Night School #207: Nick Gefroh (Pa'lante)

Tonight on Night School, I am thrilled to be hosting Nick Gefroh. A drummer, percussionist, and bandleader, this man has been making noise in Portland since the late 1950s. As far back as high school, he played in small ensembles with local legend, Jim Pepper. He would go on to play drums for Ural Thomas and a range of National acts at the Cotton Club. Even Mel Brown has said, “Back then, I would do anything I could to play like Nick.”

In the mid-1970s, Gefroh would help to establish what some have called the city’s first Latinx band. Drawing from the big band jazz format, Montuno reflected the vision of a local percussionist fascinated with Pan-American sounds. Having relocated with Jim Pepper to New York CIty in the late 1960s, Gefroh was exposed both musically and culturally to something previously inexistent in Portland’s night life. Upon returning to Portland, Gefroh would cultivate ensembles featuring Latinx musicians performing and community-building through music for over four decades. 

His current group Pa'lante features a high-spirited presentation of salsa, timba, merengue, Cuban son, and cumbia. I am grateful to have Nick Gefroh in studio this evening.