Live from the Vault

Alan Hager/Dave Fleschner Duo Why a 'Live' recording? Of all the various forms of art, music is the most ephemeral or transient - as soon as notes are sung and played, making the molecules of air vibrate, they're just as quickly gone - musicians for millennia have known this, and embraced that immediacy. Music is also a shared experience in which the performer and audience combine their energies and make the event unique, and truly special. This is why Dave and I have chosen to release this 'Live Recording' - we are there, the audience is there, and that good vibe is definitely there. Dave and I acknowledge that there are imperfections here - we know that there are stutters, interruptions, and even an incomplete phrase or two. We both plead guilty to any recorded musical flaws - we hope that you'll forgive us, release us into our own custody, and choose instead to feel the evening's fire along with us.     ~ Recorded live at O'Connors Vault, Portland, Oregon, May 15 & 22, 2013 ~ Alan and Dave have known each other for years, always playing as sidemen in support of others. A few months ago, Dave called Alan up and asked if he'd like to start a duo where each musician could choose what they'd like to perform. Since then they've played together a couple times a month and audiences are responding enthusiastically to the chemistry of this duo. Neither musician is afraid of a challenge, in fact they welcome the energy created in the face of new musical forays. Whether they are playing blues, ragtime, old time-standards, soul or original tunes, the music they create is exuberant, joyful and refreshingly musical. "Music has always been there for me, and I love it!"Alan Hager Alan Hager "is the most complete and accomplished musician I've had the pleasure to work with. His sense of time and musicianship are excellent. Not only are his guitar solos different, original, and interesting, his rhythm guitar work, which now seems to be a lost art among guitarists, is superb; a musician's musician! " - Bill Rhoades "Alan Hager's musicianship is the standard by which I judge all others, particularly myself!" - Terry Robb Muddy Awards: 2012 Best Acoustic Guitar - Alan Hager 2003 Performance of the year, Waterfront Blues Festival with the Duffy Bishop Band 1999 Best Traditional Blues Act - Bill Rhoades & Alan Hager 1998 Best Traditional Blues Act - Bill Rhoades & Alan Hager 1997 Best Traditional Blues Act -Terry Robb Acoustic Blues Trio Dave Fleschner has toured internationally with Curtis Salgado, John Nemeth Karen Lovely and Earl Thomas. He has performed with B.B. King, The Pointer Sisters, Steve Miller, The Mel Brown B-3 group and The Portland Symphony Orchestra. Dave has released several CD's under his own name and is in demand as a band-leader and as a side man, playing piano and Hammond B-3 with a deep un- derstanding of American roots music. "Very inventive and swingin'" - Mike Finnigan "Fleschner has a strong vision' and has more than demonstrated his abilities."- Marty Hughley, The Oregonian "Fleschner has his act wired tight, oozing soulful pulp all over the place." - John Chandler, Portland Tribune "Dave plays with a vengeance and fury." - Bob Cooper, On-line Musicnet "Dave has a unique musical voice." - Mary Burlingame, Host of Homegrown jazz on KMHD Muddy Awards: 2009 R&B Act of the Year - with Curtis Salgado 2006 Performance of the Year - A Concert For Curtis.