Andy Ellis Valdini considers music to be his spiritual calling. He practices and/or performs daily on his collection of violins, violas, and vintage keyboard instruments. His instrumental jazz funk group Argyle is widely considered to be Portland, Oregon's most underrated group. Their latest long-playing album (Produced in home studio!) "Art Installation" features Valdini on Hammond B...
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Andy Ellis Valdini considers music to be his spiritual calling. He practices and/or performs daily on his collection of violins, violas, and vintage keyboard instruments. His instrumental jazz funk group Argyle is widely considered to be Portland, Oregon's most underrated group. Their latest long-playing album (Produced in home studio!) "Art Installation" features Valdini on Hammond B3, Rhodes electric piano, Moog synthesizer, and much more. But his musical life has moved through many genres and disciplines, including Jazz, Django, Tango, Rock, Americana and Classical piano, violin, and viola.
Andy has studied piano since age 7 and viola since age 10. He received his MA in Music Composition from UC Riverside. Under the viola instruction of Lucille Taylor, he served as principal viola with the UC Riverside orchestra. He has studied Suzuki pedagogy with Dr. Theodore Brunson. He currently resides in Portland, OR, with his wife, and daughters. In his spare time, he enjoys rehearsing and performing with Argyle, his soulful jazz funk quartet, exercising, and playing the Hammond B3 organ, Wurlitzer 140B electric piano, Rhodes Electric Piano, Moog Synthesizer, Clavinet, and gypsy jazz fiddle.
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