal jazz performance at St. Francis Xavier University. After a stint working at Rounder Records in Boston and singing her original songs around Boston and New York City she moved back to Portland after bearing ‘live’ witness to the 9/11 attacks in downtown New York City.
Returning to jazz and singing in the style inspired by the likes of Sarah Vaughn, Nancy Wilson, and Carmen McCrae, she has become a well-respected singer, performing at venues like the legendary Jimmy Mack’s, The 1905, Jack London Revue and the PDX Jazz Festival. She has recorded seven albums, which include three albums of jazz, and has played and recorded with many local luminaries including Randy Porter, Greg Goebel, Mike Horsfall, Dave Captein, John Stowell & Ron Steen.
Audiences enjoy Anandi’s full spectrum approach to jazz and her admiration for local vocal legends such as Nancy King, Rebecca Kilgore and Shirley Nanette. She expects to release her fourth jazz album at the end of March.
Anandi regularly performs with internationally acclaimed guitarist John Stowell. Never settling into a musical box, Anandi is always collaborating with others; projects include PDX’s All Female Jazz Quartet, Nica’s Dream, the original acoustic trio Maiden Oregon and Retro Soul group AM Sister Soul. She also keeps a busy schedule teaching voice, guitar and piano.
- More About Paul K. Ward
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Paul K. Ward was born and raised in Ashland, Virginia, to a brilliant college music professor father and a gorgeous and tenacious singer/dancer/actress mother. He wouldn’t have his musical soul without the two of them. Paul earned his undergraduate degree in mathematics from Davidson College (North Carolina), and his global executive masters of business administration from TRIUM. He is certified in investment banking from the Investment Banking Institute. Living now in Portland, Oregon, with his wife of 21 years, Angela, he now consults, produces music and video, and performs jazz and popular music on stages big and small.
Paul has served on the board of a longtime non-profit in Portland, Cerimon House, which supported music, fine arts, storytelling, and community-building, and then moved to the position of Executive Director of Artichoke Music, one of the longest-lived music venues (and later, non-profit) serving the American Folk Music scene, and serving as both a school and a store for the Portland area.
Since moving on from Artichoke Music, Paul has been involved in teaching young piano students, building national music education relationships, recording music in his studio, and co-producing audio books (the latter in partnership with Ooligan Press, a division of the Portland State University’s graduate program in publishing), and has recently taught an innovation management class in the PSU MBA program along with James Latham, focusing on the lessons in leadership and creativity offered by jazz musicians that can inform new processes for sustainable business growth.
- More About Tim Gilson
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Tim Gilson began studying music seriously at Mt. Hood Community College and shortly thereafter began playing professionally in the Portland area. He traveled to Los Angeles to study John Clayton and in 1988 won 2nd place in the International Society of Bassists semi-annual competition in the Jazz Division.Upon returning to Portland Tim began playing with many nationally acclaimed artists as they came to Portland including Mose Allison, Ritchie Cole, Bud Shank, Herb Ellis, Julian Priester, John Handy, Ernestine Anderson, and many others. He toured Japan in 1993 with the Mel Brown Quintet with special guest artist Chuck Findley on trumpet. Tim also went back to school and earned a Bachelor of Music and a Masters degree from Portland State University in Double Bass performance with an emphasis in Composition.
In 1994 he moved to Madison Wisconsin where he served as Principal Bassist with the Wisconsin Chamber Orchestra and Assistant Principal for the Madison Symphony Orchestra. He was also sought after in the Wisconsin jazz scene and played occasionally with the Milwaukee Symphony Orchestra.
Tim returned to Portland in 2002 to direct the Mt. Hood Community College String Ensemble and perform in a variety of settings including with the Oregon Symphony backing guest artists such as Dee Daniels, Byron Stripling, and Herbie Hancock. He has also accompanied several guest artists including Wycliff Gordon, Antonio Hart, Matt Wilson and Ingrid Jensen when they came to the Northwest as guest artists. Tim continues to teach, perform, arrange and conduct as Director of the MHCC Orchestra and Adjunct faculty at PSU. Tim plays regularly with the Mel Brown Trio and the Mel Brown Septet.
